Spring is coming... really it is

The weather has warmed up several times in the last week or so, never for long enough but still enough to remind me that spring is coming. Campus is alive with students again. Freshman walking around in large groups (glad to know some things are universal). March, not September marks the start of a new school year, a concept I haven't fully wrapped my head around. Mostly because the high schoolers had finals right after Christmas, but then continue to go to school, to watch movies (I think). Also, with the warmer weather the bugs are already beginning return, one thing I hadn't really missed all winter long. Unfortunately it is still that time of the year where one day you can be enjoying a baseball game, rolling up your sleeves and pants and the next day it is snowing.

Still I have been doing my best to explore more of Daejeon in the warmer weather. While I am missing March Madness back home, I have been able to go to Daejeon sporting events and so far they have been free!! I have also discovered that no matter where and how long I walk, there is always a cafe on the corner to stop and eat a fresh pastry or drink coffee while reading a book.

This month I have been reading through Deuteronomy with the high schoolers at the church at my center. We have been discussing the 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert waiting to get to go the the Promise Land. How the 40 years weren't just a punishment but a time of training, training the Israelites to be better Christians. I should explain, I am a summer baby. I love summer; sunshine, swimming pools, and all the ice cream I can eat. Therefore, winter tends to feel like a punishment to me, and all I can do is count down the days till it is consistently warm and sunny outside. So reading Deuteronomy and trying to find a metaphor other than high school as how something that feels like punishment but is really important training, I explained that without winter we wouldn't be able to fully appreciate summer. Of course the kids disagreed with me, they could enjoy ice cream without suffering cold, grey winters, but hey, I tried to see value in winter.