Fourth Quarter...the First Week

Fourth Quarter has begun. I finally told one class that I wouldn't be coming back next year...they accepted it and then asked me to come back for the Jr/Sr Banquet next year and their Graduation the year after that...there's nothing I'd like to do more! God Willing it will happen!

Kara Raulerson and Elisabeth Evans has graced us with their presence this past week. It was great having late-night discussions about theology and Church History! :) We also had the opportunity to celebrate the wedding of two friends from International School. They had a post-wedding party for all those friends in Honduras that couldn't make it to the wedding in the summer. It was very sweet and we had a reunion with friends we hadn't seen in a while.

Tonight is the annual Jr/Sr Banquet. It is a dressy event that is put together by the 11th grade for the 12th grade. A send off of sorts that gives the senior class the school's blessing. It also allows Kara to see her students again. Lee Parsons gave a motivational speech and Emanuel Bueso (Class President) had a few words as well. They did a wonderful job and the night went amazing! I had some great opportunities to talk with students I don't normally see anymore. For some reason Blogger allows me to upload pictures in an empty blog...so I'll post pictures on their own.

Yesterday was the start of the goodbyes...Aben is leaving for the States this Wednesday for 4 months. By the time he returns Heidi and I will have left Honduras. So we 'invited' him to dinner (the Honduran way of saying we paid for his meal) and said our goodbyes...

Pictures of Jr/Sr Banquet and Aben

Jr/Sr Banquet

Saying goodbye to Aben...

The Work

Today I spent about 10 hours fixing a problem. I had stacks of students' work lining the walls of my classroom. So I put aside everything else today to go through them all and complete what I had left undone for the week. To be honest, I felt a whole lot better as those stacks got smaller. My mind was focused on the work. When I was walking back to my classroom with the completed work in my arms the Lord reminded me of something I had read recently. Matthew 14. Jesus hears that John has been killed and He wants to go off alone, but the crowds get in the way. He has compassion. He deals with their needs so that they are satisfied. What an example! Then He dismisses them, sends the disciples ahead and goes off alone to pray. From this, the Lord gently reminded me that being in His presence is the greatest accomplishment that I could have. Being able to see others as He sees them, with compassion and love, and making sure that I give Him top priority in my time, focus and will! I am learning that I can rest in His arms, I am an uncompleted work that He is focused on - I'm so thankful He doesn't give up on me! Thank You Lord!

Semana Santa

Holy Week has arrived! And none too soon - we were needing a good break right about now...Third quarter has just ended, report cards are due as soon as we return!

Our posse has decided to stick around Tegus for the break. All of us were burnt out and needed to just relax...so we went to Catacamas for the weekend. They were amazing!! There's just something about rock-climbing in darkness (except for a flashlight in your hand that is stopping you from using it properly) that is such a rush! :) I enjoyed it immensely - our guide let us wander and explore wherever we wanted, so a few of us (that would be Heidi, Joey and myself) tried going up a dark area that hadn't been explored that often...for our efforts we found a bat and a new smell. Heidi, Kyle and I also checked out a really small opening that broadened out into a new crawl space - coming back Kyle got stuck...I think the best was when I had to find the safest way down a rock wall to get to a ledge, there was no manual and nothing between me and the rocks below except for a good handhold! We brought Melodee down that one with one step at a time...she was pretty frightened but she did it and trusted us. Afterwards she said she hated it - which I have no doubt of - but I also think that she'll look back on it with pride and know she got through it! :) I'm proud of her!

After we got back we entered a volleyball tournament in the city. We entered three teams in three different sections. Here's the update of the three:
1) Mixed team: Heidi, Kyle, John - Were tough to beat but ended up falling out of the runnings after today's games (went up against 5 teams)
2) Guys team: Kyle, Kevin, Chris - Kept it together at first but also were routed - they played against Motagua soccer players (they're famous here - they won the soccer championship this year) and lost...there was a lot of heckling from the crowd in that game! See picture below
3) Girls team: Heidi, Melissa and myself - we went in before we were ready and lost our first match but rallied together and made a pretty good system that helped us win the second game and go to semi-finals...tomorrow we will see what happens! Apparently the girls team (which was made just for fun) is our only hope for the tournament!