"i want to go to iowa with you!"

yes, the title of this entry comes from my favorite kid, tyler. he's in 5th grade [maybe 6th?] and i absolutely love him. along with his friend artilus, the two of them quickly approved of me and gave me a hug every time they walked into my class. i was pretty impressed, considering they were kinda getting to that age where they're 'too cool' and usually dont act as if they like their teachers. anyway, i was really sad last week when it was my last day having them in class. they gave me hugs and said they'd miss me, etc. i asked tyler if he lived in cary, because if he did, he should stop by our house sometime so i can go outside and play with him. unfortunately, he lives in anguilla, which is about 15 minutes north of cary. well it so happens that he was staying with his cousin tonight in cary, and i saw him playing outside next to our house. we got to hanging out, took a few pictures together [finally!], and talked about his day. when i asked him how it went, he replied with: "sad because i didn't get to see my favorite teacher." he also got really sad when we discussed me leaving in a couple weeks, and he told me he wants to go to iowa with me. when i said i would love that and i could sneak him into my back pack to fly home with me, he said "rachel! i'm not joking, i really want to go with you!" its moments like those that i remember why i'm here...


today was relatively busy. we begin each day with staff devotions at 8:00, and classes start around 8:45. i started the morning with the pre-k and kindergartners, and by the time i was with the 2nd graders, they seemed very mature! overall the day was a pretty typical one- played 'mother may i?', 'what time is it, mr fox?' and 'steal the bacon.' in the afternoon, i worked on some math and reading with the middle school boys, as well as played basketball with them. yes.... my job is wonderful. and its okay to be jealous :) some of the women that work at cary christian center have also started doing a 6 week dvd bible study led by priscilla shirer, beth moore and kay arthur, so we had that this evening. the homework isn't too intense but still requires time every day, and i love meeting with the other women once a week.. its been a huge blessing. there was a community meeting after our bible study, which was pretty neat. around 35 people from the town showed up, and it was neat to see how the people want to take steps towards organizing and developing cary into a 'better' community. they made a list of things they want to improve upon or add to the town, and it consisted of items such as health and wellness, employment, community center, recreation, beautification, etc. there will hopefully be committees created at the next meeting so more specific steps can be taken. please keep this community in your prayers!


i don't think i mentioned this in my first post, but i got to go fishing last night! i said one time i had never gone before, so robert [a man who works in the volunteer ministry at ccc] offered to take geri, amanda, and i out fishing with him and his wife sometime before we left. we drove to lake washington, which is about 30 minutes away from cary- and absolutely beautiful! unfortunately i didn't catch anything [robert and his wife both caught catfish], i can officially say i've been fishing :) check that one off the list!

i'll try to post again tomorrow and add a few more details as to some of the thoughts i've had and other things we've done these past 4 weeks. until then- life is good and God is good.

bless and be blessed.