Life to the Fullest

If you haven't read it yet, please go buy a copy of the book Kisses From Katie.

This book is changing my life, as well as the lives of my good teacher friends here in Honduras.

My birthday is in August..... hint, hint.

You can check out http://www.amazima.org/ or Katie's personal blog, http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ to learn more about the amazing story of the girl who moved to Uganda after high school to help orphans for "one year" and ended up adopting 14 girls, along with changing the lives of thousands. She's only 22 and has done SO much.  As my friends and I prepare to leave our lives of service here in Honduras, and as we wonder what is in store for us in the future, this book has given us both hope in God's provision and also a bit of trepidation as we prepare to return to the life that Katie gave up.  Below is a part of the book that spoke to me, because living an American life of mediocracy is certainly not what I want.

"Fear. It's part of human nature, but it's not something we got from God. Second Timothy 1:7 says: 'For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.' When I imagine God creating each one of us and planting a purpose deep in our hearts, I never imagine that purpose being mediocrity. While the Bible doesn't tell every person on earth specifically what his or her life's calling will be, it does include a lot of general direction:
    "You are to find me in the least of these." Yes.
    " You are to leave your earthly possessions and come follow me."  Yes.
    "You are to love and serve the Lord God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself." Yes.
    "You are to go and make disciples of all nations."  Yes.
    "You are to entertain strangers and lepers and tax collectors." Yes.
    "You are to live a life of mediocrity and abundance, holding on tight to your comfortable lifestyle, lest you lose it." No.
I don't think so. "Mediocrity and abundance" aren't there. However, mediocrity and abundance, comfort and ease, do seem to be safe choices for many people, myself included. In stark contrast, leaving our possessions, following Jesus when we don't have a well-defined plan, and entertaining strangers--well, that does sound a little scary. But what if, just beyond that risk, just beyond the fear is a life better than anything we have every imagined: life to the fullest."

Kisses From Katie, p. 100

I know myself and the lure of American consumerism that hits me every time I return to the States.  Everyone has more. Everything is nice and new and shiny and safe... and I compare myself and my things to them.  My current prayer for Daniel and I, my goal for our life in the States, is that we do not get lured into a life of mediocracy and abundance.  I don't want a full house that ties us down.  I don't want so much comfort that we can't just pick up and leave if God calls us to do so.  I want to live life to the fullest, and by full I mean as materially empty and as full of God's provision as possible.  

My Melted Heart

Yesterday my heart melted and I think it's still a sappy, drippy mess inside my chest.  

I took a little trip to el centro with three of my dear friends yesterday.  They work with me, but are also  involved in The Micah Project, an organization that works with boys on the streets.  They have gotten to know lots of street boys through a Thursday afternoon soccer event that Micah hosts. The purpose of our trip yesterday was to find some of the boys and buy them lunch.  

I had no idea what to expect upon meeting these boys.  I honestly didn't even know we were going to be hanging out with them until we left the house that afternoon.  The boys we met up with ranged in age from about ten to 18.  Some had large sacks full of the recyclables they'd collected that day, others had bottles of glue stuck in their shirts for sniffing, one had a shoebox for the money he begged for.   A few of them wore the new shoes that my friends' students donated to Micah Project to distribute.  

After sitting around in the park making mother's day cards for a bit, we took the kids to Little Caesars for pizza.  The guard outside promised to watch over their bags of recyclables, and the boys with bottles of glue left them outside, too.   The boys all washed their hands, as told, and sat patiently waiting for the food to arrive.  

When it did, I was shocked that not a single one of the ten boys grabbed at anything before being offered. As I poured the Coke into cups at the table, I remembered all the parties I've had with my spoiled students, during which they'd flock to the food table, beg for more, and grab-grab-grab before being given directions.  These boys, on the other hand, just watched and waited.  

Before the food was out and ready, a man walked in and gave a fairly common speech.  My son was hurt in an accident.  The doctors say he needs x-y-z.  I hate to have to ask, but we need money for his treatment.  These petitions often happen on buses, or restaurants, or from people walking door to door.  I, frankly, am accustomed to pretending I don't understand or flat out ignoring them. 

During this man's speech, I was, as usual, not paying close attention. The boys, however, stared, listening with rapt attention.  They were only people in the restaurant, actually, to be doing so.  When Brian, the boy to my right, noticed my inattention, he gave me a nudge and pointed at the man as if to say, "Don't you see he's talking!" 

When the man finished his schpeal, one of our boys, a quiet pre-teen who'd joined us after the card-making, pulled out a small wad of crumpled Lempiras and waved the man over to take them.   Following his lead, three more of the boys handed over a few bills as well.  They were the only people in the restaurant to give. 

My heart split in two, I swear.  I held back tears, silently berating myself for ignoring the man, for deciding not to give him anything before he even opened his mouth, while these impoverished boys gave their attention and the little money they had.  

Lunch ended.  Several boys quickly stood to leave upon finishing their pizza and coke.  When we asked where they were headed so quickly, they responded, "a pedir."   To beg.   

Mom gets mad if they take too long of a break.  

Mark 12:41-44
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Friday News

1) I have a student teacher!

After a day's delay due to all that alleged snow in the north, Kelley arrived safely and has spent two days in 3C with me and my wild things. It is unnerving and yet feels slightly natural having her there. I'm excited about what this means for the next few months of teaching. Already her help has been amazing. Today I left school almost all caught up--something that hasn't happened on a Friday afternoon in a long time.

2) Something I've been happy about in the classroom lately is how well my kids are responding to a kid's book I really enjoy: The Thing About Georgie, a fun chapter book about a 4th grade boy who is a dwarf, struggling with the fact that he'll never be a musician like his parents and fearful that the new, normal-sized baby on the way will be.

3) Pray for Honduras. Think Mexico City and Man on Fire and you'll have an idea of what has been going on around here lately. Nearly every day my students' prayer requests relate to some kid or another (or adult, actually) who has been kidnapped. Praise the Lord that one 15 year old in San Pedro Sula made it home this week! In our latest staff meeting we learned that the climate of our school's families is one of fear. Our kids are the kinds of kids targeted, and many of them are terrified. It makes me feel ill just thinking of the possibility of something like this happening to one of my own.

4) These verses from Jeremiah chapter 9 spoke to me this week. Hmm... reading it again after writing the above makes me think about them together. What do you think?

v. 23-24.....This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,"

A long weekend (finally!); good friends; a good story...

Well, it seems that Swine Flu is spreading itself around Tegus again. Unfortunately, several kids at Pinares caught it, including one of my students. On Wednesday my kids weren't allowed to come to school, and then when even more cases were discovered they just closed all of the elementary for Thursday and Friday. Which meant our first long weekend in a long time! If you read my previous post about Donald Miller, or if you've read his latest book, you know what I mean by living a good story. I feel that I did a pretty good job this weekend!
So, I started with a little TLC by spending a lazy Thursday meeting friends for lunch, hanging out by the pool at Hotel Maya, and dinner with the novio.
On Friday a group of 5 of us headed up the mountain to the entrance to the national park we live near, called La Tigra. Our amazing friend and coworker Janice borrowed a car and drove us there--she's the best! We took our time and hiked for a couple of hoursout to a waterfall where we ate lunch and then we kept hiking across the mountain to the other entrance that is in a tiny pueblo called San Juancito, it's an old mining town that still has abandoned wood-and-tin-roof-houses built by the New York mining company that split about 50 years or so ago. Once in San Juancito we walked out to a little hostel (really just a cabin big enough for 5) owned by a German couple who moved here about 11 years ago. They made us a delicious vegetarian dinner and we got a tour of their awesome property!

We left earlyish on Saturday because Sarah and I were going to meet up with Macayla that afternoon to head out to a transition home. The ministry that Macayla is very involved in, Manos Extendidas, recently started a transition home that houses 4 girls who were in orphanages or detention centers. This was their response after discovering that most of these young teen girls would wind up pregnant within 6 months of leaving the orphanages. So Sarah, Macayla, and I spent the evening baking, watching a movie, and just having fun with these wonderful, precious girls. Oh, and we got our hair done, as well. :)



And to top it all off, I even went to a little museum of Honduras' air force with Daniel on Sunday. Let's just say, by the time my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, I felt quite accomplished, but also not really in the mood to let my long weekend of amazingness end!

Exhausted but good...

I am 4 full-days and 3 half-days deep into the school year. I have been working my tail off trying to get things in order all week. Today was open house. The students left at 11:30 and Open House was from 2:00-5:00. I got to meet some of the Tegucigalpa elite and tell them how great their children are doing (which, after only a week, they really are). My class is sweet and young (in Mexico, my third graders had a year of pre-first before first grade, so they were actually fourth-grade ages). It is taking some getting used to just knowing what their ability levels and emotional levels are. Some of them are really just babies. :) In a good way, usually.

This place is such a mix of cultures and lifestyles. Last weekend I got to help out at the feeding center Macayla is involved with. It is through an organization called Manos Extendidas (check them out: http://www.mehonduras.org/). They have child-sponsorship programs and we participated in their bible lesson and food distribution (of an interesting rice-milk-mush). It was so humbling, and kind of crazy, to descend off of our mountain where some of the homes are mansions with full-time armed guards, into a part of town that only receives water once a week or so and has homes made of scrap materials and dirt floors.

I have visited a few churches so far and am trying to find a fit. Pray that I can get involved in a church here. That was something I never successfully did in Mexico.

Semillas Honduras

Please pray for, and consider supporting, my friend Macayla's new project with teen girls.

http://www.semillashonduras.blogspot.com/

What you've missed...

Ok... so I felt a little guilty posting about the luxury beach vacation without posting anything about the daily life things that I've been doing lately. Here is my attempt to reconcile....

During our life science unit, we briefly studied animal instincts. The kids tried to build bird nests to demonstrate that they do NOT have that instinct!

Three of the Lincoln teachers and myself were invited to the home of my student, Zuriel (the little guy in the picture) for lunch. His brother Isaí is on the right. Their parents work at Lincoln and they are the most precious family! Just look at that sign above them, "Welcome to your Mexican house". After eating, we went to a local park and played football and soccer for a couple of hours. It was a really good time.... and quite possibly my first time playing soccer!

There are still friendly (or not so friendly) guests in our classrooms. This is a picture of a black widow that I was fortunate enough to watch as she caught her prey, a bee. I took a video and used my awesome Mac computer's abilities to create a video for my kids to watch. It was perfect timing since we were reading Charlotte's Web and also studying insect life cycles and food chains. I will try to post that video somehow, someday.

A couple of weeks ago was the fifth anniversary of the kid's club in Arenales, where some of us have been volunteering on Saturdays. There was a big party, and Holly, Christen, and I were in charge of face painting. It was a big hit, even though our designs were pretty bad since the only tools we were given were QTips and very sticky, thick paints. The kids didn't seem to mind, though. Of course. Only Americans like me have high expectations for all things, including face paints.

Megan, Melissa, Christen, and Myself
(On a side note, 4 Mexicans have now told Christen and I that we look like twins. She is the girl next to me in this picture. What do you think?? We don't see it.)

Birthday parties are a big deal here. The biggest so far for my class was Michelle's ... her mom brought lunch plates for each student in both third-grade classes, and gave out boxes of chocolates to each student after school!

Por Fin!

I finally did what I've been wanting to do since I moved here-I helped in an impoverished community. My roommate, Jacque, got in touch with a girl from a local church who is ministering to a poor community called Arenales (I think that's how you spell it). She does a bible club with the kids (ages 3 to 12) on Saturdays, and she goes during the week to have bible studies with their parents. Six of us Lincoln teachers went to the kid's club last Saturday. We didn't know what to expect, but our only job this week was bringing the snack. We got there and cleaned up the musty, moldy, cement house where the club is held, and we prepared the food. There is no running water in the house, so some of us went across the street to borrow water and haul it back in buckets. The kids began arriving soon after we got there, and we spent a good hour just playing with and getting to know them. I must say, they are pretty darn good at understanding my gringa Spanish! The bible lesson was so cute! The girl who leads it, Jessi, is so fun and animated. She held the attention of the three year olds all the way up to the ten/twelve year olds!! She had the kids get in a big circle, lay hands on us, and pray for us. It was so sweet to see the tiny little kids with their eyes squeezed shut repeating her sweet prayer. Before the kids left, they all came to give us our goodbye besitos, the cheek kisses that are the normal greeting/farewell here. From the tiniest girl of 3 to the bigger kids, they all made sure to despedir us before leaving. I loved it and I loved them and I want to continue helping there every weekend!!The house across the street, where we got our water.