A day I could have done without

Life continues to be an adventure. I woke this morning to the sound of thunder and rain. Now that makes it really hard to get up, but I managed to get out of bed and get organised for the day. By the time I left for school the rain had stopped, so I packed the raincoat in my backpack, along with all the other goodies for the day, including my peanut butter sandwich for lunch, and headed off to school. The road at the end of my street was slightly flooded, but nothing major like a week ago, and so I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary as I headed to school. I got part way down my new route (which is about 5 minutes shorter than the old route), and found the road was partially underwater. It was interesting to realise that the concrete blocks down the centre of the road were also providing a mini dam in some places, and fortunately for me I was on the high (dry) side. I did end up going through water for about one block, which was more challenging because of all the potholes that I couldn't see to avoid. I eventually arrived at school only slightly damp to just above the knees and definitely on time.

The first part of the morning went well, with story time, handwriting, changing library books, and problem solving. I also had the fun task of playing postman for my children. Over the summer break we had arranged to exchange letters with students in an English school in Great Britain. The letters arrived last week, and so today I distributed them to the children. This was very exciting for most of them, since generally they had never received any mail before. Later this week we will be writing replies, which will be fun.

Recess saw me on duty in the playground, and the children having lots of fun! I haven't forgotten I promised photos of them skipping, and had actually hoped to get some good ones today, but the skippers were in a different area of the playground to where I was supervising. They are coming.

After recess we have our Language Arts time, and the first part of the lesson went really well. The children were busily planning their stories when I was summoned to the office. Late last week we were asked to bring out passports to school today, and somehow I forgot. I arrived along with the other teachers who for various reasons had also been summoned to the office. After considerable time we were interviewed, and answered some questions. Just before lunch time, myself and a colleague were asked to go with the officials, and so began a lengthy visit to a local police station. That gave me a chance to get to know my colleague a little better than I might otherwise have. We answered questions, and thumb printed the interview record, and eventually we were allowed to leave, and by 3pm we were back at school. I praise God that He kept us safe, and that He kept us calm and patient. I think that the thing that I was most concerned about my absence was what my students would be thinking, and I pray that they will not have been worried by the whole situation (in reality they probably knew very little). God is good. I could have been alone, but not only was I with a colleague, but I was with a colleague who shared my faith. It could have been a very hot day, but it was overcast and relatively cool, so we were not as uncomfortable as we could have been. Lunch was definitely very much enjoyed when I eventually got it at 3pm this afternoon.

Well, that's it for today. I praise God that He was with me through this experience, and that it ended in freedom. The experience has certainly made me appreciate our Khmer staff. I'm not sure what God's purpose in today's events was or is, but I do know that He will use it for His good.