Normalcy or something

First, a couple of housekeeping details. If you want to mail me something, this is the address you should use:

Whitman Academy
Silas Brinkmann
PO Box 142011
Amman 11814
Jordan

It is IMPORTANT that you put the name of the school first and mine afterward. This is so that another school employee can pick up my mail when he goes to do that each week. If you put my name first, I have to personally cross town and go get the mail. Also, it is best not to send anything larger than a shoebox, or any DVD's or CD's.

Second, several people have commented on the same post with the same message as many as 5 times. I have structured this blog so that I monitor all the comments that come in, and have to approve them before I post them. Your comments will not show up immediately for that reason, not because there's some kind of problem, so please only post them once. That said, I am greatly appreciative that people continue to read and comment in this space: it is

I think I have begun to establish that elusive and valuable "routine" thing. I have a fairly good general idea what I will be doing at most daylight hours as far ahead as 3 weeks from now, which would have been utterly inconcievable last week at this time. I am grateful for this, as simply by existing it reduces my stress level.

This last, however, is still high. I still am not sure what to do when or how, and I definitely walk into each class each day with a great deal of trepidation. I suffered my first real major failure as a teacher on Thursday, an activity I spent a ton of time planning out, and slightly less time actually attempting because it didn't work at all. Fortunately, I got a care package from some of the folks back home which lifted my spirits considerably, and I'm more or less over it. Fortunately, my opinion of my own teaching skills was already fairly low, so messing up on this isn't as crushing or crippling I might have expected.

I'm finding it very easy to rely on God in my current position, simply because I don't have too many other options. I don't have the skills, the energy, or the wisdom to do the job I'm doing, all I have is the faith. Thankfully, so far it's been all I needed.

In an unrelated but encouraging development, the belt I brougth with me is now too big for my waist and I need to buy another one. I'm doing a lot of walking up and down hills, and apparently it's showing up in the ol' waistline.

Please pray for more teachers to volunteer to teach at the school. Right now, most of the full-time teachers are actually FULL time, with no free periods during the day. Needed are a computer teacher, a P.E. teacher, a science and math teacher for 4th grade, and several other miscellaneous staff members to do such things as monitor study halls.