October . . . . Time to Catch up

Since I last wrote, Stephen and I have celebrated our 1 year anniversary, I have discovered Honduran thrift stores, learned how to master the use of the crock pot, and Stephen is continuing to do his best to attempt to understand Latin American athletics, and we have both been able to learn so much more about our students!
Our anniversary was wonderful, we were able to get away for the weekend and be spoiled at the Marriot Hotel down in the city. To you, it might just seem like a hotel . . . to US it was a taste of the United States in Honduras and it was truly refreshing to enjoy the pool, yummy food (that we didn’t have to cook) massages, sauna and cable TV haha! It’s the little things in life : ) God continues to change us, mold us and draw us to himself in and through our marriage. We have learned so much this past year and we continue to look forward to many more years of learning and growing together!
One highlight of being back this year has been finding good deals with my friend Jennifer. The gringa’s here in Honduras refer to her as the thrift store master! She knows where all the best places are. Apparently the United States sends down shipments of clothes as tax write-offs and multiple store here in Honduras sell them. So for $1-$5 you can get some pretty good American brand stuff it’s awesome! For those of you reading that know me well, I’m sure you realize how happy this has made me! I have been able to get lots of new clothes, flower pots, curtains, pie plates, picture frames and so much more. Again, it’s the little things in life here that at times bless us the most!
The AMAZING crock pot, has become my new best friend, whenever I remember to use it haha! We were able to buy it from friends of our that were leaving at the end of last school year and I just love experimenting with it! Gotta be honest I kinda feel like my mom, when I get up on Sunday mornings and put stuff in it for lunch : ) its such a wifey thing to do! So if you have any good recipes, send them my way!
Stephen’s basketball team is having an awesome season . . . they are continuing to play more and more like a team as the season goes on. He has had a fair amount of challenges due to the culture and lack of experience, BUT he has been handling it like a pro. It has been neat for me to be a part of his team’s lives through baking which the guys love and the avenue of prayer. In our small group right now we are currently reading though Colossians and I came across these verses to pray for the players. Colossians 1:11-14 ~ “ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We don’t know where most of our students are spiritually and it has been really neat for us to see God’s hand at work in the lives of the guys that Stephen coaches. Please pray for the student’s in our school that we would continue to be salt and light, that we would live in such a way that Christ would radiate from us. Pray for us as we continue to do our best to embrace the culture and the language. We praise the Lord for his provision of safety, guidance, finances, and ministry opportunities. 

Scavenger Hunt

Last week was the first full week of school with students, so with that I had a lot of things for the kids to learn. I had to review the rules, expectations and consequences for my classroom. For the remainder of class I decided to play a game as a review for where the art supplies were located. Majority of my students have been coming to the art room since they were in first grade so I figured the game I had for them would be somewhat simple.

Each class had to do a scavenger hunt, I had a list of items and tasks for their team to complete in order to check the tasks off the list and ultimately win! It was things like “find a red marker”, “put on an apron, and then hang it up the correct way”, “write down classroom rule #3 on the back of this paper” and so on . . . . . NOW some kids were really into it, and searched really hard to find everything on their own. Some kids were extremely lazy and just wanted me to show them where everything was. And some went really fast because they remembered where most things were from the previous year. As I did this game with the kids some 26 times (I have a lot of students), I began relating it to my spiritual walk . . . . .
I know that God is not a God of confusion, but I think sometimes we are like little kids on a scavenger hunt. Some days we want to work so hard to see God’s blessings. Other days I wake up really lazy and exhausted, I don’t really want to search for blessings, I just want to wallow in my misery. Then there are times that I have to do my best to remember past blessings and draw from those to continue on in my walk. 




What I learned in all of this is that just like my art room is filled with lots of little blessing (all of my supplies), so are our lives.  The kids never would have fully embraced what is in the room if they had not been searching for it or remembering it. I have never seen kids get so excited to find a red marker, or put on an apron.  It’s the same in our lives, how are we going to fully embrace the blessings that our lives are filled with if were not willing to do the work to recognize them. Sometimes, like some of my students, we just get lazy and we expect other people to fill that void for us. I will be the first to admit, there are some days that I just want to be a lazy complainer, but when I waste my time complaining I’m letting multiple blessing go right by without being noticed. So take the challenge of going on a blessings scavenger hunt and see what you find, it might not be what, where or when you expect it but God desires to bless us and for that alone we have so much to be thankful for!  

New Car, New House, New Year

 Greetings from Honduras, sorry it has been soooo long since my last blog update. BUT we are now back in Honduras, refreshed and ready to be used by God in this upcoming school year. Stephen is still in his position as middle school and high school boy’s physical education teacher. He is doing what he loves, coaching, teaching and mentoring young men to be more like Christ, through the avenue of athletics. You can be praying for his basketball team as they start up practice at the beginning of next week. I am still teaching in the elementary art room . . . I am convinced that God has me there for another year, because I didn’t do a good job learning the lessons HE was trying to teach throughout all of last year! I literally found someone else to take my job in the art room so I wouldn’t have to do it again BUT God must have other plans because I am back at it again, by God’s grace with a fresh attitude and renewed perspective. I am so thankful that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning as I stumble and fall searching for direction recognizing that the God’s grace is sufficient for me each day. So please pray with me that God would grant victory in the struggles, joy in the successes, and peace in the confusion : )
Stephen and I have experienced so many blessing as we have returned to our Honduran home. We are so thankful for the Lord’s provision of a car, we were able to purchase it right before we came home for the summer. It has been so wonderful to have some freedom to get off the mountain for date nights and such a joy to use it as a ministry to others, from driving people down the mountain to get groceries or packing it full of people to head to church! We are overwhelmed by God’s provision! We also finally feel somewhat settled into our new apartment. We are now on the school’s campus, which is much safer and closer to the school. We feel very blessed to have such a beautiful new apartment surrounded by wonderful Godly people, our new dog neighbors across the street . . . . Well we’re not quite as fond of them haha! And the cockroach that was crawling on my head the other night, well we killed that haha!

                      The NEW Car!!!!! and NEW Apartment!!!!

Thank you everyone for your love, prayers, support and friendships. I will try a lot harder to write on our blog more consistently this year : ) Thanks for reading!

Pray for Victor Manuel

Wow, it has been a crazy several weeks but thankfully Stephen and I are home in Honduras and back into the swing of things. We had a wonderful time in the states, spending time with family and friends. We are truly blessed and so loved by so many. I am so grateful for our Godly families that are filled with understanding, patience, hospitality, encouragement and love. Before break, over break and even now, God has really been working on me. While we were home in the states it would have been really easy to just stay there. To just say "forget it" its too hard and not worth it. Before we went home for Christmas break, I was homesick, exhausted and just plain tired of being in Honduras. But God has really been changing my perspective and my attitude. I just kept asking Him, "Lord, what is my purpose? why am I here?" and yesterday I had a GOD moment : ) On Monday I had really been struggling with the realization that I am here in this desperate country filled with searching people and I can't talk to anyone in Spanish well enough to deliver the message of the gospel. And I just began to pray, Lord please provide an opportunity to share YOU. And He answered that pray yesterday afternoon! I went with Stephen and his soccer team to their game on the other side of the city. The game was being held at a public field. When we arrived, there were some older men using the field, majority of them Honduran military men. Well after they were finished with their game, this older man by the name of Victor came over and sat down next to me! He must have heard me speaking in English earlier b/c be began to talk with me in English and that never happens b/c ppl. think that I am Honduran! At first just chit-chat you know, where are you from? why are you in Honduras? the basics. But as we kept talking we realized how small our world really is, you see he explained to me that every year he travels to PA to go skiing at Ski Liberty. Ski Liberty is not real far from my hometown and that is where Joel and Sarah got married. So we kept talking, we ended up talking for the entire soccer game. The whole time I was praying, "Lord make yourself real to this man, allow my words to be from you." I was able to basically do a walk through the Bible with Victor, to explain the corruption of sin and the holiness of God. To explain the urgency of salvation and the confidence I have in the one and only true and living God. Victor did not accept Christ there in that moment, but I believe God has been working on this man for quite some time and it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit continues to convict. It is my prayer that Victor will continually come into contact with people that can teach him the truth of Gods Word. I wish you all could have been there to witness my talk with him for yourselves b/c it was amazing to see the truth of the gospel begin to make sense to him. Please pray with me that God will do a mighty work in this mans life. I have realized through this blessing of talking with Victor that my purpose is to make the most of each opportunity that God has given me. I have a new found confidence about my role here in Honduras, and my role is to serve the ONE and ONLY true and LIVING GOD with all that I am in every way I can. The language barrier will not stop God, only my unwillingness to submit to HIS will, and ultimate purpose for my life.