2 days and counting...

Well, it's Sunday afternoon, and the family is all at home resting. This morning's services at church were good. Sunday school was the last installment of a Bible study in Acts, and I brought a message in the morning worship service on the importance of good communication within and without the church. This evening one of our trustees will be preaching, and his messages are usually interesting.

After church tonight, we're going to head home, and get the rest of our packing done so that we won't have to worry too much about it tomorrow. Tomorrow already has a lot in store what with closing off accounts and finalizing bills and all. In addition to that, the bus drivers at the school are going to be moving most of the rest of our furniture out tomorrow as our apartment has to be vacated by Wednesday. By tomorrow night, I'd imagine that all we'll have left in our apartment is our king-sized bed (which is currently in our living room so that we can sleep under the ceiling fan in there...it's been REAL hot lately), the fridge, the oven, and the washer. Still a lot to be done, and very little time in which to do it.

A huge praise for us is that we found someone to take our cocker spaniel, and the family that has agreed to take him are real dog lovers. So, we know that he's going into a good situation, and will be well cared for in the future. This is a tremendous weight off our shoulders. We were ready to take him to the shelter on Camp Red Cloud, but really didn't want to, as his future would have been rather bleak had we been forced to do that.

Pastor Rushing and company have already begun moving the furniture that was given to us by various members of the church into our home. We're both very excited to be moving into a house. It'll be the first we've lived in since being married 12 years ago. The closest we came to living in a house is a duplex in Pensacola, Florida.

Well, not much else to report at present. Just keep us in your prayers as we still have much to do...but we're sooo close!

In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey.

T-minus 8 days and counting...

Well, we have entered our last week in Korea. It's hard to think that this is true...but we're excited to be moving on. Our 7.5 years in Korea have been such a wonderful adventure full of learning experiences. God has taught us so much, and we're excited for what's on the horizon.

We've been able to use Google Earth to look around our new neighborhood a bit more in detail and we're looking forward to all the little things that there are to do around our new home. There's a waterfront park with walking paths, picnic areas, etc. just a few blocks away. The old-fashioned down-town area is even closer than that. There's an Amtrak station nearby, too, with trains that run north and south along the coast, and a couple others that run east. I'm sure we'll be venturing further than our neighborhood, but it'll be neat to have some things to do around the area.

David stole my thunder on Father's Day, this year, as his birthday fell on the same day. We had a good time at church in the morning where I had the privilege of preaching in Pastor Vasel's absence. I brought a message from Colossians 3 targeted at the Dads in the congregation as kind of a charge to do the right thing in their households. After church, we took David to Toys 'R' Us for a couple presents and lunch out. Then after the evening service we were invited over to my director's house, The Freel's, for an enchilada (!!!) dinner, which was totally a cool thing, and a great time of fellowship, during which we cut-up a cake, and sang "Happy Birthday" to David. It was a great day altogether.

Summer school is coming to a rapid close...too rapid for some of the students. Two students have already finished all their required assignments, but three are still working away. PRAY that they will get as much work done as is possible and pass.

Tomorrow, I'll be sending an application to Tabernacle Christian School in Concord, CA. They're looking for a 6th Grade teacher. PRAY that God will guide and direct this process. I have also been contacted by another, much smaller school that is looking for a teacher, too. This school uses the ACE curriculum, and it would be a one-room schoolhouse situation in which I would be teaching my kids and seven others. Please PRAY that God will continue to guide and direct our path.

We are not going to be able to take our cocker spaniel, Rollie, back to the States. From what I read online on the airline's website with which we are travelling, I thought we were going to be able to take him. I called to double-check, though, and because we are flying through Beijing, they won't allow us to take the dog. We've looked into transporting him on a different flight, but that solution had about a $900 price tag on it...not possible at all. So, please PRAY that someone will take him off our hands. He's a tremendously well-behaved and mature dog. One couple has shown a slight bit of interest, but we've not heard if they've made a final decision, yet.

Finally, continue to pray for us as we begin final preparations for leaving Korea. We're going to call a used furniture salesman tomorrow to have him come look at some of our furniture in order to possibly purchase some of the items. We've sold or given away much of our stuff to teachers that are remaining, but there are some other things that we purchased brand new out of which we'd like to recoup some money. We could use a little extra cash here in the next couple of weeks. PRAY that he would be willing to buy a lot and give us a fair deal in the process.

I'll do my best to post at least once more before we depart. I'm hopeful that it won't take too terribly long to get our internet set-up once we arrive, but I know that could take some time. I'll post again as soon as I can.

In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Kathrine Healey.
Mark 10:45

Housing Secured!

Well, as the title of the post denotes, Pastor Rushing and company have secured a house to rent for our family. This is a huge answer to prayer! It's in an older part of town, he says, but that's not a big deal for us at all. We're just happy that we have a place in which to move as soon as we arrive. The picture is of the house itself. The trees kind of obscure a lot from street level. In all, we're pleased.

In other news, Clara, Pastor Vasel's daughter, has made a full recovery! All the tests they ran showed that she is perfectly fine. The doctors said that she had suffered a severe febrile seizure, caused by an abrupt rise in body temperature. She and her parents were able to return home yesterday afternoon. Thank you on Pastor Vasel's behalf for all your prayers concerning Clara!

Summer school is in full swing, now. The first day went rather slow, with most of the attendees seemingly still in shock that they had to be there. Today, however, they buckled down and got to work, with all them taking at least one of their tests, and a couple taking two. Some of these students have a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks. Please PRAY that they will do their best and better.

Not a whole lot else going on right now. We feel like we're kind of in a holding pattern right now. There are only a few things left that need to be done, and all of them are small in comparison to what has already been accomplished. But please do continue to keep us in your prayers as those final doo-dads come together.

In His Service,

Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey.

Transition Update...

Well, here we are with only 3 days of school left, and quite frankly, time can't go fast enough.  Tomorrow is the last day of final exams for the students.  Thursday is reserved for a service project day where students and their teachers go out and do something to help the community in some way.  A couple classes are helping clean churches, others have gone tracting at the subway stop near our school in the past.  So, that gives you a general idea of what Thursday holds in store.  Friday, then, if our final chapel.  During this chapel, teachers hand-out academic awards of achievement throughout the year, and student awards for teachers are given, too.

Next Tuesday marks the beginning of summer school which I am manning this summer.  It will last until Friday, June 26, taking me practically all the way up until we leave.  Being able to do this, though, is a huge blessing in that it helped us pay for our plane tickets back to the States.  It is not very laborious, just time consuming, and time is something of which I will have a lot.  Next week during the afternoons (after summer school), I will be helping my floor waxing partner for the last time as he gets started with the daunting task of waxing all the floors in the school over the summer.  Praise the Lord, though, that we will have some former students helping us move classroom furniture (the hardest part of the job, really)!  That will make the work-load much less than what it was.

I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with our car insurance company this morning getting everything ironed out for our coverage to start on July 1st.  We also decided to get renter's insurance through USAA, too, as doing so gave us a small discount on our car insurance.  Both of them combined only came to about $83/month.  So, it continues to be a huge praise that my Dad kept that going for us while we were here in Korea.

I heard back from both Pastor Rushing and Lavoy Byars, our head deacon, about the housing situation this morning.  They are both working very hard to find a nice place for us.  Pastor Rushing sent a link to a rather nice place, is in the right price range, but doesn't allow pets.  I told them that we trust them to make the right decision, and that not being able to have a pet wasn't necessarily a deal-breaker.  In all, it seems like they have a good grasp on the market, and we trust that God will help them make the right decision for us.  Please PRAY that God will continue to guide them through this process, and that they will find His perfect place for us before we arrive.

We are going tomorrow to sign-over our car to our good friends The Lowell's.  He was my assistant coach during the soccer season.  Please PRAY that all goes smoothly during that process.  With the language barrier, it's easy to get confused when talking about these kinds of things.  So please PRAY that everything will be good to go, and the time we have to spend at the office won't be long.

Well, that's about it for now, I think.  A bit shorter than usual, but I guess you need a break every now and then...:)

In His Service,

Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David,and Katherine Healey

Transition Update...

Early yesterday afternoon my Pastor here in Uijongbu strode into my classroom waving a white envelope over his head.  The wire transfer from Bethany Baptist came through, and we now have the money to pay the movers tomorrow!  Praise the Lord!!

I must admit, however, that Tuesday was quite a bad day for me, and for the first time in about 3 years, I was quite close to tears as a result.  It started on Monday night, when Katherine accidentally left David's new Nintendo DS at the activity center on Camp Red Cloud.  We realized she forgot it before we left post, but the manager locked-up and left right behind us, and we couldn't get back in to retrieve the gadget.  We even tried going to the MPs desk at the front gate, but they couldn't help us.  So, we headed home, double-checked all the bags we had with us to no avail, and then prayed that it would still be there in the morning.  I had a soldier friend of ours call the activity center first thing in the morning, and they said it wasn't there.  Knowing that we left it there the night before, and we were the last ones to leave, our soldier friend and I decided to go look for it ourselves.  We figuratively tore the place apart, looking under couches, tables, and chairs, and even going so far as to look under all the cushions, too.  We also checked the bathrooms, and all the trash cans...nothing.  It was nagging at me that we *KNEW* that it was left in there, and the guy running the place was acting suspicious.  He couldn't recall how many people had been in there in the less than 2 hours they had been open, kept making unsolicited statements like, "oh, those are so popular and expensive", and generally just sent the vibe that he was hiding something.  So, I questioned him for quite some time, an event that neither him nor I enjoyed.  Finally, I left rather convinced that he at least knew who had taken the DS, if he had not taken it himself, but having no way to prove my theory, I chalked it up as a loss.

Then, a couple hours later, Pastor went to check the bank to see if the wire had come through, and it hadn't.  This one kind of hit me hard, especially since I was already in a foul mood as a result of the morning's proceedings.  I was expecting it to be there and ready to go, and it just wasn't.  ugh...

Then, as I was leaving school for the day at 4pm, I stopped by the office to see what my end-of-the-year paychecks were going to look like.  End-of-the-year paychecks include pay-outs of unused sick-days, unused personal days, and our paychecks covering the summer months.  I was expecting to be free and clear by about $4,000, but I found out that I was mistaken.  Tomorrow, I'll be getting my June paycheck of about $1500, and then, next week on the 2nd, I'll get my July paycheck of about $1500 and the pay-out of my sick days and so forth which will only be about $400.  I was mistaken about where the money for our plane tickets was coming from, and I was expecting much more than just $400.  You may be thinking that all those figures added together still come pretty close to $4000, but the thing is, that's the amount I was expecting to have in my pocket while boarding the plane on June 30th.  Instead, that's the amount I have a month before I'm boarding that plane, and before a month's worth of bills.  I just took the paper, and walked home.  This was the moment that I was on the verge of tears.  I felt like my chest had been ripped open by some monstrous beast who was now wringing my lungs in its massive hands.

I went home, opened the door, left my shoes there, walked directly to the bedroom, and laid down.  It's not that I didn't want to talk to anyone, I felt like I couldn't without losing it, and that just wouldn't have been fair for my family.  I laid there, hoping that I wouldn't start crying, and finally drifted off to sleep.  I woke-up about an hour and a half later feeling much better.  It's almost as if God put me to sleep (not fatally, of course), so that my mind would rest.  The foreboding pressure that I had felt all day was gone.  Thinking about the days events still brought feelings of uneasiness, but nothing like what I had experienced earlier in the day.

So, where did I go wrong on Tuesday?  Or was this "simply" a barrage of attacks by the evil one and his forces?  I've not come to a conclusion just yet, but I am leaning towards the latter, rather than the former.  But as I've been reflecting on Tuesday's events, some verses have been brought back to the forefront of my mind, and I'd like to share them with you.

Concerning the misplaced DS, Matthew 6:19-20 says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."  Yeah, yeah...I know...such an elementary verse and concept for someone going to be an assistant pastor, right?  Well, I don't know about you, but I am constantly in need of spiritual reminders, and I am constantly focusing on my surroundings and situations, rather than He who began a good work in me (Phil. 1:6).  And as I thought about these verses, more popped up. 

Concerning the wire transfer not showing up when I (!!!) expected it, Matthew 8:25-26 says this, "The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Lord, save us! We're going to drown!'  He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."  There I was in my little ship on the tumultuous seas, pacing back and forth, while Christ was calmly sleeping.  Here's something to think about: the disciples thought that they, for some reason, needed to let their omniscient Lord know what was going on.  See, Christ wasn't freaking out, so that should've told the disciples that they didn't need to be freaking out.  The funny thing about this, though, is that Christ NEVER freaks out.  He is always in control, and since He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), we should follow suit.  And really, my feelings about the end-of-the-year paychecks falls in line here, too.  As I look back at all the things God has provided for our family already, how can I legitimately raise any plausible concerns for the future?  Will there be rough spots?...probably.  Will the road always be comfortable?...probably not.  Either way, though, my God will still be at the helm and in control of everything...or He may be in the back of the boat at peaceful rest.  My job as a Christian, in both circumstances, is to only keep my eyes on Him, and follow His guidance.  Easily said, but usually done in difficulty, if done at all.

In short, rest assured, God is continuing to provide in His timing.  Please PRAY for us as tonight is the last night before the movers come.  PRAY that we will have everything organized well and ready to go.  Continue also to PRAY for the housing situation in Martinez.  PRAY that God will lead Pastor Rushing and others to the perfect place for my family and I.

In His Service,

Sam.

CRUNCH TIME OR REFLECTION TIME...OR BOTH?

Well, here we are at the beginning of review week at ICS-Uijongbu.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, "review week" is the week before final exams where you spend the entire week reviewing for what will be on the final exam.  If you're a non-core subject teacher like myself, who doesn't give final exams, it is a week full of end of the year preparations, and helping students put the semi-final touches on their final projects.

For the final project in my high school computer class, the students are tasked with constructing a 15-20 slide PowerPoint presentation on a Bible character of their choice.  I have one student doing a presentation on Moses, another doing the Apostle Paul, another doing Noah, and finally another student is doing David.  On Wednesday, we will begin listening to their actual presentations and I'm looking forward to hearing what they've come up with during their research time.

For the final project in my Digital Imaging class, the students are tasked with building a promotional and informational website on a new summer blockbuster.  They are required to draw upon every aspect of website construction which they have learned throughout the year, using the Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks programs.  It will be fun to see how well they are able to put their ideas and capabilities together.

The movers are coming THIS FRIDAY!!  It's still hard to believe that we are leaving Korea.  We've been in country for 7.5 years now, and it still feels like we've only just begun.  But God has different plans for our family, now, and we are totally excited to see what is in store.

I can't help but reflect on our last seven years, though.  Numerous questions flood my mind.  Have we done a good job?  Were we effective servants in the ministries of which we took part?  Have we had a positive impact on others?  Will we be missed?... And all of these questions, while I suppose they do have some significance and/or relevance, are focused on the wrong thing...us, or rather more pointedly, me.  While it is within our nature to wonder if we have done a good job and to search for some kind of reassurance, the truth is that there will be times that knowing if we've done a good job or finding that reassurance from a human source will not be possible.  I think God does that on purpose so that we will be forced to look to Him to find our peace and reassurance (Hebrews 12:2).  The simple fact that He is still at work in your life should be enough reassurance, and the evidence of His handiwork should be an eternal source of peace.  But often, it seems as though it isn't.  If we were all painfully honest with ourselves, we would all have to come to the same conclusion that *sometimes* we want that reassurance from our peers and/or authorities, and their reassurances are the only ones that matter at that particular moment.  It is an unfortunate  and shameful thing that we so often shun the very love, compassion, trust, and mercy that empowered us to do the work in the first place, in leiu of the temporal gratification that comes from peer or authority approval.  

I am reminded of a conversation that I had with one of my soccer players at the conclusion of this year's season.  He came to me after the tournament's award ceremony had concluded, and asked, "Coach, why didn't I get any awards?"  Now, you might be thinking, "Well, he must've been a bencher who hardly ever played."  But the opposite is actually the case.  This is a player who had played in all of our games, and started most of them.  He was second in most goals scored for our team, and he had a good number of assists, too.  And here he was, asking me, "Coach, why didn't I get any awards?"  My heart sank with the weight of choosing the right words to say.  It would've been easy to simply say, "Suck it up, trooper!  There's always next year!"  But I knew that wouldn't help at all.  In light of how I've been feeling the past few months concerning this very issue, I knew that would've thrown him off the deep end.  So, I looked him in the eye, and told him, "You've been one of the most reliable players on this team, and we couldn't have done what we did without you.  We are going to recognize your contribution to the team at another time, but remember this, you should play the game because you love playing the game, not for awards."  I went on to tell him that I understood what he was feeling, and that I knew that awards were always a good thing to get, but if we always play for awards, what happens when we don't get them?  Well, it turns out that he was awarded the Most Improved Player award at our school's athletic banquet, and he also recieved a varsity letter as a freshman.

Now I say all of that to simply say this:  In all your serving, striving, and ministering, make sure that you are doing those things for the right reason.  It isn't necessarily wrong, per se, to desire peer and/or authority approval.  But what do you do when you feel like you've done the best you possibly could've done, and your peers and authorities are silent, and all you have is a loving Savior standing in front of you with open arms saying, "Well done!"  Will that be enough for you?  I pray that it will be, and that it is.  

Just like I told my soccer player, we shouldn't be running this race for the awards at the end, although that is a promise God has given us.  And what a joy it will be to recieve that crown only to lay it back down at Jesus' feet in recognition of His being the only one worthy of such an award!  We should rather run this race with the power and ability that comes from a love for God which was fostered by His love for us.  We should desire to seek His pleasure in all that we say and do, not our own.  And as I sit here and write these things, I know them to be so true, and I still find them to be so difficult to practice.  And then I am brought to a verse that follows some of the most quoted verses in Scripture, Hebrews 12:3, "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."  It's so tiring, when we feel unappreciated, isn't it?  We need to realize though, that the only reason we feel unappreciated is because we are looking in the wrong place for that appreciation.  

In Youth Sunday School we've been going through Psalm 119 verse by verse.  If you want a good litmus test for how you are doing spiritually, compare your own spiritual life to that of the psalmist in Psalm 119, who writes this in verses 41-48, "Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.  So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.  And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.  So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.  And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.  I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.  And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.  My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes."  You see, if we were truly trusting and hoping in God's Word, and seeking after it, and delighting ourselves in it, we wouldn't fall to the desire for peer and/or authority approval because we would be consumed with the desire for God's approval alone.  My prayer is that we will endeavor to reach the place in which we are closely aligned to the words found in Psalm 119:41-48.

By way of update, the treasurer of Bethany Baptist wired the money on Friday.  Unfortunately, with today being Memorial Day, the bank on post is closed, and we have no way of checking to make sure that the wire went through safely until tomorrow.  My pastor here said today that he will check first thing tomorrow.  We are trusting that all is well, and that the transaction has been completed with no problems.  It never hurts to PRAY towards that end, though. 

Also continue to PRAY that Dulcy and I will be able to get everything in line and ready for the movers visit this Friday.  Since I am at school all day, this is more of a request for Dulcy's sake than my own.  She has given me responsibilities, but for the most part she has been tasked with getting things ready to go.  The movers will be packing everything for us, but we are setting things apart that are not going to be shipped.  So, simply PRAY that everything will come together in due fashion.

That's about it for now, I think.  Thank you all again for all your prayers and support.

In His Service,

Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, and Katherine Healey.

Mark 10:45

  

Another Update...Already...:)

I got a few emails from Pastor Rushing this morning, and they each included some news that I thought I should pass along to you all.  It's always better to have the most information possible in order to know how to pray.

1)  The treasurer of the church in Martinez thought it best to go ahead and stop payment on the check that has been sent.  So, we will be sending him the information for a bank wire transfer today in order to get that taken care of as quickly as possible.  PRAY that the transfer will go through smoothly and quickly as we only have 8 days before we have to pay the movers in-full.  Praise the Lord, though, that the check did not fall into the hands of the wrong people!

2)  The house for rent that the church had found has officially fell through.  So, they are beginning to look at other options for renting and/or purchasing, whichever avenue will be the better financial decision.  We will be giving the church's address to the moving company in order to have our belongings sent to the church since we don't have a definite housing arrangement, yet.  This is God's leading, and we are sure that He has something better in store for us.  Please PRAY that those looking will be lead to God's specific will for us.

Thank you again for your prayers!  More to come as news avails itself...stay tuned!

In His Service,

Sam.