Adventures in Traveling

Now that I am safely back home in the good old U.S. of A, I can look back at my travels to get here and laugh.  At the time most of the things that happened were not funny, but now, especially with a much clearer head, I can definitely chuckle.  

It actually started out Tuesday morning when I woke up with a sore throat.  At first I thought that it was just allergies so when I got to SALI I took some allergy medicine and hoped for the best.  Unfortunately, as the day progressed I started feeling worse, but of course I needed to head out, so I tried to ignore it.  Things came to a head when I reached the Lima airport and stood in line for at least 45 minutes in the line to check my bags.  I was starting to feel dizzy and was having more and more trouble swallowing.  By the time I got through customs I was hot and cold and having an extremely hard time thinking, much less speaking in Spanish or English for that matter.  When I couldn't find my gate I asked for help, or rather, signed that I needed help.  The woman, who thankfully spoke English, became instantly worried, got me to buy some water, and then took me to an airport employee.  Almost immediately, he called the airport doctor.  After checking me over and discovering that, big surprise, I had a fever and (I think) strep, told me that I needed an antibiotic and that unfortunately all they had was a shot, no pills.  Furthermore, they needed to give me the shot in the butt.  Yeah, I wasn't exactly cool with that, but they told me I might not be let on the plane.  So after finding a female employee who would go with me, I went to the bathroom and got my first ever shot in the butt... in the Lima airport...

Amazingly, a few hours later I could actually swallow and the fever had gone away.  I was so relieved that the fact that I couldn't really sleep on the plane didn't bother me.  After that the trip was fairly uneventful and I finally made it to Texas to enjoy a glass of wine and hot wings (great combo believe it or not) with my Dad.  

I'm so thankful to be back for a while and that I got sick while I was traveling and not working.  God is so good and I'm so thankful for His love and protection.  He was just reminding me of how He is in control and that no matter how bad things seem at the time He can take me through it.  

Thanksgiving... Finally

It has been a few weeks since Thanksgiving and I am finally getting around to my Thanksgiving post.  Needless to say I've been a blog slacker lately.  So though it is a little late I figured it would be better to post the things I'm thankful for before Christmas actually came around.  Because I have so many things to be thankful for, I decided that narrowing the list would be the best option.  Here are six things that I am thankful for.

Number one: My U.S. friends.  A huge influence on my life from High School to College.  They've made me happy, frustrated me, co

nvicted me, been there for me, and have always loved me even when I'm frustrating them.  I am so thankful that God has put them in my life and that we've stayed in touch while I've been here in Peru.

Number two: My Peru friends.  Through all of my homesickness and the like, Heather, Julie, Gillian, Sarah, and Hamilton have been there for me.  Whether it was showing me around town,

listening to me when I was blubbering at midnight, or giving me directions to the post office,these girls have been Christ to me for the last four months.  I'll really miss Sara and Hamilton next year but I look forward to welcoming the new girl who comes and helping her out the way these girls have helped me.

Number three: My family.  Always, always there for me no matter how

 much of a pain I am.  I'm thankful for my Dad who is about as emotional as I am and is willing (and excited) to watch The Incredibles a thousand times with me.  I'm thankful for my mom who talks to me on Skype every day and helps me to realize when I'm being irrational.  And I'm thankful for Thomas, who though often times gets on my last nerve ;-) is the best younger brother in the world and is willing to play the movie game for hours on end.

Number four: Skype.  Allowing me to connect with my family back in the states.  I really don't

know what on earth I would do without it.  I love my family and hope that I'll talk to them everyday until we're old and gray.

Number five: Peru mission.  Frustrating, sometimes lonely, amazing, and of course a learning experience.  I know that God has sent me here for a reason and I am so glad that He is in control and not me.  I'm learning Spanish, gaining ministry experience, meeting awesome people and hopeful

ly spreading His love to the people I meet.  Though I've missed everyone in the states I've gained a new family here and they've helped me through the hard times.  I look forward to seeing God's kingdom advance while I am here.

Number six: Jesus Christ.  I know that sounds like a church answer but I couldn't write this list without Him.  Even in times when I feel I have no one, when I can't hug my mom or dad or my friends from back home, when I feel directionless and maybe even a little unloved I know that He will always be faithful, He will always love me, He will never let me down.  He is my Lord and Savior, my Life and Light.  I am so thankful that God the Father came down as God the Son to live a perfect life and die with my sins on Him, and then to rise again conquering death.  I can only hope to serve Him the way He deserved, but I rest on the fact that though I may stumble He will never love me any less than He already does.

My Students

Well, some of them.  These are two of my basic 9 students.  I've had them for about four months and they have improved so much!  It's really exciting to see them understanding more and more each month we go.  Now if only I could remind myself to speak a little more slowly.

Hard and work... because I told them to pretend to work on their work books...

They'd kill me if they knew I put this one up...

The one in blue is Roseangel (she and her husband are expecting their second child!  Yay!) and the one on the left is Susana.  Keep them in your prayers.

Blog Tag!

So, I was just tagged by my friend Mari.  Thought it might be fun to play along!

The Rules::*Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.  *Share seven facts about yourself on your blog.*  Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.  *Let them know they are

 being tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Fact 1: I am currently working as a missionary in Trujillo, Peru teaching English to Peruvians. 

 I miss my family bunches but am enjoying the opportunity to serve here.

Fact 2: One of my favorite things in the world to do is write.  I have currently written about four and a half novels (not very good ones I can assure you) and I am currently trying to finish the half and praying for inspiration for a novel that will, in fact, alter the universe.

Fact 3:  I'm a little obsessed with working out.  I love the way I feel afterwards and it's an incredible stress buster.  Currently my vice is jump roping as it is a little easier on the knees and safer to do in Trujillo as I can do it in the comfort of my own house while I watch a movie or listen to music.  

Fact 4:  I play guitar... kind of.  I also had the best teacher ever, who will be tagged once I'm done putting up ridiculous facts about myself.

Fact 5:  This is making me feel rather narcissistic... does that count as a fact?

Fact 6:  Some of my favorite movies are the Pixar Movies.  Not only are they clean, but they are incredibly clever not to mention adorable.  My father and I bond over movies and one of our favorites to watch together is The Incredibles.  It surprisingly has a lot of good insights into life.

Fact 7:  My dream job would be being a stay at home mother who writes world changing novels on the side... of course God likes to have His own plans which in the end are normally way better than what I planned so we'll see what happens in the future.

Tagging:

 Kiki: My amazing former girls youth director and current awesome mom/writer.

Kelly:  My other amazing, awesome former girls youth director, currently and awesome mom.

Hamilton: Awesome roomie here in Peru.

Jessica:  Awesome friend from high school.

Julie:  Yet another amazing room mate in Peru

Gillian: A very cool lady living with me in Peru, answering my many questions

The Krajca Family:  A second family to me while I was living in College Station

Prayers For SALI

So, for those of you keeping up, I've just finished my fourth month at SALI.  Things went well this past month, my students have improved a lot which is awesome, but they need work on grammar (as do I =P).  Yesterday (the last day of class for the month) I went out with my Basic 8 class for Cebiche, it was fabulous and though we spoke Spanish pretty much the entire time the little English they did speak was so much improved!  I have two of the same classes next month and a new class.  It's going to be a little crazy teaching three grammar classes but I've already taught one of the courses so it shouldn't be too bad.  Just a TON of grading.

Now, prayers for this month:

• SALI has to move.  The details are sketchy and confusing but the bottom line is we have to move before January.  We had thought about closing SALI for December as it would be very busy trying to move and teach but we would not be able to pay our bills if we closed to that idea got panned.  The big problem right now is finding a place.  As of now I don't think we have anything.
• The girls have to move.  Despite our contract with the man who is in charge of our apartment the guys who owns the building wants to move into our specific apartment by January and in the spirit of avoiding unnecessary confrontation it was decided that we should leave.  I'm not going to lie, I'm not real excited as I have moved about 7 times in the last six months, so the prayer is that I will be thankful that God is the one in control and that this is somehow the best.  So pray for sanity with all this moving and that our students won't suffer.
• That despite all the craziness please pray that God will show His love and patience through me and that I will have a thankful spirit rather than a complaining one.  

Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying for me and keeping up with my blog.  I hope to see as many of you as possible when I come home for Christmas!  God bless!

Time for a Random Post

Every morning I make oatmeal for breakfast with a little peanut butter.  It's tasty, pretty healthy, and it keeps me full until my midmorning snack.  However, this morning when I was making it things did not go so well.  Yesterday one of our friends from church came over to make ceviche and some other fish dish (I could never figure out the name).  Ceviche is fish that has been prepared with lemon and aji (not a clue if I spelled that one right) which is a spice they use here.  The acid in the lemon makes it safe to eat without cooking (I realize that I may have people correcting me on this and corrections are appreciated =P).  The other dish was incredibly spicy and sooo good.  Unfortunately, they used the little pot that I use for my oatmeal.  I smell the spiciness this morning and had second thoughts about using it, but then decided to try.  Mistake.  My oatmeal was spicy and disgusting.  I felt pretty silly.  Needless to say, tomorrow I will be using another pot!

Christmas Comes Early in Peru

So because Peruvians do not celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously) the super early Christmas celebrating comes even earlier than it does in the states.  Though I know many people in Texas who will put up lights the day after Thanksgiving, our cleaning lady and secretary are already putting up a Christmas tree.  No joke.  But that's alright with me.  Christmas is my favorite time of year, family getting together, friends reuniting, giving presents, good food, and most importantly celebrating the birth of Christ.  So here are a few pictures to enjoy though it is a bit early:

"Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."  Luke 12:15

Today, I left my back pack in the trunk of a taxi.  Not only was my credit card in it, but also my driver's license, keys, journal, and bible.  The card, easily canceled, the driver's license, easily replaced along with my keys, but the things I wrote in my bible and journal are a little harder to let go.  Hopefully, those lessons are still in my heart and the writing still in my head.  But I have so much to be thankful for!  Most of the time I leave my passport in that bag.  Thankfully, we are taking care of my visa at the moment so the missionaries have that.  Thankfully, the only money I lost was sixty soles and a missionary family let me use their Vonage phone to call my credit card company and cancel it.  Thankfully, they understand that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions and they loaned me a little money.  Thankfully, though I now can't get into my cabinet at SALI, my students have a listening exam this week... MOVIE DAY!  

I have been very upset all day.  I won't lie and say that I've taken this as well as I should have, but I've been shown so much support and generosity and I know God will help me through it.  However, your prayers are greatly appreciated.  Pray that I'll have peace, pray that my new credit card will get to me soon, and pray that I won't be in anyway bitter about losing my stuff.  Because in reality, it isn't my stuff at all, it belongs to God.

A Word From a Pretty Smart Guy

  "Would you think I was joking if I said that you can put a clock back, and that if the clock is wrong it is often a very sensible thing to do?  But I would rather get away from the whole idea of clocks.  We all want progress.  But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be.  And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer.  If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest it the most progressive man."  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

I felt this quote appropriate, especially with all this talk of change and progress, and though I don't have too much to say about it, I hope that whatever the change may be that Christians would simply pray one thing "Lord, you will, not mine, be done."

Blog Change

Well, unless you're blind you noticed the change.  Why you ask?  I was bored with the old lay out and this one is much brighter and prettier.  Enjoy =D

Bye Caleb!

Last Saturday we went to Moche.  I enjoyed duck for the first time and must say I liked it very much.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and there was dancing and as always lots of food.  That night we went to the bus station to bid our fearless leader, Caleb Sutton, farewell.  We'll miss his bad jokes, amazing grasp of the Spanish language, leadership, and daily hugs (enforced by Hamilton, Sarah, and myself).  Bye Ca-leb!  You'll be always in our prayers!

Where's Your Trust

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."  Psalm 20:7

Though I am not particularly happy about the winner of the 2008 Presidential Election, I am at peace.  Despite the fact that I believe Obama will do terrible things, I do not trust in presidents or kings, I trust in the Lord of all creation, the Holy One who came down to us, walked in our skin, and took on our punishment to satisfy God's holy and just wrath.  I trust in my savior, because He is all powerful, all knowing, holy, and perfect.  Unlike either presidential candidate He is perfectly good and works all things for good.  

So though I will be praying for the new president, I will not be putting my trust in him, I'll be putting my trust in my eternal King. 

Another Update

So I'm really excited.  I was talking to our intern director's wife last Friday at Starbucks (oh yes, it has invaded Peru as well) and I was telling her that what I've really always wanted to do was disciple younger women.  I had the two best girls youth directors when I was in high school and I wanted to do the same for other women when I got older.  I told Robin (intern director's amazing wife) that I wanted to do that here in Peru but still had such a huge language barrier.  She suggested something that I should have thought of before but didn't: Missionary kids.  Two of the families down here have girls about Jr. High age and apparently one of the past interns did a bible study with them in the past.  I thought it was a great idea, and when I talked to them they got excited as well.  So this Saturday I'm starting up a bible study with them, at the notorious Starbucks!  It amazes me how God gives us opportunities in places that we don't look in.  I am very excited and I hope that you will all be praying for my energy and God's wisdom and I try to be there for these amazing girlies!

Bad News

I might not get to vote.  My absentee ballot still has not come in.  This is my own fault of course, I forgot that we moved to a new county so I had to register after I sent in my request.  Oops.  Oh well, God is in control whether I get to vote or not and even if the guy I don't want to win is elected God is still in control.  

I'm still sad though.  =(

Prayer Requests

I just had an idea as I posted my last little update.  Everyone's praying for me and I want to be praying for them as well.  So leave your requests in the comment box and I'll try to remember to pray for you everyday!

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

End of the Third Month

So this is the end of my third month and I thought it would be good to evaluate how things have been so far.  Some things I really want to improve on are:

• Patience when things throw my schedule off and with my students
• Making time for my students outside of class
• Seeking opportunities to present the gospel in the class room
• Seeking to encourage the other missionaries and interns down here with me
• Purposefully praying for those around me and those I've left behind
• And as always, seeking God's direction

So pray with me if you will.  Next month I have two of the same groups of students with me and I'm hoping to continue to build relationships with them.  One student already wants to go to lunch with me!  I'm so excited.  For part of the time we're going to practice English and part of the time we're going to practice Spanish.  She's already a Christian I think but I hope this will be an opportunity for discipleship or mutual encouragement!  Often times I find when I'm working so hard to help others often times they help me.  I really appreciate that because I know that God's giving me some encouragement through them.

Thanks for everyone who reads and prays!  Love and miss you all! 

And Actual Update

Ok, so I've come to realize that the main point of this blog was to update people on what was going on with me here in Trujillo, Peru and I haven't been doing too much updating!  So, here's a quick overview:

I'm teaching two grammar classes and one conversation class this month.  I love this schedule because my grammar classes are in the morning and conversation's at four.  I have a lot of time to plan and then be by myself a little in the evenings while the other girls are teaching.  I also use that time to work out and skype!  

Next month I'm teaching the next level of these classes (so I'll have the same students, yay!) and then I'll have test duty! (yikes!!!)  

I am going to start trying to go to grupo de jovenes (youth group for those of you who are not as Spanish savvy as I am ;-)) and hopefully build relationships there and improve on my Spanish!

For those of you who are praying for me, I have a little list:

1. That I would seek God's will and glory here in everything I do, including grading papers.
2. That I would be able to build relationships with my students and witness to them and or disciple them
3. That my Spanish would improve so that I can build more easily said relationships
4. That I would thank God daily for all he has done and is doing for me
5. That I would seek His direction and not mine
6. And most importantly that His kingdom would advance here, not mine.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Something I Don't Understand

A recent quote by Barack Obama, stating "The first thing I'd do as president would be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act" which would wipe out all state and federal abortion restriction including the partial-birth abortion ban has got me thinking about something that's bothered me for a very long time.  Let me start off by saying that I will attempt to understand the issue soberly but I admit that it is an emotional issue especially for me so...

First, I want to pose a purely hypothetical question: If I got married and found out that I was pregnant (I start off with marriage because I don't plan on getting pregnant outside of wedlock) and either miscarried or somehow otherwise lost my baby, would anyone dare tell me that it wasn't my child that had died?  I certainly would hope not.  It would be cruel and just plain wrong.  So my major question is, if you wouldn't tell me that I'd lost my baby early on during pregnancy then how can you turn around and say that it's not manslaughter to abort a child only because it's the mother's choice?  

If you would tell me that I hadn't lost my baby and just a fetus then I'd have to wonder how much you actually care about women.  People will tell you that it is about a woman's choice with what to do with her body, but what is more important?  Our choice?  Or the life of another?  I could then say, 'Well, it was my choice to drown my three month old daughter'.  I know you'll say that she was no longer part of my body but I honestly do not see or understand the difference.  

On the issue of rape, my biggest question would be do you really think that killing the child will help you recover from such a tragic event?  Moreover, having that baby is fostering life where the rapist was trying to destroy it.  And even if you can't handle keeping the child there are so many women who can't have children.  I know the adoption system isn't the greatest in the world, but in my opinion it would be far better to give that baby a chance to live, give a woman who can't have a baby the opportunity to love the child...

All this to say I will not be voting for Obama next month, but more importantly, I will be praying that the church will reach out to hurting women in the community, those stuck in bad situation and even those suffering from depression after aborting their child.  I encourage those of you who are Christians to reach out to your friends and family into your community, let people know that there is a better way, that we will love on them and not judge them for the things they have done because God calls us not to judge and to remember what we've been forgiven for!  And I encourage everyone to pray for our hurting nation, in this issue and all the economic issues there are.  In the end, I will pray for whoever becomes president and I encourage you to do the same.

Learning Spanish: Church and Bible language

So I have decided to start reading a passage from Psalms in Spanish every morning.  This is incredibly difficult and often times it goes completely over my head, but from my desire to start my day with scripture, and learn more language for Spanish church services I'm soldiering on.  At the very least my some amazing church friends from back home gave me a Spanish/English bible for graduation so I can check back and forth.  

When my Spanish teacher (Pastor Eduardo's wife Noami) found out I was doing this, she started teaching me some of the songs from our church in Arevalo because many of them are based on Psalms.  She also give me bible verses for the week which I am going to try and make more of an effort to memorize.  

Her is this week's verse:

"Porque para mí el vivir es Cristo y el morir es ganancía." Filipenses 1:21

A comparison

Now can you tell?  =P