[agotado]

...it's been a long year.

and i'm kind of getting to the point where I'm overwhelmed, worn out, and.... exhausted.

seriously... i'm pretty sure i've just randomly broken down crying several times within this past week alone.

i can't believe (CAN'T BELIEVE!!!)  that i only have one month left here.

this has become home to me... and leaving this place so soon.... blows my mind!

what's the future going to hold? 

where am i going in life?

why can't the next chapter be as simple as "going back to Taiwan to teach for a year"....??

and then... to add to all of my self-doubts (which the devil just DELIGHTS in planting in mi mind, btw), i start to think about my year here....

i look back at the year and think.... did i make it worth it?

did i spend enough time with my kids?

did i visit as many teams as i could?

did i pour my heart out into my teaching?

did i take every single little bitty opportunity and make THE MOST out of it?

honestly? i can shake my head and say "no... i didn't." 

and i can start beating myself up. 

saying stuff like "Camille, you should've tried harder!" 

could've...

should've... 

would've...

.... yup.

doubt sucks, no?

Sooo.... basically i've decided that this next month is going to fly.

and i'm excited... like, REALLY EXCITED to go back to MN and see all those ppls whom i've missed SO STINKIN MUCH!!

but... at the same time, i'm sooo going to miss Taiwan.

however, i'm not going to look back in regret of things that i haven't done... cuz i have so many awesome memories from things that i HAVE done.... and to me, those are far more precious/important that worrying that i didn't "do enough" ~ 

i'm excited to see what this next/last month is going to bring!

so far, i know that there's gunna be a wedding, trips up to Taipei, the middle of Taiwan, down to Kenting (possibly?), 3 more weeks of TEACHING classes (and one office week), and .... yeah! 

the thought of all i have to get done in these next few weeks is overwhelming...

but... it's all brought to peace at the beginning of the day... when i come before my Lord, Jesus and "cast all my cares upon Him... because HE cares for ME" (1 Peter 5:7) 

-----

mmk, that was a lot of rambling, but hey! i woke up at 5:30a this morning, went for a jog, have downed several cups of coffee and black tea since then... and it's now hitting 7:30p and i'm thinkin that going to bed early might be a good way to end this "Memorial Day" (sad fact: American's don't get this day off in other Countries ~ just thought i should throw that out there) :P

Love y'all lots and lots <3 <3

Song of the week: From the Inside Out ~ Hillsong

{通过对海盗的眼睛}

Pirate: One who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without commission from a sovereign nation.



So after some pretty intense research,
I've decided that I'm pretty sure Taiwan is the Pirate in my story....

...and it stole my heart <3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(me, being inspired by the recent array of piracy going on...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, so that was our week *WITH* the kids....

however, what they missed out on/what happened outside of the classroom....

I got a package from my dear, dear friend (Libby) and in it was my latest "Man-friend"
WhooHooo!!!!

 

as you can see, he rightly earned a standing position on my desk

 Don't we make quite the cute couple???


Ok, now this (below) was *after* the interviews we had with the kids.
I merely wanted one good "Pirate-ey Picture"

And Jo decided she was going to play photographer.... so it went more like this:

Picture #1

Picture #2 

Picture #3

Picture #4 

Picture #5 

Then I decided to strangle my roomies so i could have their... um... gold? :P 

 Oh!! and highlight of the day:

Going into town and Chinese lessons at our local College

... looking like this :) :)

我的中文老師認為“非常酷！”

Oooo... and on a totally different note:

i was missing the world like CRAZY this week.

Seriously... I'm already missing ppls here...

but at the same time, i am SO ready to be back stateside.... (i think)

Yeah, so basically i wanted to see everybody right NOW... 

and i finally made that possible :) :)

(1hr and 75 pictures later)
 

Love y'all lots ~ Can't wait to see y'all <3 <3

因為我們很幸...

First off: this is a picture of our team ~ including Mr. HT!! one of our kids last week drew it for us... and i LOVE it... like a ton!! try guessing who's who... :) :)

我愛我的朋友！

我的“老朋友”是珍貴的。

和我的“新朋友”是太棒了！

seriously... the adventures we had this weekend.... none could compare!! ^_^

late night with all of May's church-friends.

what an encouragement they were!

i've seriously been praying this whole year that i would find a church family...

...and i found them.

((why do they have to be a 3hr train ride away?!?!))

(yes, we have too much fun) :) :) :)

 the pictures below are from my trip up the mountain
(i forgot its name... but it sounds like "Yummy"... i think?)

Max (May's younger brother) was my amazing tour guide!!

他很英俊!!  :) :)

是的，我們知道酷 ~ ~ 
 

咖啡和我的朋友

 很好玩

很和平

我的心是快樂的
 

  

 

 Random fact of awesome craziness:

I found these in May's stash of music... boy o' boy did these bring back memories.

so yeah, this weekend was a BLAST!!

however, on a more serious note...

One thing that happened really touched my heart... 


May asked her friend and her mentor to pray over me before we left the church that night.


i was a little nervous because i hadn't had anyone pray over me since... well, since a long time ago...


we all sat down and they all started praying over me. at the same time. in Chinese. 


and it was beautiful. 


my feelings during their prayer was .... is... hard to explain.


it was like tension being released.... 


afterwards, Dhiren told me that he'd had a vision...


i was a lamb. 


i was standing by myself overlooking the many many valleys.


in my mind, there was chaos and many unanswered questions.


but in my heart there was peace... which showed through my eyes as i gazed into the distance.


although i had many questions, i had Jesus helping me. and He was giving me his peace.


i was standing near a stream and it was night time.


there were many stars and beautiful galaxies.


and i was alone in this wide world.... but i was ok, because i had my Jesus.


{{a little strange, i know... but i'm telling it like how they told it}}


afterwards the mentor-Lady explained that Jesus seemed to be saying that no matter where i go in life... and no matter what i do, i must rely on Jesus FIRST. and in turn, He will give me the peace and power to continue. 


interesting....




Okay, that's it for now ppls :)


XOXO and Love y'all lots <3 <3