There are so many things on my heart right now. Some of them I probably should have blogged about on Sunday when it was happening. But of course. Life got busy.
To recap.
Week One: Money troubles.
Week Two: Lice.
Week Three: Stomach Bug.
And to top it off...
Week Four: A really bad sinus infection/cold. I can handle a sinus infection until it gives me a high enough fever to the point that I don't even have enough energy to stand. For some reason, it was the least scary trial that made me break. I broke down in church on Sunday morning. I broke down in front of my roommate Sunday afternoon. And cried on Skype with my mom for about an hour. I was frustrated with Honduras and it's #thirdworldproblems. I missed readily available hot water. I missed clean air. I missed having my sermons in English. I missed my family. I missed my friends. I even missed the things I never thought I would miss.
On Monday, God kind of gave me this awesome revelation which was a really big "duh!" moment for me.
I could focus on the problems and create a "woe is me" vibe about my life in Honduras. OR I could focus on the blessings and quickly answered prayers that came out of these situations. So, the REAL recap.
Week One: God provided answers on why my card wasn't working and had the ability to fix that problem.
Week Two: We caught the lice before it spread to my brush, my bed, or anywhere else. And I no longer have lice.
Week Three: It was only the stomach bug and not a deadly disease like I was imagining (although I'm still working on gaining back the nine pounds that I lost).
Week Four: I'm getting MUCH better!
To mention another praise. There was no way, by far, that I understood the entire sermon tonight. However, thanks to one of my fourth graders helping me with some vocabulary, I was able to get the gist of the sermon.
What is the church? Que es iglesia?
The church is the body of Christ. Christ is the head and everything is under his feet, therefore, everything is under our feet because we are the body of Christ.
Oh! And here's another praise! Coming into the school, I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I had NO idea what I was doing with First grade. They don't understand hardly any English, they only know a bit of vocabulary that they learned in Prepa (Kinder). So half the time, when they're disobeying, it's because they don't have a clue what I'm saying. And it's been frustrating. Thankfully, my neighbor/roommate/other teacher, knows quite a bit of Spanish and communicates certain rules to the kids. And slowly but surely they're learning English. I just about jumped for joy when one of the boys said, "thank you" instead of "gracias." And I probably scared him with the hug and squeal and all that accompanied my "you're welcome." Not only are the kids learning, but I'm learning as well! I just about kicked myself when I realized I was using the "sit and get" method with the kids rather than a "self-discovery" type teaching. It has always been my desire to do one-on-one with the kids so they can really understand what they're learning. And last night, about 8 o' clock when I was getting ready for bed. I had the idea of setting up stations. I wish I could claim this idea as my own because it's BRILLIANT. However, someone much smarter and wiser and older than me came up with this. Basically, I had one table coloring, one table playing a matching game, one table doing a puzzle, one table looking at a stack of books I grabbed from the library, while I worked on the vocabulary aspect with a small group of children and Tori worked with a small group of children on phonics. This was when the kids, who I knew weren't understanding a thing, started understanding. And let me tell you, seeing their faces light up when I point to one of the pictures and they say the correct word, priceless!
With all these hardships I've been hit with, the blessings have outweighed the pain. With a new hardship presenting itself every weekend (I have a pattern going), I look forward to the hardship of week five simply to see what kind of blessings God will pour out!
Nicole! Wow! How you are growing in knowledge, compassion, and in love! Love you so much but God loves you even more, We are studying Gideon where God uses an illustration of separating the chaff from the wheat kernel. Gideon was down in a winepress doing his job of separation there instead of being up on the hill where the threshing floor was because he was afraid of the Midianites who would soon come and steal the grain again. I guess my point is... a lot of us are still hiding in the winepress while you are on that hill and getting God's work done where your enemies can see you and attack you! My prayer for you this morning and every day that the hedge of protection we have asked to be put around you be held in place as you face this world, with God as your protector!
ReplyDeleteLove you, TX grandma