The resurrection and life

I have a lot of prep time at the school on Wednesday mornings to work. Today I got to switch out the March birthday calendar and put up April's, read a book about different Brain Gym techniques and rationale, and take care of many other random tasks. There are always so many things that pop up during the day I couldn't name them all if I tried. Snack was empanadas with a cheesy scrambled eggs mix inside, so good! You can pretty much call me Dr. Erica now, because after snack time I spent a long time cleaning and bandaging a bunch of wounds. As soon as I thought I was done another patient would walk in. Samuel and Alejo had to stay behind from their class outing because of bad behavior, but after they had a time out they spent a while playing with puppets. It was really cute, then they painted a couple of coasters as a souvenir for one of the girls on the team. They did a very nice job! When gym class rolled around Martin did the stretching exercises with all the other second and third graders. I told him he had to if he wanted to play soccer with me and not only did he participate in the exercises, but he was trying really hard. He is so capable and I was really happy to see him work! We had a blast playing soccer for the rest of class, I love being goofy when I am playing soccer. He thinks I'm pretty funny which I appreciate, I have been told I have an elementary sense of humor so it is perfect! As usual the 4th and 5th graders had a competitive day in gym class, but they had a lot of fun! There was a chicken and guacamole taco feast for lunch, then I was off to English. One of my students had a bit of a shutdown, but since we were reviewing letters they were doing some work in partners. It was easy for me to figure out what was wrong and I was excited when she was able to rejoin the class with a good attitude after talking with me! Yesterday afternoon I was informed grades were due before the break, which is today. That being said I had to calculate my grades after school, but I got them all figured out and it didn't take me too long. I walked to Bible Club, because I knew there was a full

Alejo and Samuel with their puppets!

load. I was pretty excited to walk and I ended up beating the truck to the church! It's a solid 15 minute walk, but it always takes a while to get everybody loaded up so the race wasn't completely fair. The verse of the week is from John 11:25, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die'". In Spanish it is Juan 11:25, "Entonces Jesús le dijo: Yo soy la resurrección y la vida. El que cree en mí vivirá, aunque muera". There will come a time when all of us here on earth will die, there is no saying how much time we have, but I do know every moment is precious. In Christ death is not the end, but rather a magnificent beginning to an eternity in heaven. I have seen the goodness of God over and over again, but these are only glimpses of eternity. How cool is it to reflect on the most joyous moments in life and know they are a glimpse of God's kingdom in heaven? I think it is incredible! I decided to treat myself to a doughnut on the walk home and was greeted with a running hug by Johnathan when I got home! Cheralyn, Johnathan, and I had some supper and were off to zumba in no time. We took the oldest girls to the Coliseo for some dance which I really enjoy. It is awesome spending time with them outside of the orphanage, they really enjoy it, and it is fun. Johnathan had a great time dancing around too and his parents met us there to pick him up! A husband of one of the Tia's is a taxi driver, so we have an arranged ride every time we take them to zumba. The ride back to the orphanage was very pleasant. I rode in the back of a pick up and watched the lightning light up the sky. The outline of the clouds with lightning background, the sounds of nature, the smell of the outdoors, and the wind blowing through my hair in the back of the truck was a free and peaceful feeling. To conclude the day Cheralyn and I went to Johnny's for guayusa tea, it was a great way to end a busy day.