so, normally on a monday evening at 8pm i'd be about two hours shy of the end of classes for the day. this evening has seemed to stretch on f-o-r-e-v-e-r. that is good...just really weird. i keep looking at the clock,  thinking it's hours later than it actually is. and i can't tell you how awesome it is not to have some homework assignment looming over me.
but...i miss my classmates! when  you are learning massage, you learn all the ins & outs, functions and abilities of the entire body. and you get to know your classmates very, very well. there were many challenges we all had to face, and overcome throughout this year and some odd months. it was really great to have Dh, Z, K, S, and Db there (as well as Willi), to encourage me, and help me through things that were difficult for me. i am so, so grateful to have met them, and since i am sitting here thinking about how strange it is to not be spending the evening with them, i think i will tell you all about our strange little crew.

to begin with, the class started with around 10 students...some things happened (a lot of which i am still not all that clear about) within the school and classes were postponed a month, with the option for each student to stay enrolled, or to dis-enroll with no penalties and a full refund. when classes resumed, there were 3 students remaining. Dh, Z, and Db. within the next few weeks, K and i would contact the school and be offered spots in the program. a month later S followed.

Dh is one of the sweetest, most caring, encouraging, God-trusting, REAL women i have ever met in the entirety of my existence. she is in her late 40s, a devoted mom of 5, and loving grandmother to 8...with one on the way. Dh is very mild mannered, and was a nurse until a few years ago, when she quit her job to stay home and care for her grandchildren so her kids could work. Dh shares her home with her husband, and FOURTEEN of their family members. she enrolled in PMI because she felt God calling her to use massage as a ministry tool....somehow. she (much like myself) is still not sure how this will come about, or to what capacity she will be using her education. but that's okay. :) did i mention she is sweet? and nurturing? and freaking awesome? she is. ♥

Z is fresh out of high school. at first glance, i was honestly a teeny bit scared of her. hahahahaa. this is ridiculous to me now, but serves as an example of how easily we tend to judge people before getting to know them. Z is kind of rough around the edges, but she's got a very tender heart. she loves to do things for people, but has built up walls to protect herself. she hasn't had the easiest time of it. there are lots of people who treat her badly, and that makes me angry. she can be crass, rude, and disrespectful at times, but only as a defense mechanism. i've gone from wanting to hide from her to wanting to protect her. she is brave, and also afraid..and always willing to give something a try, and always willing to listen to advice that is given with a healthy dose of love. Z has become like the additional little sister i didn't know i wanted. heheh.

Db is a free spirit. she is crazy and predictably unpredictable. she was a student in the program 5 years ago and suddenly dropped out on a whim, in order to travel across the country, living like a gypsy. in fact, she IS a gypsy. Db has some of the most interesting family heritage i've come across in a while. she's got a grandmother on each side of her family who was 1/2 jewish. one was jewish & romani gypsy, and the other is jewish & catholic. she's kind of got mixed up ideas about theology and has practiced almost every religion you can possibly imagine...most recently one that she made up herself. she is searching, seeking, and trying to heal on her own after being hurt or let down by so many. i'm working on showing her that not all who follow Christ are hypocritical, religious, and hateful. it's been a bit of a road, she's been belittled and berated by "christians" and, having been raised in a christian home herself, really knows how to argue. non-believers who know the Bible are the most challenging sort. despite the differences in our faiths, Db has become a very good friend. she's fun..our personalities are really similar, as are our general moral beliefs and opinions on lots of different topics. i think of all my classmates, Db and i are most kindred.

K is a late twenties prim & proper dental office receptionist. of all my classmates, i probably know the least about K, which is strange to me because she was with me from day one. she was just as nervous and unsure as i was, but, like me, was ready for a change in her life. K is really private, and can come off as cold and sarcastic...but i appreciate a dry sense of humor, and once K warms up to you she is a fierce ally. about half way through our second semester, K announced that she was also about halfway through her first TRImester... yay for babies! ♥

S was the last to join our little class. she is tough. as soon as i saw her i thought, "that girl plays softball. and probably volleyball." i was right...on both counts. :) what i didn't know was that she was also a preschool teacher, like me. she became interested in massage because about 10 years ago, she was taught by-hospice nurses-how to relieve the edema in her mother's arms  following the removal of her lymph nodes, because of cancer. S lost her mom when she was still in high school, which gave her both a strength and a gentleness that i admire. S is probably the most determined of our group. she may have started the latest, but she finished just as strong as any of us, and i am proud to call her a friend as well as a colleague in both of my professions. :)

and then there's me. a burnt out single mama, grasping at straws. trying to hang on, trying to be a light, and fumbling down a road that seems bumpy and twisty most of the time..never quite sure of myself, but always sure of one thing- God has a plan for me...a plan for good, and not evil. my steps are ordered by Him, and so long as i trust Him, and follow Him He will lead me and will never, ever let me down.....even when the way i am going feels crazy. :)

"The Lord will guide you continually..." Isaiah 58:11

this is what makes me smile:
one of my favorite versions of one of my favorite songs...