Coming Alive

It's funny how small moments and encounters can remind me of big picture life things. I had a simple afternoon yesterday hanging out with 2 random little boys in West End. I was hanging out with two of my friends on a dock behind a dive shop when these 2 little ninos came strolling back. One of them started fishing with literally just a piece of string with a hook attached at the end. The other was standing with him and sweetly smiled and waved when I looked over. His smile lit up his whole face and I was immediately enamored. He slowly made his way over to where where we were and I made small talk with the little Spanish that I know. He then asked me to get him some coconuts off the nearby trees. My friend and I (mostly my friend) got one down for him and another for his cousin (the other boy fishing). I made my way over to him and his cousin and hung out with them. We chatted, I watched them fish, they climbed trees to get coconuts, I did my best to assist them, we drank coconut water, laughed, and enjoyed the day. 

They were so precious and really just stole my heart. It was such a simple, easy time but I felt like I came alive all over again hanging out with them. Sometimes I forget what really awakens me and makes me come alive and in that moment it all came flooding back to me. Teaching here has been difficult to say the least and I feel like lately I've felt a bit lost on this island, unsure of what I'm doing and unsure of what I'm meant to do. But in moments like yesterday and during my times tutoring in French Harbor and even moments teaching and hanging out with my students, I'm just reminded of my love for children and how spending time with them and loving them makes me come alive. I just felt my heart bursting with love as I was hanging out with those boys and everything in me was awakened and present in that moment. That sounds kind of dramatic and over the top, but it's all just to say that it was a special moment and encounter and it reminded me of my passions and the desires of my heart coming alive and being lived out. It's sweet to live out what you love, even if it's just a simple afternoon hanging out with two little boys and drinking some coconut water. Thankful for the heart God has given me and for the desires He's placed in my heart. It's good to be alive. 

Here's a picture of me with the two little boys. There some more after the jump (click "read more" below). 

Crazy Kids

I've been really into taking pictures lately. I busted out Photobooth on my laptop today after our exams. I managed to get a group shot (minus 1 girl) and then it turned into chaos as they mobbed my comp to take pictures, got some funny shots out of it though. Without further ado, here are my precious alumnos:

My Babies.

I love them. 

Look at these crazies. 

chaos. 

Precious. 

Oh man, do I love these kids, even though they drive me crazy most days, they are precious. We are starting a new quarter next week and I'm getting excited to get things going. I feel a lot more confident as a teacher and feel like I have a better idea of how I want things to move. So hopefully we'll have a very productive 2nd quarter!

French Harbor Love

Jarvi and Pablo

Courtlin with some of the younger kids

Photobooth Craziness: 

working it

pig faces

precious

family picture

love.

These are some more of the kids we tutor in French Harbor twice a week. I am in love with them. We had a really good session today, lots of love, laughs, and learning. They are the sweetest kids, my heart is so full after spending time with them. Just so much love!!

Weekend Update

Hello blog world out there, I apologize for my lack of posts lately. Not too much exciting has happened the last two weeks. We have exams coming up this week, which is quite insane because it means I have been teaching for 10 weeks now! It's still pretty UNREAL to me. This last week I spent most of it reviewing with my kids. Here are some pictures of them walking around and "gathering data" for a pictograph. They looked so cute and studious walking around the classroom with their notebooks asking each other what their favorite fruit was. So presh!

I'm pretty nervous about the exams and am hoping my kids will be able to get through them alright!

In other news we had a great weekend. Our planned beach day got rained out on Saturday so we mainly hung our around the apartment and went and walked around the mall for a little bit. That night our band was in a band competition in Las Fuertes so we journeyed our way over there. There were 5 bands in the competition along with 2 other bands playing for our listening pleasure. The whole thing was pretty intense and felt like a high school football game. The bands were quite impressive elaborate. Our band placed 3rd, which is really great for them, so proud!

Today, we decided to do a little church prayer time of our own at the apartments. It was a really sweet time of encouragement and fellowship. We then made our way to Parrot Tree (the resort closest to us) and hung out in the water for a while. Then made our way to this little horse ranch up the street from our house to go horseback riding! It was kind of random but so much fun! We rode through the mountains and go to see all the greenery and an awesome view. I was actually pretty nervous the whole time, I've never really ridden a horse and was apparently the only one who hadn't. Luckily one of the men just basically walked my horse the whole time haha.

T'was fun. Always an adventure here on the island! Well, I think that's all for now, until next time.

Tutoring in French Harbor

In the past years the teachers have tutored/taught English to the local kids in French Harbor. They did it through a local church and I'm not sure exactly how it would work but they would go I think about twice a week,  teach English, help with homework and just spend time with the local kids. It hasn't been going on lately because no one has been able to do it, but with the new teachers here (us), we've been asked a few time by different people if we were going to do it again this year. Ingrid, Sarah, and I have been really wanting to do it, and after talking to various people and getting it all set up, we started today! We're teaming up with Intensive Heart Ventures (Joseph Natale) and hopefully using their curriculum to teach the kids.

So, today was our first day and it was an adventure! It was just Ingrid and I because Sarah went back to the states for a week and Courtlin (the project manager for IHV and our new friend) had car issues, but it was all good. We walked over from school with Jarvi and Pablo, the 2 local boys we're friends with. We sent out Pablo to go get some of the kids to join us. So he brought 3 girls and we hung out with them for a little bit. After a bit we decided that they should take us on a tour of the French Harbor community. So we walked around and they pointed out all the different places and people to us. French Harbor is really interesting and I'm still not sure exactly how it works but from my current understanding it's split up into 2 main areas: The Point (La Punta) and The Hill (La Loma). Today, we walked around The Point. Many of the houses in the area are in poor condition and are basically wooden shacks on stilts, but some of the houses sit right on the water and it's quite beautiful. It was such a stunning day, the clouds were looking so cool, and the sun was starting to set, creating an incredible orange, pinkish tint to the sky. It was so much fun to be able to enjoy it with the kids and as we were walking we gathered more and more children, which was great. Hopefully, we'll be able to explore the other side on Wednesday.

After our tour we headed back to the church and at that point had gathered about 15 kids ranging from age 5 to 15. We attempted to play soccer/futbol, but it started to get dark and we were on gravel and it was just starting to get ugly, so we went back inside and tried to give a mini lesson on English. I worked with some of the younger kids and Ingrid worked with the older kids. I mainly went over the alphabet and had them write their names. They are some of the sweetest kids. They were already telling me they love me and were giving me lots of hugs and kisses as we were leaving. I'm so excited to get to know them and love on them.

Here's a couple pics we took on my computer with just a small handful of the kids:

Love. They were getting such a kick out of taking the pictures, I had to close my computer because it was starting to get vicious as they all started piling on top of each other and pushing to get in the picture. Hopefully, I can get some more next time, but in a more orderly/safe manner. Feeling real blessed and full. Please pray for these kids and for us as we begin this new adventure. Love to you all!

Reflections

Oh man, what a week it has been. It is officially rainy season over here in Roatan, I think it has rained almost every day this week. It's kind of nice in a way because it reminds me of fall, but it's still pretty hot and humid all the time, which makes it feel less like fall, but tis life in Roatan. So this week at school had lots of ups and downs. I had a great Monday where I just felt so light-hearted about everything. Instead of getting mad, I really just laughed a lot. It was good but also really bad. It was good in the sense that I was more light-hearted and joyful and bad in the sense that for the rest of the week my kids did not take me seriously. Oh the joys of teaching, so many different hats to put on. But on Monday while I was explaining the homework, one of my students fell out of his chair and I could not stop laughing. It was really bad. It then spiraled into every other student pretending to fall to try and make me laugh. Oh man it was near disaster, but it was the end of the day so, it didn't cause too much trouble. But man the rest of the week it felt like my kids were just trying to push every boundary and test what they could get away with. It was pretty rough. I just don't know what to do. I want my kids to feel like they can have fun and laugh and be silly, but there needs to be a level of paying attention and order right? I just don't know anymore!

Just learning and realizing that each day brings its new challenges and blessings. Learning to just take each moment and each lesson with open hands and open hearts. I'm in need of a lot more patience, grace, compassion, and love to get through each day. Thankful that Jesus supplies all my needs because oh man do I have a lot. I'm lacking in so many ways but God is good and all sufficient. Thankful, always.