I have many pictures and adventures to share, but unfortunately my computer is being finicky and refuses to recognize any outside sources. But stay tuned, pictures are coming!

So, instead of going into a monologue about the changes in my life on the lovely island Guam, I'll give you a list:

• I'm currently running the school at a second location. So in the mornings at around 6:30am,  I leave the house and drive about 25 minutes to the other school. I unlock the building, turn on the air con, water, and lights, of course. I make sure everything is set up properly and that the students have all of their workbooks. I just love my students.
• We're reading The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis as a class. Oh, how thrilling to experience the excitement of certain students, on the edge of their seats, grinning and gasping throughout the adventure.
• My youngest student is seven and my oldest is eighteen.
• The other location (which I also work at in the afternoons) currently has six Korean children. When the parents come to pick them up, they always bow to me! It's so cool to be around such a mix of cultures. We are the melting pot of the Pacific, you know.
• I live upstairs in the main school, which is a gorgeous house, on the edge of a cliff (that you can CLIMB DOWN) next to the lovely blue waters. I'm so blessed; it's insane. But before you begin making jokes about how I'm not living the "missionary life," haha, I'll add that there is a rat living in the wall of my closet, and he likes to converse with me through a type of "rat Morse code" scratching. yick. Actually, this morning there was a rat in the kitchen. I yelled for Pastor Bill, and he disposed of the creature. yick (once again).
• Every night the sunset is a sweet and new surprise. Worries fade as I lean over that railing and begin to breathe again. No, I'm not a perfect teacher and I get caught up in the little things instead of the big ones sometimes. But in that sunset, from that sunset I am reminded that HE IS everything I need. And yes, I am incapable of truly being great without Him. But the whole reason for living is to be with Him, right? 
• I'm learning that it is impossible to "fix" a child or permanently reform their character by managing their behavior. It must come from the inside out. They must surrender to Jesus Christ.
• Please pray for the people of this island. Many of the girls are eleven going on thirty, much too aware of the world and all the nasty it offers. They want to be loved, because many aren't loved at home by their daddies. And then you have boys who have no reason to refuse the attention from these aggressive girls.
• I love the people here. And it saddens me that there are so many people without filters; they just take it all in, anything. Whatever they feel like, they do it. And why not? If you don't know the Lord Jesus, what does life have to offer? What is the purpose of living other than to do whatever feels nice in that moment?

My encouragement to those of you who read my blog would be this: find those young people who need a godly influence and love them. Show them to Jesus. He's the only way true change will come. We can dress these girls up in skirts (which we do at school), and that's okay, but we must remember that who they really are is more than skin deep. Clothes won't cover their sins; only Jesus can do that. Please pray that I would have wisdom in ALL areas. We have (both schools combined) about fifty students, and we're still enrolling.

love to all and glory to God,
Audrey Ann

Happy 50th birthday, Dad!

Dedicated to my father, 

Jonathan Day Sanders, 

who is always thinking, praying, 

and seeking to learn something new

"People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live...[We] never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born."
~Albert Einstein

You can listen to "our song" here

What he's taught me:

1. Duct tape is a useful tool in all dilemmas, including golden high heel dress up shoes (except, not really).

2. The only way to eat cake is in a bowl doused with milk, preferably skim.

3. Increase in age does not mean decrease in ambition or purpose. Live for the Lord, whether seven or seventy-five.

4. If you're frustrated, be productive: build something, plant something, do something.

5. As long as you're learning, you're living. Once you stop being able or willing to learn, a great part of living is lost.

6. Retirement is not in the Bible.

7. Kites aren't just for flying, but for aerial photography:

You can read about the project here

Isn't our little neighborhood darling?

8. Oatmeal is best enjoyed fresh off the stove, still in the pot. And a meal should be served on.the.table...not.the.counter.

9. Pancakes must never cool before consumption. Microwaving them is disgusting and not an option.

10. Confrontation should be avoided, unless a particular outcome is important.

11. Silence does not equal peace.

12. Riding a bike through Walmart is totally acceptable, even while your ten-year-old daughter covers her face in horror.

13. Shopping carts are not to be pushed back to the car, but ridden--by running and then jumping on the back.

14. God's Word is to be followed, trusted, and searched above all other guides and influences. 

15. The best kind of Bibles are the ones taped back together.

16. A balanced breakfast consists of Shredded Wheat, skim milk, open Bible, open World Almanac, and strong coffee.

17. The best movies are black and white with a man's deep voice droning on in the background (aka documentaries, people) [writer's note: Dad loves to study history, and has given me the same love, but I have to admit, a bajillion hours of "Building the Hoover Dam" is just too much for me. But what fond memories I have of falling asleep to the Lewis and Clark expedition documentaries and Ken Burns' "The Civil War" and the unforgettable song]

18.Sometimes just being outside makes things better.

19. Camping is good; a starry sky makes for the best ceiling.

20.  I (his daughter) am just as lovely with crazy hair, wearing a flannel shirt, Ben's basketball shorts, and flip-flops. [writer's note: Okay, he believes this more than I do, but his acceptance of me encourages me to seek God with hope, not dismay.]

21. The best time to plant a tree was fifty years ago, but the second best time is today.

22. Planting trees is the best way to "go green," not spending $70 for a t-shirt made of bamboo that says, "I heart the earth" on the front.

23. God created the world in six literal days; believing Genesis is important.

24. Sincerity is not always enough.

25. Debt is like a ball and chains, you can try to hide it, but in the end, it's likely to keep you from going where you need to go and doing what you need to do.

26. The Holy Spirit moves in ways we don't understand at times, but we must always be sensitive and never ashamed.

Ways he's blessed my life:

27. Playing the guitar to me at bedtime

28. Letting me put bows in his hair, when I was little

29. Reading to my brothers and me at night, "One more chapter, Daddy, please!"

30. Being involved with the previous "menfolk" in my life

31. Telling me I'm pretty

32. Hours of theological talks on the porch

33. ALWAYS remembering Valentine's Day. When I was in college, he sent chocolate, not only for me, but for my friends, too! Here I am with my package this year on Guam:

"Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes." ~Gloria Naylor

34. Inside his hug is the safest place.

He...

35. cares about "who" I am more than "what" I am.

36. loves his family and refuses to give up on us when we fall, because he trusts God. truly.

37. listens, and isn't a reactionary dad, but contemplative and thoughtful.

38. is a truth seeker.

39. was Mr. Indiana State University in body building. I would post pictures, but I don't want to risk being disowned. ;)

40. won a triathlon.

41. builds radios.

42. was in a band (their songs were great... "Cast your cares upon the Lord").

43. lets me cry, but points me to Hope.

44. was the first person I walzed with... :)

45. took me to the Grand Canyon and the American Girl Place (and to lots of awesome historical locations).

46. is still growing, changing, learning, etc.

47. taught me to think critically and with a biblical worldview.

48. built the majority of our house (and did a beautiful job).

49. is true to my mama.

50. happens to be the best dad ever.

When I was writing this, I realized that it's the "little" moments with my Dad that were so precious and linger long in my heart. It was and is...

-the late evenings in the garage, me chattering about youth group drama and him bent over the dying lawnmower.

-Saturday mornings, him painting some room, while I'm still chattering on...

-singing together in the evenings, playing guitar and piano.

-the hours of algebra (although, I must admit, my mind typically took an extensive leave of absence).

-his truck gone early in the morning. He is the provider.

-me huffing out worries to him about the future as we trot down the country road, both of us hoping to get in a decent workout.

-his words, "Well, let's pray."

-a furrowed brow, when he's worried about me--it shows he cares.

-the way he studies up on Guam, my flights, and the way he supports me in the moment.
-his invention ideas.
-him sending me pictures of grammatical errors.
-the assurance the at any moment of any day, I have a dad who will save the day. He loves Jesus and loves his family. He is a man of honor, and I am proud to be his daughter.

Dad, thanks for seeing past every facade, 
every pimple, every tear, every loss or gain, and every worry. 
May you live your days for the One who so graciously gives.

Happy 50th birthday! I love you. 

hugs and kisses, Squirrel Girl

in all things...

You mutter it when a man flings his arm to stop the smashing of closing door to your face, while passing him in a crowded rush. "Thanks," you say. But in all things?

Do we give thanks, do we feel thanks, do we know thanks?

I'm reading and losing my breath over Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. My soul is filling with the truth of an overabundance of gifts I've never recognized, let alone shown my recognition to God. And joy is given from Him when we recognize those gifts and hug Him in our hearts for them. so many. so very many.

Prone to see the loss instead of the gain, prone to weep over the past, for the past instead of jump for joy over today, for today, that's what I am.

I'm not trying to be a spiritual cheerleader, waving Pollyanna pom poms in your face, because I wrestle myself. I wonder, is it ignorant to focus on grace? Is it unintelligent to delight in the "little things," in chocolate smudged on a little boy's grinning face, or in the dance of a candle's flame, or in the pink vine weeds out back? Aren't we supposed to focus on higher things?

But what higher things? What is higher than His gifts? "For God so loved the world that He gave..." Jesus. Our very life and eternity hangs in the balance over our humble and joyful recognition of this Gift. And this Gift works a miracle in our hearts and souls--transforms us. life. new life.

"But what about this?" Satan snickers.
"Wouldn't your life be better if you had this?"
"Why did He take that away, take him away?"
"If you do this, it will make it feel better, ease that pain."

Voskamp writes, "That Serpent, he's slithered with the lie that God doesn't give good but gives rocks in the mouth, leaves us to starve empty in wilderness and we'll just have to take lessons from Satan on how to take the stones of the careless God and make them into bread to feed our own hungry souls" (95-96).

Oh, no. Remember? "No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).

every word.  every.single.one.
Even the ones that summoned a flood
Even the ones that commanded slaughter
Even the ones that forbid Moses to enter the Promised Land
Even the ones that nailed Jesus to a cross
Even the ones that set. me. free.

thanks. in all things. I'm learning to live like this. And oh, how full it is to live, not as a parading Pollyanna, but as a wide-eyed child of the living God.

I will notice. I will give thanks. And I will live surprised by joy.