MICAELA AND SETH ARE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!

Day 15: Friday, August 24

I woke up to a beautiful pinky red sky and some lovely clouds. Thanks Lord! I thought...of course the sky is beautiful, two of my most beautiful friends are getting MARRIED TODAY! (Yes Seth and Cael, you were one of my first thoughts on that day.) 

Some of you may know, upon receiving this job offer - I was presented with (honestly) one of the toughest decisions I’ve personally had to make (I know, I’m fortunate that this is one of the toughest) - I knew that upon accepting this teaching position, I would not be home for the wedding of one of my childhood best friends! It’s a big deal. I was honoured to be invited to stand up with them and after an evening of tears, prayer and talking with many trusted and loved ones, I decided to accept the job and backout as a bridesmaid. Micaela (and her family/other friends) were MORE than supportive in encouraging me to take advantage of this opportunity. (THANK YOU!) I felt very selfish for taking the job but also recognized the importance of work...either way, I felt caught. However, in the end, I certainly felt a lot of peace and blessing in taking the job and moving up here. Micaela is so understanding and handled the situation with a lot of grace. I had to get over myself and live with the consequences of my decision; it was humbling for me, because God slapped me in the face with this: “Um, Micaela does not need YOU to be there! She’s marrying SETH, remember? It’s about them getting married and ME (God) being glorified...it isn’t about Mars being there to watch, wear a pretty dress and take pictures!” Oh. Right. It was then I realized that I’m selfish for wanting to stay and for wanting to go because I really WANTED to be there (for them AND for me...I love weddings... and I kinda love those two! :) 
That explanation became a very strange and confusing paragraph...But those are SOME of my thoughts surrounding missing their wedding!

 Anyway. Enough about that! All this to say, I was happy that morning, excited for my two friends and excited to tell my kids all about it. I was able to call Micaela the night before and we chatted a bit, it was really a beautiful little chat, before she fell asleep on the eve of her marriage beginning!

It was my first Friday as a teacher and that meant that I could wear JEANS - hallelujah! I brought in the shoes from Cael’s wedding and set them on my desk. I had the teal-coloured flower headband from the wedding shower in my hair and of course, the kids commented on that! 

I got into school and one of the special education staff members handed me more helpful resources. I was so happy and thanked her, to which she replied... “well, I want you to stay!” That was an encouraging start to the day, she is the mom of one of my students.
I was in the Grade 1 room chatting with my ‘informally-declared mentor teacher’ (LOVE HER) - and I explained that one of my very best friends (born two days apart AND related) - she was getting married...she was SO understanding of my position and it was then that I started to tear up. God quickly dried the tears that were forming and I walked into my classroom feeling excited and reminded that I was SUPPOSED to be there.

I explained at the start of the day that my friends were getting married and a lot of questions came up (of course) - “what is a wedding?” This gave me an opportunity to BRIEFLY inform them about a forever promise that two people who love each other make. This led to them discussing babies, etc. haha...so cute. I told them that later on in the day we would make cards to send to Seth and Micaela...it was the third day of school and we were still getting to know each other. I figured a little activity like this would show them the importance of friends, marriage and doing nice things for each other! I still have to send the package away, but I know my students are anxious to hear Seth and Micaela’s response! I showed them a picture of Seth and Micaela and we made a little “congrats video” to send as well.

The brief marriage talk NATURALLY led into this question (it went something like this): “Teacher, when did you be married?”

“Oh, I’m not married.” (smiling)

“When will you?”

“Ohh, maybe someday...”

“Then you’ll get a big belly?”

AH, I love these children and the things they come up with.

So, as I’m sure you can guess - we had a great Friday at school! One girl mentioned Jesus at carpet time - she was talking about how Jesus took her baby brother because he was ‘too good’.... and then when we were doing our alphabet and coming up with “J” words - one girl said JESUS! I instantly reacted with “he’s my favourite!” :) it was super exciting. What a sweet privilege. I didn’t have to mention Jesus’ name - some of my kids KNOW about Him. God’s making it VERY clear to me that He is alive and working here - it’s not so much about “me bringing Jesus to these kids” - but letting Him shine through and be glorified in whatever way possible. I’m not so sure that Jesus took her brother because he was too good...but I like the fact that these kids can find comfort in the person of Jesus Christ. 

First Friday - happy weekend! It was only 3 days, but it was exhausting...

I came home to have THIRTEEN new voicemail messages - not to brag, but I was feeling overwhelmingly blessed! Of course, there was one from my mother, updating me on the weather for the wedding day...started off as a rainy day, but of course - the sun shone through for the outdoor ceremony at Micaela’s house. Of course my thoughtful Mom even called when Pastor Steve was welcoming everyone to the ceremony - it was so neat to hear a voicemail with the intro to the wedding! She filled me in on Seth tearing up as Micaela came grinning down the aisle...she gave me a nice little play-by-play and said it looked like they had fun - of course they did. Thanks Mom - that helped to make my day SO special! The rest of the messages were from various loved ones - saying hello, updating me on the day...Dalton and Pam made sure I knew that my mom looked AWESOME in her red dress! ;) I won’t write about all of my messages haha - but thanks to everyone whose voice helped to make me feel like I was there! Mom called again that evening and put the BRIDE AND GROOM on the phone (they happened to be walking by her when she called)! I am actually spoiled. I shrieked out loud and got a lil choked up when on the phone with them, but they sounded so happy, I pulled myself together. (Bawled when we got off the phone, it was bound to happen eventually.) 

Auntie Janine had also rushed home after the ceremony and sent me some video clips of the ceremony - everyone looked AWESOME and what a GORGEOUS day! That was really sweet/thoughtful of her.

Joe’s message was really cute and funny, I typed it out: “Hi Marzipan, wish you were here! Hope all the kids are abiding by the rules and stuff.” For the most part, they are abiding!

That night, I was on the phone with Holly when the SCARIEST sound ever happened at the door...it sounded like someone was trying to break into my house! I panicked a little bit - looked out the window and could NOT see who was at the door...I saw my flimsy little outside door was open...but it sounded like someone was banging into the door and trying to turn the knob! Holly reminded me to pray so we had a sweet little time of prayer on the phone - thanks for that Holl! I didn’t have the RCMP number written down, but I had Al’s number so I called him up and he drove over...He laughed at me when we realized it was just the door blowing open and hitting up against the other door. He called and left a message later to check in on me and remind me that people around here don’t normally give the teachers a hard time. It was very kind of him to check on me. The school counselor called the next morning to check on me too. This should give you an idea of how sweet the people up here are!
I called Holly back and she read me this verse:

Deuteronomy 31 vs. 6 - a much needed reminder!
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

I hadn’t really ever felt very scared upon moving here...but that night, I was reminded of my deep need to trust in the Father and NOT give in to fear; it gives the devil such a foothold.

My uncle left me a cute phone message implying that he was very worried about me (I was behind in my blogging, as I still am). I’m hesitant to add SO many details but I don’t want to leave significant things out...much of what I type won’t necessarily be significant to all of you, and I’m updating it a couple of weeks late, but it’s neat to go through the details of each day - such an adventure. Thanks for being patient readers of my rambles...and for praying! Our God is real and I pray that you experience that wherever you are.