2 weeks, q rapido!

Friday was the last day of classes with the 5th, 7th, and 8th graders.  What a day.  It was not emotional knowing that I would be seeing them all again this week for exams, but the goofiness, the joy of seeing understanding on their faces after a difficult explanation, the jokes, the hugs, the "Good morning, Miss!" 's... these things I will miss.  And although some of them have mad me royally angry at times and others I never got to know as well as I would like, here are the classes I'm so very proud of and so thankful God put in my life this year...

5th grade section "A"

5th grade section "B"

7th section "B" (probably my best class, but shhhhhh!... it's a secret, they get big heads really easily)

8th "B" the girls

8th "B" the infamous boys (I'm relatively sure one of them is getting his butt pinched in the picture... hopefully some of them will grow out of it...maybe...eventually)

8th "A" the girls

8th "A" the boys

7th section "A"

And as all of us missionaries keep on saying to each other:  I can't believe the year is already over!  Just like any experience such as this there is no way to capture in words or explain what it has meant to me.  I can only thank God for the experiences, encounters, and lessons learned and pray that my students saw glimpses of Him in me.

Hace mucha falta!

So now that I'm feeling nice and sad, here's the funnies from last week:

4th grade student in Kadian's class: MISS!!! Alejandro just erupted!!! ("eruptar" meaning "to burp" in Spanish;-)

At the grocery store, Kadian to the armed guard (pointing to the 'grocery' price tag on his gun): "Con permiso... cuanto cuesta?"

I'M ALREADY MISSING IT HERE!

Reflections on the Night...

I have a lot to catch up on here, (the least of which is not the last day of classes today!!!) but I'll add that maybe tomorrow.  For now I just want to reflect a little on tonight's Bible study with the hogar girls.  We had a good crowd there tonight and all of the regulars (except one) were back from various absences the last couple of weeks.  The topic for tonight was: Lies having to do with Satan.  There were some obviously relevant topics, especially having to do with horoscopes, witchcraft, etc.  But toward the end of the study a storm blew in and it became difficult to hear and talk for the rain pounding on the roof...

Lightening struck several times very near and the girls started getting nervous.  Whether or not they were just putting on a show because its fun to act scared with a bunch of girls, I don't know.  But one of the claps of thunder had all of the girls sitting near the window on the floor after having jumped out of their seats from fright.  One girl made the comment, "God's angry about something."  And in that moment, a dozen thoughts whirred through my head leaving me with the most potent desire to help those girls see the God that I see when I watch and listen to a storm.

God is to be feared.  He is terrible to behold in all is glory and might.  And indeed a small taste of that can be seen in the storms and in the lightening, and the startling claps of thunder.  His majesty and holiness are nothing to joke about, but everything to fear since we are but rebellious sinners who have done nothing in our lives but defile that majesty and holiness with our words, actions, thoughts, and attitudes.  However, the glory of God can only be fully revealed if we understand and respect this aspect of God while acknowledging and gazing upon his desire to demonstrate his love toward us.  How amazing that a completely Holy God can look upon us who are as guilty as sin and say, "innocent."

But the question is how in the world could I begin to get those girls to see that too?  How can I begin to help anybody see that too who hasn't come to that realization?  God-sized job.

Nap & Coffee

After a 3 hour nap this afternoon, I realized how tired I really must have been after this past week.  One more week like that of classes and then we are done with the normal weeks.  All that's left is exams of various kinds: final exams, partial recuperation exams, reinforcement tutoring, and annual recuperation exams.  Not to mention grades, grades, grades... Lol.

But the nap in combination with coffee during card night with the Brewsters has be up at this ridiculous hour.  So not wanting to do more school work tonight, the only thing left to do....

Start the packing process :-)  I think it has finally sunk in that yes, June 15th is going to arrive, and quicker than expected.  And yes, I really am going home.  Weirdest feeling ever, but it'll be sweet once we get through and arrive on the other side.

"In you, LORD my God, 

   I put my trust.

 ² I trust in you;
   do not let me be put to shame,
   nor let my enemies triumph over me.
³ No one who hopes in you
   will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
   who are treacherous without cause.

 ⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,
   teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my Savior,
   and my hope is in you all day long."

Psalm 25:1-5

One down, three to go...

Friday marked the end of classes with 6th grade.  They had their final exams last week, so aside from the 4 of them I will be giving recuperation class and tests to, I've had my last classes with those crazy kids.  Although my lessons were not really that fun, they were probably one of the more fun grades to teach.  So much personality packed into 44 students: from the girly girls, the class clowns (Mariano and Angel), and the smarty-pants (David, Martinez, William, and Gustavo) of 6A to the ruckus and chaos that was 6B.  It's been a good year with them.  And no matter how much I did or didn't manage to teach them in this short year, I hope I always remember how they taught me to laugh.

the 6B class

The best and worst student of 6B, both of whom could make me laugh no matter how mad I was at the class.

The ridiculous boys of 6A, class clown Mariano right in the middle falling because he'd jumped off a chair for the pic.

German and Carlos sliding across the floors.  They had a little too much energy to be inside... Always.

The 6A girls who were very loving even if they weren't the best students all the time.

Inside the 6A classroom after I finally pried the Sharpies out of their hands .  They were a little enthusiastic about decorating the flag.  But where were the boys?....

Doing what they loved best of course!

One grade done.  Now I just have to get the other three to finish up :-)

29 days...

No!  There's no time to blog.  I leave in 29 days and we have a week and a half of classes, 3 partials exams to give, 3 reinforcement classes to teach, 9 more recuperation exams to write, 120 something exams to grade and the same number of grades to enter in the computer... then hand-copy into a notebook for the administration :-)

Close, yet so far :-)

No Electricidad

Came home to this lovely, dark house Tuesday.  Work by candle light... my favorite :-)

Being this close to the end of my adventure here, you start thinking about all of the things you're gonna miss.  Losing electricity or having voltage issues that light up your house like the second-coming isn't exactly something I'll miss, but it has been kind of fun.  At the top of the list so far...

The Students

The Babies

The Local Cuisine

Tres Leches Cake!

 Many more things to come I'm sure.

35 days :-)

Another one bites the dust

One more teaching week down, and only 3 to go.  And then another 2 1/2 before I board the plane :-)  Even if I've said it before, I have to say it again:  this is the most bittersweet time I have ever experienced!  I'm so ready to see my friends and family again, yet so not ready to give up eating mango everyday, lol.  In my head I have started a long list of things that I'll get to do when I get home that I can't here and for the sake of not annoying everyone around me when I get home, I'll need to start a written list of "Now I can's" so they don't have to listen to me saying them every 10 minutes, haha.

Story of the week:  Got locked in the 5th grade classroom after school on Wednesday.  I was in the back of the classroom hanging up posters on the wall, when the guide teacher walked by and dead-bolted the door from the outside.  I tried yelling at her but she was too far away.  Instead I waited at the door until someone passed by and the first person happened to be one of my 8th graders.  She jumped when I yelled her name through the window and as soon as she realized what was going on her eyes got big and she started running after Miss Kathy for the keys.  Of course, along the way she told a few of the others and 8 of the 8th graders come running back with the keys laughing at me.  Lovely.

We also had a baby shower after school for the school psychologist which was... we'll just say I was glad I wasn't understanding all the Spanish because apparently the Hondurans have very few druthers talking about baby stuff and one of the young men in the room (couldn't decide if men being their was normal or if they were just there for the food) decided he need to have a loud comment about almost everything said.

Bible study with the girls was a little rocky this week because we had to do it early, so we were out of routine.  However, we did uncover a topic that we really need to cover as far as lies and knowing the truth.  That was:  the end of the world.  They probably haven't been taught much if anything about what the Bible truly teaches about it and were asking Emily odd questions like, "When Jesus comes, what will you give him?"  And they all seemed to be jokingly hiding their fears about it.  Something to pray for.

Mother's Day being tomorrow, I'd also like to just say that God has blessed me with the most wonderful mother, without whom I never could have made it through this year.  She encourages me, keeps my head on straight, and is never afraid to tell me how it is.  Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  Love you much!  And I also have an incredible Grandmother who has kept us well covered with prayers and with treats from home.  Happy Mother's Day Mom ma!  Love you!

Grace like...

"King for a slave 
Trading your righteousness for shame 
Despite all my pride and foolish ways 
Caught in your infinite embrace, oh 

And I find myself here on my knees again 
Caught up in grace like an avalanche..."


Grace like an avalanche.  An avalanche.  


A waterfall isn't exactly an avalanche, but you can have a fraction of the understanding after standing under the pounding water of a 43 meter fall.

The word "grace" gets so puny in my mind sometimes.  Sometimes we need to be reminded that it is a mighty force.  A mighty force in our lives to effect change and bring about new life.  Like an avalanche.  Not a precious little sprinkling or a refreshing mist... like a waterfall.


What a mighty God we serve.

Welcome May

We are in the middle of the hot season right now, and it is definitely HOT.  Usually between 85 and 95 everyday, you basically get used to being hot and sweaty all the time.  But one deliciously sweet thing that comes out of this season:  MANGOES!

Cold mango for breakfast on a hot morning... I am so going to miss this place!

Favorite quote from the week, from Andrea (5th):  Miss, don't exaggerate the cosas!   You might have had to be there to appreciate how funny it was, but her face and attitude while saying it in response to my teasing her about something was hilarious... and that was way too much explanation for it to be funny.... moving on....

Our Bible study with the girls at the hogar has been moved from Wednesday to Friday nights, and it occurred to me that I haven't really posted anything about the Bible study or how it's going.  We just started a new book called, "Mentiras que los Jovens Creen" (Lies that young people believe).  And it has taken with the girls really well!  We had one of the best discussion times last night talking about how the lies of the Devil have no power unless we start to believe them.  The first mistake that Eve might have made was not actually eating the fruit, but sitting herself beside the tree and creating the opportunity for the Devil to tempt her.  Then she listened to the lies, considered the lies, and believed the lies before acting on them.  Slippery slope.  Makes me think twice about all the garbage I let into my mind and heart everyday.  If the Bible teaches us that the little things matter, then maybe abstaining more from some of the junk isn't prudish, but wise...

44 days :-)