Lord Unto Me

I recently was scolded for my infrequent posting habits. I'm here to remedy that.

Right now I'm back in good ol' Chesapeake. I'm really enjoying this time to catch up with friends, relax with family, and get into the Christmas spirit.

Everybody warns you before you travel to a foreign country about "culture shock". I, personally, don't feel I've ever really experienced that in foreign countries, mostly just when I come back home from a trip to a foreign country. America is certainly an unusual place compared to the rest of the world. Infused with culture, yet culture-less. Organized chaos, civilized primitivism. Yes, an unusual place indeed.

I suppose the truth of the matter is that Honduras is not really a "foreign" country to me anymore. Before I came here, when I was talking about Chesapeake, I used the phrase "back home" preceding everything. I find that here in Chesapeake, when I'm talking about Honduras, I use the same phrase. Both places feel very much like home. And, I feel very blessed to be able to broaden my horizons in such a way that two very different places can both give me the feeling of contentedness and belonging.

Being back home has forced me to take a good, long look at the last 3 months and evaluate what has happened. Which, if you pay attention, is in fact very odd. When you're in high school and Christmas season comes do you take time to think about how you've changed since school started and what you've learned and what your favorite thing was? Pienso que no. But, when you've been living in Honduras and you come home and have to come up with an answer to all of those questions for nearly everyone you come in contact with-you have to come up with something. Therefore, I've spent a lot of thought on this review of my life in Honduras, (Yes, that's what's going on when I'm "umm"ing and "ahhh"ing after each question.) and here's what I've concluded (thus far).

I think that a good way to summarize the last 3 months would be with this:

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures."

Those three lines hit the nail on the head. Since I moved to Honduras the Lord has been my Shepherd. He has guided me, cared for me, and provided for me. In every situation, He is the One that I look to so that I don't get lost, the One I look to for protection.

And, I've found that life in Honduras has left me without any "wants". Everything I need, and want, he has provided. (All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.) I find this ironic because before moving to Honduras I was consumed with thoughts and preparations so that, once I got there, I would not be wanting of anything. As it turns out, God knows far better than I what the 'essentials' are. And, they are not a certain brand of face wash, cute clothes, or my favorite kinds of food. They are things that can only be given by His hand: edifying fellowship, loving relationships, a joyful spirit, etc.

Then there's that last sentence:

"He makes me lie down in green pastures." Oh, does He ever. Not only does the Lord guide me, not only does He provide for me, but He makes me happy. I know, it's not "Christianese" and not even a word that most Christians would use in relation to something God would give us as a gift. We much prefer the word, "joy". And, I understand, because I also have had times in my life that God has given me GREAT joy. Right now is even one of those times. But, I consider joy something that we have in all circumstances as Christians. I am filled with great joy even when experiencing strong suffering. However, what I've been given regarding life in Honduras... is happiness. I love where I live, I love the people I'm around, I love what I do. I'm just happy about my life. I have a lot of fun. So, God doesn't just provide for my every need and respond faithfully to my every cry, He makes me lie down in green pastures. He has brought me to a lush place that fulfills my needs and my wants, a place where I have joy and happiness.

I am truly blessed.

Inching

I'm inching toward my departure for home! I have mixed feelings but mostly I just feel excited to see family and friends for a while. I usually find upon returning to America that all the things they warn you about concerning "culture shock" are the most potent when you've been living in a low-maintenance culture (like Honduras) and return to the States for a while. But-that's the nature of traveling, I suppose.

It's a beautiful day today. Sunny and breezy. Certainly not typical December weather but beautiful, nonetheless.

This weekend I enjoyed a trip to La Ceiba to see the San Pedro Sula Chamber Orchestra play a Christmas set. They played The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, and some stuff by Piazolla, and Andrea Bocelli. It was really pretty and very well done. Definitely a talented group.

I'm looking forward to my last week before Christmas break. We have some Christmas events going on. I also plan on taking the bus out to Rio Esteban at some point to hang out with a friend, Delmy. She's in my English class and we've always kind of hit it off. Fun stuff!

Hasta luego

Jiggity Jig

Aquí es el problema con blogging:

Inevitably, if you happen to have some particularly exciting weeks, you're unable to take out time to blog. However, if you skip a few weeks of blogging because they were particularly exciting... when you do go to update your blog you are stuck with quite the dilemma. Do I bombard my readers with a really long update of exciting events? Or, should I draw out the updating process by sifting through everything and prioritizing what I think would be most interesting?

I'll standby to hear your input on this. In the meantime, I'll base this blog update solely on my instincts.

Since 10/17 (the time of my last update) I've spent a good chunk of time getting into the 'groove' of things here at Loma de Luz, and, as it turns out, I'm really enjoying the groove.

All with school is going great. I'm still trying to iron out the kinks in my preschool class but, things are coming together and it's working itself out. I also have started teaching an English class with one of the missionaries here. I LOVE it! We have about 10 Honduran students who are all very enthusiastic about the class.

Last weekend I took a mini-vacation to the Honduran island Roatan. I had the most fun I've had definitely in the last 3 months, if not in the last 3 years. We spent all weekend at the beach doing one thing or the other. Sometimes snorkeling, sometimes kayaking, going out to eat. We also were blessed to get 1/2 off of a 4hr. trip on a catamaran! We stayed in a beautiful, huge, perfect beach house paid for by a very generous doctor who has come to volunteer here for a few weeks. The group included all the inhabitants of staff housing as well as a missionary family and another doctor. We had a blast!

By the time we came back it was Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, I had one student in the morning from 8-12 and my English class from 1-3.

Finally, THANKSGIVING! On Thursday morning I went to the beach with a friend and proceeded to get stung by the mother of all jellyfish. After that I sat on my bed for an hour with ice packs on BOTH legs (yes, both) and took a little nap before getting ready for the feast. Woke up from the nap, made myself look a little less like I just got stung by a jellyfish and took a nap, and headed down to the Cabildo (building where we do all our community fellowship gatherings). The place was DOUSED in oranges and leaves and turkeys and all things Thanksgiving. I got the percolator going for the coffee and we feasted! The meal was GREAT. That night we played Capture the Flag in the rain... and settled into to our contented Christmas-is-coming dispositions.

The other day I helped my friends, the Mckenneys, spruce up their Christmas decorations. That was very effective at getting my spirit in the mood. Hannah Mckenney had her 12th birthday party Friday night which was tons of fun and the weekend carried on that way until today, Monday. A beautiful day here in Honduras, now I have to go recover my room from all this vacationing.

All my love.

Mish-Mosh Pish-Posh

I would start this by saying it's been an "abnormal" week if I felt I could actually fool anyone into thinking I have yet to experience a "normal" week since I got here. SO-let's try this again:

It's been a normally abnormal week. Monday, I started a preschool class with two four year olds and two one year olds. (Okay, so, the one year olds are more like innocent bystanders.) It was really fun! We're learning our letters and started with "F" (don't ask me, ask the makers of the Sonlight curriculum). Of course, I had the "teacher's pet" of a student that told me over and over that she ALWAYS helps her teacher and she's the teacher's helper and she just loves to help and why are we learning the letter F first? Then, there was the spunky one who just wants to cut and glue every last scrap of paper in sight. Ahhh... preschool.

I've started going with Heidi Merritt to something called "CPR". It's a course that she gives on purity and abstinence in the local villages of Lucinda and Balfate. Last Wednesday, we went to Lucinda and this Tuesday I went with her in the morning to meet with her group in Balfate. I really liked it, there are some younger girls so it's a good chance for me to make some connections, some friends! She also mentioned that I want to get together with some of them and practice my Spanish and they all seemed pretty excited! All I need is my MOTORCYCLE (oops, I'm getting ahead of myself here...). Well, anyways, I like going to the classes with her. It's good Spanish practice and a good way to get myself involved more with the Honduran community. Good stuff, and much needed. Heidi Merritt is one of my latest heroines!

After CPR I had my 1st Spanish class! There's a local girl who gives lessons to a lot of the missionaries and I just started classes with her this week. I REALLY liked it. She doesn't speak English so it's not just learning but it's also great practice. I'm excited about getting myself comfortable enough with it to actually start making some meaningful connections with the Hondurans.

After SPANISH CLASS I went to La Ceiba with a family (the Wards). They had to get their girls to the dentist and I had to do some shopping. I also had my first chance to eat a hamburger since I got here. I had Burger King for lunch and Wendy's for dinner, who knew!

Wednesday I woke up feeling miserable and tried to get through school. I ended up not being able to keep my head up, went to the hospital to get checked up, and realized I had a fever. Upon hearing the news, I gathered my meds, went home, and went back to bed. I stayed in my room all day Wednesday until later that night when my friend Joelle came and picked me up and took me to the house she's housesitting. Her & I hung out and she cooked for me and nursed me back to health! We had some good time of fellowship and prayer along the way...

By Friday morning I was up for doing school and feeling 100% better. Friday after school around 4pm Joelle (22yr old pediatric nurse short-termer from Richmond), Julia (18 yr old short-termer teaching at bilingual school and doing administrative work at the hospital), and I (17 yr old short.. just kidding) went to Balfate and did some fun stuff with the kids in Balfate. After which we enjoyed a Saturday night pizza dinner at the Younts house.

This morning, I went to the "Dump" with Joelle, Julia, and 2 girls from Balfate. It's an area in La Ceiba where all of these families live around the local dump and there's a church at the top of the hill that does a Bible lesson every week and feeds all the kids. The meals that they serve are packed with nutrients and I guess if you were to have more than 3 bowls a week you'd get sick from all the substinence. Cool beans! It was definitely an insightful experience. You're sure to see the smellier, less attractive side of missions during stuff like this. It's not fun and exciting to see malnourished kids walking around barefoot through streets full of rubbish. But, it's a blessing to be there and hold their hands and show them the love of Christ, and to see their joy.

I finished this crazy week with shopping in La Ceiba, and dinner with some girls at Joelle's house, where we are currently watching "Nacho Libre". You could definitely say it's been a full week full of a mish-mosh plethora of experiences, lessons, and activities.

TADAAAAHH! My abnormally normal week... or was it the other way around? I forget.

Take Your Time

I love Honduras because I can climb into bed with dirty feet and it doesn't matter. I can walk for miles without a phone and not think twice about it. If there's somewhere to be, I don't worry about getting there. And, if I care to, I can take my time living life. I haven't seen a single rose since I stepped off that plane, but I still manage to stop and smell them all.

If You Catch the Fruit

... When it falls, It won't get bruised.

It has been an amazing 2nd week so far.. I can't believe it's October! I didn't really believe people when they said time will fly but I'm already feeling like December will come too soon! (Although, when I talk to loved ones back home I start to think it can't come soon enough.. I'm torn.)

I can't really explain all the reasons why I love it here so much but I think a really big one is that I'm down to essentials. I don't really have too much extra stuff going on in my day-to-day here. Life is just simple and peaceful and yet everyday is filled with the excitement of doing things I love. When I'm teaching these girls it's like there's absolutely nothing else going on. One of my girls is dyslexic so she requires a little more hands-on work and a lot more creativity and I find that challenge of working with her to be a real thrill and it's extremely rewarding when she really grasps something.

As I'm faced with the updates from back home and sometimes the little hint of desire that comes when I hear about something a friend is doing that I would like to be able to do right now, God has really been showing me where my priorities are. My heart's desire is to esteem the things He esteems, love the things He loves, be passionate about His passions.. etc. etc. etc. And He's been showing me where I've got that down and some areas where I'm a little confused and off base. I love to be here learning from Him. This environment so promotes a lifestyle of reflection and meditation on truth. This country; this community; this culture is rooted in the essentials. It's the difference between always looking forward for what's 'next' to taking things day-to-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute... and finding the fruit of every moment. I feel like in America I stand under a tree full of unripe fruit and I reach and I stretch and I grasp for that fruit whereas here.. I sit under the tree and the ripe fruit falls and I can collect it from the ground. It's the difference between being dissatisfied and being content.

I wash my Ziplocs, I hardly wear makeup, I don't enjoy live music on a regular basis. BUT-I serve, I think things through, I read, I learn, I have alone time, and I have fellowship. Honduras is showing me what the difference is between needing and wanting, the difference between hunger and starvation.

The good news is that on this trip I have more than 10 days to realize what the non-essentials are. I get to realize what they are, and then I get to build a lifestyle that excludes them. And that is the difference between short-term and long-term. Between 10 days and 9 months. Between visiting Honduras and living in Honduras.

Saturday

We're coming up on my first week here. Today marks a week from the day that I actually LEFT home. Tomorrow night will be a week from the day I arrive at Loma de Luz.

Wow-only a week. It feels like I've already taken the full journey and yet there's MORE. More for me to do. More for God to do. How exciting.

This week has gone by pretty fast now that I look back on it.

Today was a struggle for me. It was the first day that I didn't have my work for the day clearly cut out for me. In fact, the first day I didn't HAVE work for the day. At first I got a little worried. I kind of panicked when I realized that I had nothing to do today and the girls wouldn't be around for me to tag along with. But-sure enough- I found things to do.

I finished The Kite Runner. What a great book! It was especially cool to be reading about a different culture and living in a different culture at the same time. Like a double wammy. I really liked all the literary elements that he incorporated and REALLY liked how the ending doesn't make you feel sad and it doesn't make you feel ecstatic, it kind of makes you feel like things just.. go on. But in a good way. If you haven't read it, you should, if you aren't easily effected by some intense dramatic content.

I also did quite a bit of housekeeping today. Washed my sheets, made breakfast, tried to fix my coffee pot, scrubbed, wiped, etc.

One of the best parts of my "day of rest"- My Sabbath. My Saturday. - was the time I had to study some Spanish, Old Testament, and Christian Beliefs. I brought two spanish textbooks with me and two Bible textbooks (one OT survey & the other a Handbook of Christian Beliefs). So, I've been doing a lot of independent studies with those books and today I got to really invest a good chunk of time to all of them. I read the story of Noah, as well, always a classic. I think it shows two aspects of God that are foundational, complimentary, and incredibly moving. That is, His desire to see righteousness in His people and His desire to preserve those after His heart.

After I did some studying, I took a walk up the hill a little bit to a cluster of missionary houses. I took several pictures on the way that you can take a look at on Facebook. It was a nice chance to take in some of the beauty that I'm now living in. When I got home the girls invited me to go meet them down at the beach. I was going to but my next-door neighbor (a young pediatric nurse) Joelle got in and wanted to make pizza so I thought it probably would be a good time to get to know her and stuff. We had a lot of fun, making pizza in Honduras is quite the adventure. The ingredients are no problem but finding a stove to cook it in, that's the biggest obstacle.

But, in the end, we were successful! We made pizza and shared it with some of the Honduran staff members that live on the other side of staff housing.

So-God really blessed me with a great day to have some alone time with Him and have some great fellowship.

I look forward to the adventures tomorrow brings!

Filling "Spare" Time

Wow-I've had quite a bit of free time lately. Schedules are wierd around here because of all the stuff going on with the government we had a toque de queda (curfew) yesterday & today. Thankfully, that'll be suspended tomorrow which will open up traffic again. It's not a good thing for Cornerstone to have transportation restrictions considering they have a lot of teams/short-terms doctors coming in and out right now. We were supposed to have a little missionary conference that was going to start tomorrow but because of the political issues and insecurity of the issue of transportation, it's been cancelled. Therefore, all the students who were working hard to finish this week's work before tomorrow now find themselves with a lot of free time. I do have one student, though, whose parents want to make the most of this time (can't blame them with the way things run around here-you can be eight steps ahead and in three steps end up ten steps behind...) and she'll continue to do school for the rest of the week. Which means I will continue to do school this week. Today I worked with just her and we finished at 11am so I'm kind of expecting that to be the deal for tomorrow and Friday.

Yesterday we finished around noontime and I went back to my house for lunch. I was studying some spanish and chatting on Skype when one of my girls came in and asked me if I wanted to "hang out". This is 10yr Sammey who's just so sweet and spunky. So, she and I went to her house and played Yahtzee, watched some of Hairspray, and then walked down to the children's center (foster home). Her older sister, Sidney (14), has a horse so she let Sammey and I ride it down to the beach. AMAZING. My first time riding a horse was bareback down to the Caribbean. Woah. It was great. Definitely scary at first (and I'm incapable of getting on a horse alone) but worth it in the end.

Today after school I went back to the house, ate lunch, Skyped with Andrew, and then went to the hospital to clean glasses. Someone donated thousands of pairs of vintage glasses to Loma de Luz so they're cleaning them, checking the prescription, and entering them into a computer data base so they can be fitted and given to patients. I went in there and washed a hundred or so for an hour. Then, I came back. Skyped some MORE, and at 4pm went to the lady's bible study that was held at the Rumbaughs. The Rumbaughs are a missionary family here who are pretty much in charge of all the ministry aspects. I'm pretty sure they have some sort of study going on at their house every night. It was at their house that the Perspectives (missions study I went to Monday) was held. After the Bible study, I went to the Merritt's house. The Merritts are the couple that my home church supports and so it was cool connecting with them. They're very sweet, hospitable, pleasant people.

Now I'm back in my room. Updating people, Skyped a little MORE, and getting ready to get stuff ready for tomorrow and study some Spanish.

Pray for Honduras. Pray for the missionaries.

Nitty Gritty-not so gritty.

Today was my first day of work with the kids. It started bright & early at 6:30am. I had breakfast with the short-term team from Kentucky (mostly because I wanted to steal their coffee!) and they were very nice to chat with. I also had one of the most interesting shaving experiences of my life (ask me about that later). I got picked up around 8am and we went to the place where we're holding classes, the "Cabildo". There were four girls for classes today. Three were probably in the 4th-6th grade range and one was in 9th. My role was pretty straightforward, I helped them when they asked for help, and graded their assignments as they finished them. Some needed more help than others but for the most part-they seem to be very easy to handle and teachable.

We took a break around 10am and played marbles! Yes, marbles. I remember playing SOMETIMES as a kid but I never really thought people played marbles anymore. It was fun-mostly cause I'm pretty darn good. Got back to work and broke later for lunch. We went down to a small restaurant by the gate and had fried chicken, Honduran cole slaw, and refried beans. Oh & I can't forget the little bag of water they gave me to drink out of. Quite entertaining.

Once we had finished with school, Mrs. Yount took me for a little mini-tour (tours come in bits and pieces around here) to see some of the missionary housing up the hill. Wow-these guys have some REALLY nice houses. Just absolutely beautiful. And, she said hers cost them under 50,000 to build. I mean, you've got to be kidding me! That was crazy.

After my tour I went back to my room, studied some Spanish and cooked my first meal. (Rice with green pepper and onion.) I made some phone calls at 6pm and then went to a study at the Rumbaughs at 7pm. It was a great time for me. They're doing a study on how to be an effective missionary and exploring all the different sociological things that come into play on the foreign mission field. It was really great just to listen to the different opinions and hear them all bring something a little different to the table. In the end, they essentially agree to disagree on the non-essentials and have a like mind when it comes to the important stuff. What more could I ask for?!

It was a really good day. I feel like I'm gradually making this place my home and the transition so far has been a smooth one.

Pray for the political state of Honduras-not so great right now.

Foreshadowing

"12 hours since I began this journey. Not one minute has been void of adventure. The adventure began at 3:30am with the new alarm clock my sister, Alex, got that simulates sunlight. The dim light that progressed as the “sun” was “rising” mixed with my anxiety and inability to sleep are what woke me up to what would be the most eventful day in my travelling life. Stumbling to the bathroom in my sister’s house, I started my day with a cramped but refreshing shower. It wasn’t an hour before we were headed out the door and on our way to the airport. The sky was pitch black except for a strip of orange glaze just above the horizon. That orange glaze didn’t just tell me that in a few hours the sun would appear on the horizon, it foreshadowed the journey ahead of me. The great and beautiful adventure God had planned just for me, had planned to happen on September 19^th, 2009. I arrived at the airport on time, checking luggage was a breeze. My dad was able to get a pass so he could escort me all the way to the gate and see me off before I boarded the plane. While we waited I sat with his arm around mme, my head against his chest, my eyes shut. And, although I’m sure onlookers thought I had dozed off, there was a hurricane of thoughts-the same hurricane that had been keeping me from sleep for the weeks prior. Perhaps a tornado of thoughts would be a better use of words because it’s not like I was living a life of unrest. I felt totally secure and at peace in my Father’s arms despite the weather of my internal state. Again, a foreshadowing of what was to come. Today, situations would seem hectic but I would be at peace, in my Father’s arms. He was the eye of the storm, and that is where this day took place."

I wrote those words in my Moleskine on my flight to Miama from Atlanta. After I had spent a good 5 or 6 hours in the Atlanta airport.

As you can see from that snippet, travelling here was a pretty big ordeal. My flight from Richmond was seemingly going smoothly and on time. Right when we boarded I konked out and woke up an hour later to find that we were still on the runway...

Needless to say, I arrived in Atlanta and my connecting flight had already left. Making arrangement to get to Honduras was relatively easy. Delta had already rebooked me (Go Delta!) and it was just a matter of waiting to leave and waiting to hear from people in Honduras to make sure someone would be there to pick me up. Sure enough, I got a call from Dave Fields, one of the Loma de Luz missionaries RIGHT before I boarded in Atlanta saying that he would be there to meet me at the airport.

I met several very sweet people in the midst of my travelling and had a chance to talk to a lot of loved ones back home. It was a real blessing to see how supportive all these strangers were of what I'm doing. On the Richmond flight I told the couple sitting next to me about it and the man was very sweet talking about how inspiring it is and we got to discussing his missionary connections in Honduras. By that time, several people had started listening to the conversation. When we were getting off the plane he insisted on getting my bag down for me and as I was walking out another kind man offered to carry it off the plane for me. That was a true blessing considering my carry-on weighed a good 35lbs. Then, on my flight from Miami to San Pedro I met two girls, one from Colombia and one from Venezuela, they were so excited for me and were a lot of fun to talk with. So-God was watching over me the entire time. He ensured that I wasn't scared, confused, or alone. I REALLY appreciate that. It was a very potentially scary situation for someone travelling alone for the first time but there wasn't a single moment that I was worried about what might happen or concerned that things wouldn't work out.

Finally-I arrived in San Pedro Sula at 9pm (11pm our time) after a long day of going in and out of airports. That night we stayed in San Pedro with a very sweet couple who I'll see again this weekend at a conference we're going to. This morning I took a bus to La Ceiba and had lunch with the Fields. Then, they took me to my new living quarters where I spent the rest of the day up till now getting my room put together and unpacking.

So far-I've really enjoyed being here and have felt really at home with everyone I met. Praise God.

This picture is of a rainbow I saw on my way to Miami. It's cool to see rainbows up so high.

Heart for Honduras

The last few months have been chock full of good byes. Ever since graduation I've watched a lot of my friends go on their way, following the call God has placed on their life. Today I saw the last one off (headed to England for Bible school-exciting!) and feel that in a way, even though this journey started months ago-today marks a sort of "beginning" to my journey IN Honduras. I feel like even though I still have four days in the country, as far as I'm concerned, I'm already on the way there.

For the last few days I'll be spending some time with the people I love and the rest of the time will be my chance to get last minute stuff together and pack it up! HOORAY! Thank you so much everyone for your love and support in preparation. My financial support has gone VERY smoothly and the Lord has provided (as He always does).

I started this blog to keep everyone updated on what I'm doing, and what God's doing, while I'm in Honduras. I'll take this first post to explain why I chose the name "Steady Until Sunset" and what God has placed on my heart regarding my role at Loma de Luz. The phrase "steady until sunset" comes from a verse in Exodus 17. Moses told Joshua to prepare men to fight against Amalek. During this battle, Moses stationed himself at the top of a hill with his staff in hand. It turned out that, during the fighting, whenever Moses held up his staff.. Israel was winning, & vice versa. Soon enough (I love how real the story becomes at this point) Moses' arms get tired. Aaron and Hur come alongside Moses and hold his hands up and it is recorded that Moses hands remained "steady until sunset". What does this have to do with me, Honduras, Loma de Luz?

A lot. I feel like this story really puts my role at Loma de Luz into perspective. God has called these missionaries to raise their "staffs" for the spiritual battle happening in La Ceiba. They have (very literally) stationed themselves at the top of a hill (loma) of light (luz). And, as I've come to find in the months leading up to this point and I'm sure I'll know even better when I finally get there-the call on the lives of these missionaries is not easy to carry out. Because they're human, like Moses, they get tired. The Lord has therefore called me to play the role of Aaron and Hur and to hold up the arms of these faithful missionaries so that they might remain steady until sunset...