Adventures of "normal" life . . .

Yeah, how's that possible? I guess maybe if you think your life is boring you should do something about it!

Whether that means adding character to the eggs that are just sitting on the counter with nothing better to do or having a random water fight Friday afternoon or sitting down and playing a good ole game of Memory. All of which have happened here lately amidst the more boring, less exciting "normal" of life.

I  think I found a new hobby
(also fun: injecting food coloring into eggs!)

I realized my latest posts haven't really been all that informative about life in general here. . . . we'll try to fix that now.

helping each other figure out their language worksheet

The last few weeks actually feel sort of like a blur. There's been lots of studying, there will continue to be studying. There's been company, there will be more company. There have been hospital visits. Hopefully there will be no more of those!
It seems having a new toy like a trampoline just begs to be tested to the limits! So far no one seems to have suffered anything extremely permanent except for Elmer who is still hobbling around after putting his knee out of socket last week. I think it was last week anyway, honestly I'm not even sure anymore! :( Becky has also been in out of of the hospital with gall bladder problems. This Tuesday, Lord willing, she will be going in to have it removed. (Which reminds me, about a month ago I wrote that Miguel was having his surgery, I should have said, " . . .was planning to have a surgery." The government hospitals down here are unpredictable at best, so although he was been scheduled at least two different times he has yet to actually have the surgery. However, he seems to be alive and kicking so I guess we'll take that as a blessing.)

And amidst the normal of everyday school life every now and then cool unexpected things happen. Like Silvia learning the alphabet by memory! or Eduardo freaking out about his "girl-colored" notebook, or Paola actually being the one with a smile on her face or  Beatriz actually catching on that an hour is actually longer than a minute. Or some random police stopping by to canvas the neighborhood and actually stopping and taking time to mess around and talk with the kids. It was actually really cool. I was quite amazed at how open and friendly they were. Letting the kids play with their badges and letting them handcuff each other. The kids LOVED it, to say the least. Joel was determined that he was going to leave with them!
                                                                       

all so curious . . . .

Román for some reason or other was very not sure about the police!

Joel not having any mercy on poor Jairo

the future face of the El Salvadoran police force!

Carlos, finally having to admit that he needed help to get out of the handcuffs

This week we're looking forward to finally being able to finish off the last 14 weeks of studying with our first spelling competition. The kids always get all worked up about it but usually end up doing really well. 

until next time . . . .

Books of April

So one of my "to-do" goals for this year is to read two worthwhile books a month. Not exactly a challenge for me, since I have loved reading ever since I got over the disappointment that my first day of school did not have me zipping through Dick & Jane readers. For me the challenge is the worthwhile part. Not that the good books aren't out there, it's just to easy to pick the light reading than try to wade through books that need processing time. Another area of personal growth to work on!

So I will try to share my monthly books with y'all. Biographies, books to encourage growth, books focusing on kids . . . . just an idea of what's on my list for the next couple month. Spreading the word about the worthwhile books that are out there as well as hoping that y'all with share with me any that you happen to stumble across.

Starting with April, because I honestly can't remember what books I read when before that!


Running for My Life by Lopez Lomong

I have long loved stories of Africa. The gritty determination of a people who have suffered unimaginable horrors, civil wars and what not. Their indomitable spirit that refuses to be squelched even if they are living in a refugee camp for seven years where the highlight of the week is the day the trash from the neighboring city gets dumped into the trash pit. Because that day they could eat better than any other day of the week.
The story of Lopez Lomong, who was captured by Sudanese rebel soldiers as a six-year-old and ended up an Olympian for the United States is one that leaves this spoiled little American girl with absolutely no excuses for not stretching for my dreams. And that fact that once he arrived at fame he only sees it as a platform to glorify the God who brought him there and to further awareness of the plight of his family and friends still struggling in Africa should be a big kick in the butt for a lot of us "Christians."





Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago
I had never heard of Esmeralda Santiago, the description just intrigued me as it described the journey of a Puerto Rican girl and her family as they attempted to figure out how to live in America. Seeing life from this side of the Latin culture makes me realize a lot more the difficulties immigrants face.

Let me know what book you think everyone should read. . . .

Learning . . .

I prayed a hard prayer this week. I prayed it without thinking really. And as soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to take them back.

               

  “No, God! I didn’t really mean that. I was just kinda . . . thinking out loud.”

You see, this week was kinda one of those “learning experiences.”  The kind that you want to just get it over with but you know that you do need to learn the lesson. “So, let’s just learn this lesson and get it over with already is usually my thought.

But as I was charging away on the sewing machine I was just like,

               

  “God, please don’t let these lessons be in vain. Let me at least use them in my life.”

Almost immediately, I stopped myself.

                “Oh, yeah . . . ummm, about that God. This lesson was on relationships. I don’t really want                    any more lessons in that area. Maybe we can save that prayer for a life lesson that’s a little                   less complicated. If these are the “relationship” lessons, I’m not sure I want to take the                         Test. “

But I knew instantly that was wrong.

God had a reason for everything He takes us through, for every lesson He prepares.  Who am I to say? 

              

                       “I don’t want to learn that, I don’t think I’ll ever use that in my life.”

I certainly have a few things to say to my kids when they try to pull that line on me!

Wouldn’t it be better to learn the lesson to the best of my ability, then maybe I wouldn’t have to repeat it so often! But more than that I would be ready for the Tests when God brings them to me.

So here’s to applying myself to my lessons rather than daydreaming through class . . . .

p.s. this was a post I wrote a week ago and never got around to editing & posting it. Told ya I was behind!

Adventures? in the night

Prov. 3:24; When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

I read this verse this morning and I laughed. After what happened to me last night it might be a little bit before this verse is true for me.

Here’s how it happened. I had been sleeping peacefully for a few hours, I really don’t know what time it was because I was a little bit involved in other more important things than checking the time. I woke up to  a tickling on my neck, “Dumb chicote,*” I thought, “I wanna sleep.” So I reached up to scoop it off my neck. I was quite surprised by the size of the thing, and it felt slightly “leggy.” I threw it across the room, hoping it would hit a wall or something and end up with a major headache. I cuddled back up, ready to resume my sleep, but when my hand got near my nose I noticed a very peculiar small. Chicotes, don’t smell. I also started feeling a small stinging sensation spreading from neck. Chicotes don’t bite either. I quickly forgot sleep!  Tiptoeing across the floor, trying not to think of the possibility of stepping on “whatever it was!” I flicked the light on, searching for a scorpion.  I didn’t see anything.  I decided to see how much my neck had swelled, so I went to the bathroom, washed my hands to get the stink off and was relieved to see only a little bit of redness and no obvious stingmark.  But I was not about to go back to bed with a murderous insect on the loose. I prepared to do a thorough search of my room.

And found him. A spider, not a scorpion, hiding underneath my bedside table, just waiting for me to climb back into bed so he could further terrorize me.  Flip-flop time! He escaped my first swap and retreated further under my bed. “Uhuh! not happening!” I crawled halfway under my bed, and thankfully rather than retreating again he decided to come at me. So I demolished him.

Yes! this was what was crawling on my neck . . .

 I honestly think he was the ugliest spider I have ever encountered. Maybe not the biggest, but let me tell you, this bugger was downright terrifying at that early hour of the morning.

I crawled back into bed after making sure that he hadn’t invited any friends to the party. I couldn’t help but imagine the rest of his family waiting patiently under my bed till I had fallen asleep again.

To say the least it took a little while to fall asleep again, even with the infallible protection of my sheet pulled tightly up to my neck.

In other news, I’m taking advantage of a free Sunday afternoon to do some writing and a lot of catching up. Updates may be scarce until about July. 40 purses waiting to be made, students to be taught, a seamstress-in-the-making to teach, plus weekend plans don’t leave a whole lot of time for extras.

But continue to enjoy life. Live every moment to the fullest and don’t forget the people around you.

*chicotes are these beetle things that have really clingy feeling legs and are very annoying.