What April Has Taught Me...

• Being a "Mother Hen" at an amusement park has its pros and its cons. It's great that my students know that I love/care/desire to protect them, but sheeeesh, people! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A LINE BEFORE?!? Seriously. The people who swarmed the amusement park the day we paid it a visit were extremely pushy towards my young students. It was slightly ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, that I stood in line with my arms fully extended so as to barricade entry past the point at which I was standing, allowing only my students to stand directly in front of me. If any of the others in "line" even DARED to slip by my arms, fury escaped my being. 
• Clean amusement parks are fun! Dirty, crowded, and barely managed amusement parks are not so much. 
• The life of Jesus is not complex. He lived, he loved, he served, he spoke truth... my students are not too young to learn of his great example. Nor are they too young to learn of his sacrifice. 
• Sunrise Services at the Garden Tomb on Easter Sunday are, indeed, wonderful. Also wonderful is the 9:30 am service that immediately follows the 6:30 am service. Helloooo, snooze button! Will remember this nugget of truth next time. Although, it was pleasant to feel like the only ones driving to Jerusalem at 5:15 am. 
• Thunderstorms DO occur here in the Holy Land, and that really makes me smile. I love thunderstorms. The smell, the sounds.... aaah, music to my ears. Grab me a nice book, a cup of something hot, and I'm set for the evening! Perfect way to fall asleep, if I do say so myself...
• Ovens here can be extremely temperamental. As we speak, I am baking a cake on the lowest temperature setting... and it's 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Jigga, say whaaaat?!? Just yesterday, it was a cool 300 degrees. Hmmm... curiouser, and curiouser.  
• Plane tickets are a LOT better when you HAVE them and are not searching high and low for the best rate. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I am now OFFICIALLY bound for the States in Mid-June. June 15th, to be exact. Woo-hoooo!!!