What's Next?

I just realized that I've only blogged twice this year. Yikes!
But, that is a sign that a LOT has been going on.
As soon as we got back, we jumped right into school. The first week we finished our last week of teaching with the following week being review week. The week after exams is always the hardest for me (always being the two times I've actually been apart of exam week).  That week is filled with the introduction of new things, and filling out the students report cards (we put only positive, encouraging comments on the report cards...in Spanish. Have I mentioned that I'm far from fluent in Spanish?). The Friday of that week, the students go home at 12 and the buses pick up the parents.  The rest of the afternoon, the parents are able to see their children's report cards, ask the teachers questions, and fellowship with each other. I don't know why I find this day SO stressful, but I do. So, my first month back was incredibly crazy.  So crazy that my mom had to send me a message on Facebook saying, "Whatsa happening? I haven't heard from you!" With as crazy as January was, it felt like it went by incredibly slow.

February. Now that's a different story. I don't remember much about February. It went by quickly.  In fact, I'm still coming to terms with it being March.  In First Grade, we've been learning about the Farm and What People Wear.  Discovering fun words like cheep (sheep) and chirt (shirt).  Phonics has been a blast. I'll be honest, there wasn't much I did as far as helping First Grade read.  That was all their Spanish Teacher (Profe Olga) working on Spanish phonics with them.  We're just working on changing some of those sounds into English sounds.  Sometimes (okay most of the time), this is an uphill battle.  The letter "i" is next to near impossible for them to pronounce.  It's either "red" or "read" instead of rid. You don't realize how important the vowel sounds are in a word, until you're trying to teach the difference between an adjective (big) and a verb (beg) or a noun (bag). *sigh* It's moments like those, that I have to remind myself that it's okay if these kids don't speak a lick of English, but have a deeper understanding of the Love that Jesus has for them.

These next weeks ahead of us are going to be FULL of excitement.  This weekend, we're going to see Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames in Spanish.  As a wee lass, I had the opportunity to be in the travelling drama so I am incredibly excited to see how it's portrayed here in Honduras. Our pastor at Destino also runs this drama ministry.  He and a group of people travel to a bunch of different places (not just Honduras but many Central American countries as well) and they train people in the area they're in to put on this evangelical drama.  It's a beautiful way to have communities ministering to each other. So, if you get the chance, please pray for the people who are running the drama, the people who are in the drama, and the people who are going to see it.  And also, pray for discipleship to happen after the fact.

March 14th is an exciting day for Destino.  This is what we call Missions Day.  I'll be writing about it after the fact and hopefully will have some pictures! The long story short; Missions Day is a day that is devoted to showing the students other countries, presenting the issues with that country, sharing with them prayer requests from these countries, allowing them to glimpse the culture, and pray about whether they are called to foreign missions or not, and where they are called.  I am STOKED about this day! Prayers for the students as well as the teachers are much appreciated.

I have reached a decision on what I am doing next year.  It was a hard decision to make (as I had been praying about it since September).  But, I have decided to go home after this year is up.  I feel as if I need a gap year to process everything that has happened in Honduras as well as my life thus far.  I'm going to use this next year as a year to figure out where I want my life to go.  I've certainly discovered a difference between high school dreams, college goals, and real life realities.  I didn't feel at peace with coming back another year, and I didn't feel at peace with making a commitment to staying in my hometown (and favorite place on earth) for years.  But, during a prayer/journal time a couple Saturdays ago, I felt God present me with this idea of just taking a step back, and just seeking him and finding out where my life is headed. What this next year holds is a mystery to me.   I have no idea where I'm going to work.  If I'll live at home with my parents or find a place of my own.  I don't know if I'll teach, or if I'll bag groceries at HEB.  I'd love to teach something literature oriented (especially since that was basically aaaaaaaaaaaall I studied in college).  When I think about my future, I just think "Who knows?" Then I'm reminded of Ezekiel's answer to God, "Oh sovereign Lord, only you know!" And I smile, because I know that God knows.  And there's so much peace in that.

So yes, that's what has been going on! Hopefully I'll be able to update you soon on Missions Day!