There are many parts, but one body

I started off my day walking with Jenny Joy, she is such a blessing! It was a rainy morning and birds chirping along they way, it was a beautiful. The walk to work was cold and wet, but I managed to make it there mostly dry. I thank the Lord for constantly humbling my heart to speak His words and love even when it is hard. I sat at my desk and planned for my last week of English classes and cannot even believe it. It is a nice feeling to have all the planning finished, but it feels unreal. Before I knew it, it was snack break and I showed the pre-k kids my Spiderman socks. They thought my socks were really cool and wanted to show me all of their cartoon clothes too, SO hilarious! I continued working right up until my first gym class, but as I worked I got to see some of the kids flip book sketches. Rick started a new art lesson and Anita's book was awesome, now I want to make one too. My first class were the second and third graders and they did a great job. They had another fantastic day of warm up stretches and exercises before beginning the game. I am so proud of them and how quickly they have picked up on our routine. It was a tough day in gym for the 6th and 7th graders and I thought it was going to be for were really tough for 4th and 5th, but I am thrilled to say they had a good class. I thought they were going to shutdown as a whole since the plans for class changed a little bit, but they were able to come back after a little pep talk and did great!  Since it rained through the night and until 11:30 this morning the river in between Casa de Fe and the dique was flooded, so we couldn't cross it and had to play our sports on the rocky ground in front of the school. After lunch my

The Joy's!

English girls were having a top secret preparation time in the room. Caila, Diana, and Paola wrote Evelyn a kind message and cut out pictures from a magazine, because they knew we were celebrating her birthday at the end of class! I was so grateful for their kind gesture and love they showed Evelyn and we were celebrating her birthday. Rick and Rebekah saved the day with extra ice cream treats since I forgot to bring mine! My back up plan was cutting up the apple I had packed with my lunch, so ice cream was a much better option. We wrapped things up, cleaned the school, and headed down to the house fairly quickly to take off for Ecoparque! While I was down in the house Thalia gave me a big hug and apologized for not listening in class, I was incredibly thankful. Since I have been at Casa de Fe, I've caught a glimpse of the love my parents have for me. I love these kiddos a lot, even when they are really angry with me and won't listen. As hard as it is to admit I was not the perfect child even though I did my best to listen and obey, I definitely fell short, but my never stopped loving me. I thank my Creator God for giving me parents that love me without limits. Their unconditional love has shown me glimpses of the

Rick and Rebekah!

The Martin's!

Lord's perfect love. At 3:30 we were off to Ecoparque and spent time swimming, playing volleyball, and swinging on the tight ropes with Rosa, Marcia, and Maribel. We would stand two on one side and two on the other and swing back and forth, it was the highlight of swimming! When all of us gathered around the table it was awesome to see how we were able to serve the Lord at Casa de Fe. 1 Corinthians 12:12-19, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—

The Freeman's!

and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body." After supper we took a whole bunch of silly pictures and hung out, I was having a blast dressing up with this group, they are a hoot! To conclude the evening some of us went to the Joy's to play "Mexican Train", eat brownies, ice cream, and drink coffee until really late. The Martin's and the Joy's are wonderful to spend time with, I had so much fun today!

Abounding in love

Genesis being goonie during
snack break at school!

I had the morning off, so I slept in a little bit to rest up from a busy week. I lounged around the house for a while, did some work, then headed up to Casa de Fe. It was beautiful walk to school filled with sunshine and the commotion of working people. I arrived at school just in time for snack break and got to hang out with the kiddos before getting in to more work at the school right away. I got the birthday board up for this month and a bunch of random tasks done, it was a productive morning. When it came time for gym class, second and third grade had a great day. For the most part the students have perfected the exercises, they know what to expect and can feel successful while we are doing them! My English class was incredible, I walked in to the room to find a beautiful message on the board and they were all pumped up for every activity. They were working hard and doing the best they could, it was a total 180 from the past few days. My heart was so filled with joy, the Lord knew I need a new day and it was far better than I could have hoped for! I was busy doing gym inventory and running errands between the school and house. I walked Martin down to the house after he was done doing his extra work (he got in trouble in one of his other classes) and he did pretty much everything by himself!  I would stand five feet away and have him walk to me, although it is a little tricky with all of the rocks he did a great job! In fact, there were times that he would shoo me father away, because he wanted to walk farther. When I went down to the house I met up with the new group of volunteers and after a minor miss communication I was able to go out to supper with them. We went out to supper with them at Abuelos, they crossed the street to grab some Mickos. It was great way of getting to know them! I am very thankful for the people God leads to Casa de Fe, I pray He continues to move in people's hearts and brings them here to serve these children. The bonds formed at Casa de Fe are very


The girls in my English "Inglish" class had this one the board when I
 walked in to class today, it warmed my heart SO much!

special and unique. When we have time together we can relate to what others are going through, help build them up, and support them. We hopped on the bus back to Shell and I went to the grocery store with Molly, Heidi, and Mike, then made my way over to the despendida for the Joy's, Allison's, and Shari. It was a wild time with all the families and kids, that started with a round of "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader", then a time of fellowship with good cupcakes and great friends! I walked Sharon, the wonderful leader from Bible Club home, picked up some apples, then continued home. I got rained on while I was walking home and buying some food on market street, but I didn't mind. I had my umbrella, so I popped that on an trudged through the rain. Psalm 103:8-12, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."



He is jealous from me

I went on a walk this morning and was hunting for some milk, it wasn't successful. Don't get me wrong I found a lot of milk, but it was whole milk...not exactly what I would want on a bowl of cereal! We sang great songs in chapel this morning which is always a great way to start my day, I love starting the school day with some good music. Seeing all the little kids singing and dancing to the worship music warms my heart. This morning I had my prep time and office work, while I was working there were a couple of kids tested for colorblindness. We decided they seem fine, but it is hard to tell sometimes since they are behind academically it can be hard to determine what they should be seeing. Nevertheless, the colorblindness testing system with pictures within the picture is pretty incredible. Before I knew it, it was library time with the second and third graders. After they all go their books I read a bilingual story to the 2nd and 3rd graders which they loved! Of course they all wanted to sit on my lad to read the story, but I'm not big enough for that. It is times like these I wish there were more of me, so they could all sit on my lap. I would read the English, then all of us read the Spanish together. Gym classes went fairly well this morning, but it was another long day in English class. Although they were more engaged in the activities, there was some tension among the girls that I had to address. I sure hope there is more improvement tomorrow! When school was done, I hung out at the house for a little bit before Bible Club. While I was there I got a special delivery from one of the girls handing out the Tias homemade Popsicles, yum! Bible Club was good, while I was there I kept singing How He Loves by David Crowder. This tells of the depth of the Lords perfect love: "He is jealous from me, loves like a hurricane, I am a treeBending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy. When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me. And oh, how He loves us, oh, oh, how He loves us, how He loves us all. And we are His portion and He is our prize drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes, if His grace is an ocean, we're all sinking. And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest. I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way, oh, how He loves us, oh, oh, how He loves us, how He loves all." When Bible Club was all done I headed strait over to Marco's house to tutor him in English. I love feeling connected to the community and getting to know his family through my brief interactions has been great. He is a very bright and driven young boy, I am inspired by his willingness to work and ambition to better himself. I stopped at home to freshen up, then Jocelyn and I went over to Dwight and Tandy's for supper. Dwight had picked up Johnny's, we ate, then watched tv with Tandy and Johnathan. It was a relaxing evening filled with watching great dancers! James 3:13&14, " Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth." I found this scripture and am really thankful for the ways God has bee teaching me about how to deal with frustrations. It is easy to deny feelings of bitterness, jealousy, and selfishness, but the Lord asks us to look inside our hearts and give those feelings to Him. May my service be done in humility to Glorify God! James 3:16-18, "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness." The Lord has so many blessings to pour out when we seek Him first, not the approval and attention of others. Christ has made us perfect, whole, and blameless in the sight of God, no one else, but Him alone. I pray that God reminds me of this when I seek for worth and approval from others.

If our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?

A short walk around town in the cool, cloudy morning air was refreshing. I really enjoy my time around town at the start of the day; the sounds, sights, and smells. Many students are off to school and professionals are on their way to work at this time and it makes for an exciting time. When I got to school Brain Gym and exercises were just getting started. My Primero gym class was very good, they were all participating and excited about the jump rope activities. The Inicial and the oldest girls were great too. I was joking around with the big girls and since I tripped over the chain one day in class, they don't believe that I used to high jump in college. When I went down to the house I talked to Patti Sue and was filled in about the two kids in the hospital. They are both stable right now and doing fine, but please be praying for them. English tough again, because the same girl who had a shutdown yesterday had one again today. I was at a loss of what to do and could hardly get her to speak a word, but eventually got her to talk about it again. After school during library time it was pretty busy, but Anita read me a story called "Cajas" (boxes). It was a cute story about all of the

The beetle escaped from the shoe box!

different uses for a box when you use your imagination, the simple but wonderful entertainment for children is wonderful. One of the many excitements of after school enrichment was the beetle getting out of the shoe box, it was huge! Rebekah was reading a fairytale to a few girls and I sat in and listened for a little bit, then stopped by to greet the Tias on my way home. I ate a quick supper at home before going to meet up with the Freeman's, I went with them to the Nate Saint Memorial School end of the year program. It opened with some great worship music, a choir piece, school awards, and closed with the school song, prayer, and talking with some of the missionaries will enjoying cupcakes! I am very glad I went, it was a bit different than I was expecting, but I really didn't know what I was expecting either. There are so many wonderful people here, God has blessed me countless times by the missionaries in Shell. Listening to the teachers, kids, and parents talk definitely made me emotional...I can related to the changes, parting ways, and new beginnings that are right around the corner for them and myself. I recall some of those emotions from when I was their age and can still related to the daunting feeling of the unknown, but I thank the Lord for His perfect plan. Change can be a bit scary, however, it is a beautiful thing! Every day things change, we live, learn, and experience new things that will forever shape our lives. Each moment in time has a special way of creating in me a new depth and

Alondra looking the picture as Rebekah read to her.

understanding of how God is working everything together all around me. Our God by Chris Tomlin was one of the songs the kids sang for their performance and it was great. Some of the lyrics are; "Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God, You are higher than any other. Our God is healer, awesome in power, our God, our God. Into the darkness, You shine, out of the ashes, we rise, there's no one like You, none like You. Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God, You are higher than any other. Our God is healer, awesome in power, our God, our God. And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, and if our God is with us, then what could stand against!" Yep, this definitely made me  tear up, because I was reminded of where the Lord has brought me in the past few years. There have been many changes in my life; some were painful, countless were beautiful, a portion were hard, a few were easy, numerous were joyous, many were challenging, several were stretching, an abundance were peaceful, a number were sorrowful, and every single one happened to draw me closer to my perfect Creator! Philippians 1:3-11, "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."

A crown that will last forever

The breathtaking sunrise and reflection in the street puddles!

I woke up and saw the sun rising out my window, so I ran out the door and walked around town. Along the way I saw a tia and a teacher, it was a wonderful way to start the day. It was back to buisness as usual at the school today, starting with chapel. To go along with the Bible verse and lesson for this week, Rick and I were in the background doing exercises with Rebekah, I felt like I was starring in a workout video. Following the exercises Rick and I had a competition to demonstrate self-control and the kids were so interested. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air." The prize that I am have gained by my trust in Jesus Christ is eternal, it is never ceaseing and not in vain, because He has already won the firght for my heart. I thank God for the great work He has done, is doing, and will continue to do in my life as I draw nearer to Him daily. Gym class with pre-k went very well. When we were walking back I was pretending to chase and capture them, they loved it. All of these 3 and 4 year olds would scurry away, but come running back to me because they really wanted me to catch them. I love kids! In between gym classes this morning I used my planning time to look at the "big picture" which is not so big anymore. I did my last block of two week general planning and could hardly believe it, I am so grateful for all of the learning experiences I have had as an individual both in and out of the classroom. One of the girls in my English class was having a rough start to class and I asked her to take a moment to regroup. Once I got the other girls started on an activity. I stepped outside to talk to the student and found out what was wrong. It took a bit longer than I anticipated, but I was blown away to walk back in the classroom and see that one of my girls leading our daily alphabet drills. It was a very, very proud teacher! While I had been in the hallway I overheard her say "let's start with the sOOUUUnds of the letters" just like I say it, but I didn't know she had taken the initiative to grab the flashcards and being the drills. She has shown so much growth and leadership, it has been such a blessing for me to see her blossom! After school I address the issue of why the student was upset, lead library time, then went to

My wonderful Casa de Fe despendida (goodbye party)!

the house with the toddlers. I like getting to see them and it great, but with so many toddlers there is always somebody crying. It is totally fine for an hour here and there, but the Tias are constantly solving these problem, I admire them for thier incredible love and pacience. On my walk home I stopped and chatted with the Joy's for a while, I love talking with them and just learning more about thier journey and what the Lord is doing in thier lives. When I arrived home, I got ready for the evening and was off to Patti Sue's for my despendida (goodbye party)! It was great having it early, because I wasn't too emotional and was able to get together with a bunch of people I care a lot about here. We had a big pot-luck pasta party and good conversation. I have a lot of great memories in Shell with this group! I went to the pastelleria afterwards, then ran in the Jiame and his family on my way home. We live really close so it was nice chatting with him, I really enjoy getting to know the other workers at Casa de Fe! They have incredibly caring hearts.

 

Better is one day

The park right outside of Sacha Runa.

The way the sun was hitting the mountains this morning was incredible, I need to pause and soak in the beauty around me more often. It really was incredible the way even the bigger mountains were peaking through the clouds. After taking in the early morning I got ready for church and was off. Caila and Paola sat by me in church and it was so great, it was special being able to spend time with them in church. God is so good and I know He will continue to work in their precious hearts. Part of the message was about 2 Pedro 3:8, "Pero no olviden, queridos hermanos, que para el Señor un día es como mil años, y mil años como un día." 2 Peter 3:8, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." The Lord is not slow or ignoring our prayers, but He is answering them in His timing. This verse says that for God a thousand years is like one day and vice versa, often times I am constrained to my time frame and don't trust the Lord's timing which is far greater than mine. Since it was a beautiful sunshine morning I wanted to walk down to the Sacha Runa park. I had gone down to the river one Sunday when members of the church were being baptized and I had been meaning to get back there. I could see that it was starting to cloud up and there was no time to waste, when it's sunny you have to go because the weather is so unpredictable. I enjoyed the walk down the Sacha Runa hill and laying on the park bench, it was a low traffic and quiet place to rest. Although it started sprinkling about thirty minutes after Jocelyn and I got there, it was great while it lasted. We decided to go out to lunch at Alexander's since we weren't able to on Friday, it was a good decision. I'm not able to eat there during the week, because our break is too short at school so I appreciate it whenever I am able to. After eating a tasty meal, we were hanging around waiting for the rain to die down. All of the sudden I felt a cold, wet nose my knee and of course a dog had ventured into Alexander's to get out of the rain and maybe find some food too. the rain wasn't letting up, so Jocelyn and I decided to brave the elements and walked home. As of today I have a new appreciation for umbrellas, I had a little semi-broken one and it kept me very dry, never underestimate the power of an umbrella! It's a good thing we didn't wait around at Alexander's, because it was rainy all afternoon. It stopped just in time for frisbee, so we were able to go, but the fields were very wet. It was only a group of us from Casa de Fe and we played on the blue turf instead of our big sandy field. We started with a modified ultimate frisbee, then got a game of soccer going. The boys were more interested in rolling around in the water than the game, but they still did a great job. It was great to play both of these games, it was an exciting change of pace. Before

It's small, but this is a picture of the sports complex we play at
every Sunday. We were on the blue field today!

leaving Leah reminded me that she still had several of my noses...we have been playing "Got your nose" for months now, and she decided a few days ago that I have more than one nose and is starting a collection! She is so cute. The walk home afterwards was nice, I like walking to and from places. After supper it was time for prayer! When I arrived it started raining pretty hard, so we shared things we wanted prayer for and waited a little bit for the rain to calm down. I am so thankful for the Casa de Fe staff, the way they pray, love, and care for me is always so encouraging! To continue today's theme of residing in the house of God the song Better Is One Day by Matt Redman was played at prayer. The lyrics are: How lovely is Your dwelling place, oh Lord Almighty. My soul longs and even faints for You, for here my heart is satisfied, within Your presence I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings. Better is one day in Your courts, better is one day in Your house, better is one day in Your courts than thousands elsewhere! One thing I ask and I would seek, to see Your beauty, to find You in the place Your glory dwells. My heart and flesh cry out, for You the living God, Your spirit's water for my soul I've tasted and I've seen, come once again to me, I will draw near to You, I will draw near to You.

Glorify His name

He just finished eating and was content!

I went on a little walk around town for my morning exercise, I did a loop around the main streets and enjoyed the still of the morning. I love starting off the day by having time to enjoy the quiet and stillness. There is something really special about this time for me! When I got home I was brain storming how to take care of the power issue, we didn't have any in our house last night or this morning. Since I had done some investigating and saw that everybody else had power, including the people that live right above us, I figured somebody had flipped the switch on our electricity box. I heard the man who lives above us open the gate and chased after him to confirm they had power, even though I had seen they did earlier. He very graciously turned on our power by flipping the switch, I was looking for the switch earlier and found the box, but I wasn't sure where the switch was. Since

Found a 3 story toy story with
Barney hanging out outside!

someone had turned off the power at my old house, I knew what needed to be done I just didn't know how to do it, so I was very thankful to catch our neighbor first thing this morning. I think it is a bit odd to have the electrical boxes outside, because anyone walking by could turn off your power if they wanted, but I'm sure there is a good reason for it. As I was out and about I headed up to Casa de Fe and helped out. They put me to work right when I got there; I got to feed some babies, hang out with the older kids for a bit, then helped reassemble a tub before heading out. I have been thinking more and more about how I am spending my time, I need to cherish every moment of every day. As my days in Shell are drawing near this reality is real, but every single day here, at home, and anywhere else I may be need to be valued. Days, months, and years pass in the blink of an eye and I want to honor God by using every second He has given me to glorify His name. When I got home I made lunch, then Jocelyn and I went to Puyo to wander around. I don't know where everything is by any means, but I am starting to learn my way around Puyo too, I like going there on little adventures. I like the size of Shell a lot, but sometimes it is fun going into a bigger town. We found the coffee shop, got some ice cream, window shopped, went in the three story party

A little performance with
Miss Mexico near the bus stop!

store, and bought some groceries and clothes at Super Tias. They have so much stuff in that store, it reminds me of Target and Walmart since it has a little bit of everything from food to shoes! I nearly fell asleep on the bus ride home and may have dozed off for a while, but not too long. The bus was getting me ready for my nap when I got home. I woke up feeling refreshed and hungry, so I cooked supper and went to the bakery to pick up breakfast. I got to bed early tonight and boy oh boy was that nice!