We are adopting!

Hello all!

It's been awhile since my last post. We have been busy lately, and we finished our first semester of our new school year with lots of excitement and many activities. We enjoyed all of the festivities that come with the Christmas season, including class parties, elementary Christmas programs, gift exchanges, and community gatherings. It truly has been a joyful time to celebrate our Savior's birth, and we have enjoyed relaxing with family and friends. Tomorrow we leave for a 10-day trip to Thailand! We are are excited about getting some time alone to relax and recharge for the new year.

As a family, we resolved to use our first semester back at PICS as a time to pray about how God wants us to begin growing our family, and after much prayer and thoughtful consideration, we have started the process of international ADOPTION!

God has placed us in a wonderful church with many families who have adopted or are in the process of adopting. After talking with some friends of ours, we have decided to work with Small World Adoption Agency. They have a program specifically for Americans living abroad, and we are very excited to be working with them. You can check out their website at www.smallworldadoption.com.

There are still lots of questions to answer, lots of work to be done, and many decisions to be made. We are excited about every step of the process, and we are resting in the fact that even amidst our unanswered questions, in His infinite wisdom, our Lord knows what the future holds.

As Christians, God calls us to walk in step with Him, trusting that He will make the path clear in His timing. We are often tempted to walk ahead of Him and try to take control or to lag behind Him out of fear or uncertainty, but God calls us to trust in His plans and timing.

As Christians, I think it's easy to recite an often-quoted verse like Proverbs 3:5-6, but to thoughtfully consider and apply it is another thing. This verse has been coming back to us again and again as we begin this process of adoption.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight. 

How exciting to think that each step that we take leads us closer to our little one, and how amazing to remember that God already has it all figured out!

We will keep you posted as we continue on this wonderful journey. 
God bless you in the new year!

~Laura~

Much Needed Rest

Jonathan and I have some time off from school for the rest of this week because of 추석 (Chuseok- Korean Thanksgiving). We are very much enjoying our first day off since the beginning of the school year, and we are staying home and relaxing today.

We are getting in to the groove and routine of the new school year with our new groups of students. One of the joys and challenges about being an elementary teacher is that every year brings a new group of students with individual strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and a myriad of other differences.

For example, my class last year looked at me like I was a CRAZY PERSON when I explained that we would be tearing paper instead of using scissors to make art, but my class this year jumped right in and LOVED IT!!

It takes time to gauge the dynamic of a new group of students, and we are still finding things that work with our classes and things that don't. This can be a frustrating process, but in the end, our goal is to reach each individual child - academically, behaviorally, and spiritually. How wonderful that at our school we can address ALL aspects of a child's development, including their spiritual growth.

Even on the most frustrating of days, we can remember that God placed us in Korea, at our specific school, with these specific students for a reason, and He will accomplish His purpose. The most that we can do is diligently do the job that God has called us to do, pray for our students daily, and be an example of Christlikeness for them.

In morning devotions this week, a fellow teacher was talking about some struggles that have come with transitioning to life in Korea. The Bible verse that kept coming back to her was one from Psalm 27.  It says...

"I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living."

Psalm 27:13

This verse really struck me as I sat there listening. I may not be transitioning to Korea anymore (although I learn new things all the time), but every year is a transition as I figure out what works with each individual student and each group of students. Even when things are tough, I can choose to be confident that I will see the good that the Lord is accomplishing through my work with these little ones. I am being faithful to the call that God gave me, and even when I fail or when things don't go as well as I thought that they would, God's purpose and plan will still prevail! What a great and wonderful God we serve!

~Laura~

God is Faithful: What a Difference a Year Makes

We have been back in Korea for a little over three weeks now. I have been thinking a lot about the differences between our experiences last year and our experiences this year, and I am amazed at how I can see God's faithfulness in every area of our lives here in Korea.

Last year, we attended the Annual Ministry Appreciation Dinner for the ICS and WOL missionaries as apprehensive outsiders. We were excited to dive in to our ministry here, but we were still figuring out where we would fit in, how we would serve, what the dynamic of the ICS staff would be, what it would be like to work with our students, and a myriad of other questions about what life in Korea would be like.

This year, we attended the Annual Ministry Appreciation Dinner as involved members of our local community who were warmly welcomed by our church and school family. This warm welcome reinforced that God has placed us in this community for a reason and that we are where we are supposed to be. It was wonderful to catch up with friends about our time in the US and enjoy a wonderful meal surrounded by our church and school family.

Last year, we often came home after school and, while talking about our days, discussed how overwhelmed we were feeling. Jonathan started teaching a new grade at the elementary level, and I taught a class of only three students, none of whom spoke very much English at all. We had mentally prepared for a difficult transition to Korea, but we still fell victim to the "grass is greener" mentality as we reminisced about Guatemala and what our classes would have been like if we would have stayed at IAS, where we already knew the language, the culture, and the community.

This year, we have routinely come home discussing our plans for the future of our classes and talking about how excited we are about the coming year. Now, that's not to say that last year's classes were terrible and that this year's classes are angelic. Quite the contrary...every class has it's challenges. But, we are so excited to continue our ministry at ICS and in our local community, and even though we still remember Guatemala fondly and perhaps we will end up back in Latin America at some point in the future, we also feel that we are in Korea at this moment in time for a reason, and it has been a very encouraging few weeks of reassurance of this.

Thank you, Lord!

~Laura~

Home Sweet Home

We are back in Korea for another year of teaching at PICS! We are excited to get back into our classrooms tomorrow to unpack and start setting up. The Kindergarten room will be the "Wonderful World of Dr. Seuss," and the sixth grade students will learn "in a galaxy far, far away" in Jonathan's Star Wars themed room.

Before we get back to work, however, I would like to reflect on our fun-filled summer in the states.

In Oklahoma, we enjoyed relaxing at my parents' house and visiting with my two younger sisters and some friends from college as well. I enjoyed going to a baby shower for my dear friend, Tara, and I was able to visit with my friend Mandy as well. We also got to see the "new" location for my dad's church in Bixby, OK, and we visited a church in Caney, Kansas, where my father is also serving as pastor. God is doing amazing things in both of these congregations, and it was wonderful to see old friends and visit with new friends in the faith as well.

I also took Jonathan to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, my alma mater. I was able to visit with some of my former professors and tell them all about what we did during our time in Guatemala and what we do here in Korea as well. I was also interviewed for the school alumni magazine, so I got to tell all about the Network of International Christian Schools!

Then it was off to Virginia, where we spent our first week with Jonathan's extended family at the beach for the fourth of July. What a relaxing time! After the trip, we traveled back to Jonathan's hometown, and we split time between Richmond and Fredericksburg, where Jon's sister lives. It was nice to have time to get to know our nieces, one of whom we just met! It was truly a blessing to be able to relax and spend time with Jon's family.

Also during our time in VA, Brittany came to visit!! Because she is traveling with her husband's hot air balloon business this summer, we did not cross paths in Oklahoma. However, she was visiting her husband's family in Roanoke and decided to come over to Richmond for a few days! It was SO MUCH FUN to get to hang out as sisters again for a while, and Jon's family was very kind and welcoming to her.

Another great thing about visiting Virginia is that we are close to several of our friends from Guatemala, and it was nice to be able to catch up with them as well.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to the US and hello to the "Land of the Morning Calm." We were sad to leave our families, but we are SO EXCITED to be back in Korea to start the work that God has for us to do in the lives of our students this year at PICS.

"Throw yourselves into the work of the Master,

 confident that nothing you do 

for him is a waste of time or effort." 

1 Corinthians 5:58b (The Message)

Life as we know it...

Well, I have been neglecting this blog because I just didn't know what to write about. I think that now is a good time to start again.

As some of you know, we found out early this morning that someone came into our apartment and stole from us while we were coaching the girls' soccer team at an away game. The items that they took were hidden in different places in our home and nothing was out of place when we returned from the game. This makes us feel very violated, and we are working to make sure our home is secure.

Several people have approached us asking if we need any help. We are humbled and incredibly grateful that people would like to help us, and it is a great reminder of the community that God has given us here in Korea, in the US, and around the world as well.

I have found that physically writing things out helps me think through them. This is what I thought (and wrote) today...

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. " Matthew 5:43-45

Lord, even if we never see those earthly things again, please redeem this situation for your glory, as we know you will. You have the power to work in the lives of the thieves and change their hearts. Help us to remember what you said in your word, "Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal." Remind us that you called us here to Korea to serve you and further your kingdom, even when things like this discourage us. Use this situation to develop our trust in you and remind us of the hope that we have. ~Amen

2012 in Review

Happy New Year!

2012 was a wonderful year for the Edwards family. God blessed us many times over, and we prayerfully enter 2013, knowing that God will continue to be with us.

In honor of the new year, we have put together some pictures to capture 2012 in our family. Enjoy! 

We said good-bye to Guatemala, our home for the past 4 years.

Here are all of the children that Laura taught during our time in Guatemala

and message from two of Laura's Kinders. :-)

Finally, our GIANT to do list for our Korean visas was checked-off,

but we said good-bye to very good friends.

Nicole came to visit us in Guatemala,

and we had SO much fun!

Then it was back to the US for Brittany's wedding in Colorado!

It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding,

and she was a beautiful bride. :-)

Then we traveled to Mississippi for our Pre-Field Orientation. We met some wonderful people, including these couples in our small group. They are now all over the world, serving the Lord!

We also got to know the other new teachers at our school, and we had fun dancing to K-Pop together for the "Almost Talent Show."

Then we traveled to Virginia to visit Jonathan's family.

Our niece, Kassie, celebrated her first birthday,

and we traveled to New York to visit Jonathan's grandmother and do some sightseeing.

We took one day to sightsee in New York City,

and we visited the September 11th Memorial

and lots more sights!

Jonathan's grandmother celebrated her birthday while we were in New York,

and then it was time to move to Korea! Here's us with all of the stuff that we took with us.

Here's our new home!

Jonathan's class 2012-2013

Laura's class 2012-2013

Happy New Year!

God is good...ALL THE TIME!

~Jonathan and Laura~