A new angel . . .

So this post is over-due by a few days . . . Why? You might ask. Well, it was kinda a thing that I didn't want to over-react. Which is really dumb, looking back. You can't over-react about a new Christian! And then I said, "Well, we want to be sure this is for real. I'd hate to make a big deal about it and then end up having her get sent home next week. That would look real authentic."

See, Silvia gave her heart to Jesus last week. And just like every other situation that I have gone through with this girl, I ended up learning more about myself and where I need help. 

Let me start at the beginning.

Last Monday night Silvia had a little blow-up. (I believe it was refusing to shower, seriously, who doesn't want to shower after sweating all day?! but anyhow, that was the fight she chose that night) Becky basically told her that she's not even gonna try and fight her, if Silvia wants to make the decision to leave CICS, then it is in her hands. Basically, "you are on your last thread here and if you make the decision to continue acting up, the doors to CICS will be closed to you." Obviously that got Silvia thinking and the next morning Silvia came and of her own volition asked forgiveness from both Paty and me for things she had done the day before. I took the opportunity to talk to her a bit to make sure she knew where we stood. I told her that I could see that Silvia had not been happy the last few days, and I could see that God was touching her heart, that He wanted to come in, but it would have to be Silvia's choice. We talked for quite a while, and Silvia told me, with tears in her eyes that, "Yes, she was ready to stop fighting against God, and let Him into her heart." I very nearly broke down right there. I wrapped her up in a hug and I got one of the most amazing hugs from Silvia in response. No extra squeezing, no chin digging into my shoulder, no rubbing my back . . . All the things she normally does to try to distance herself while giving a hug. This time, she just layed her head on my shoulder and let me hold her. Three years of chin-digging hugs were totally worth for that one! 

However, I told her that I was not the only one who had been praying for her and that I wanted Verónica and Becky to be with us when she prayed. As luck would have it, Becky had left for the day and didn't get back till about 6:30 that evening. I got her up to speed on what had happened, but by that time Silvia wa in bed and we decided it would be better to wait until we had plenty of time to talk with her and make sure she understood what she was doing. 

So Wednesday evening after church Silvia, Becky, Verónica and I headed out to my classroom. Becky explained very clearly to Silvia, using the whiteboard, the two forces that were fighting for control of her heart. Silvia was able to very clearly explain what she was feeling in her heart and which side she wanted to choose. I don't think there was a dry eye among us as Silvia prayed and asked forgiveness for the lies and rebellion that she had had and invited Jesus into her heart. I still get shivers thinking about it. And my one prayer leading up to this was that God would let me feel if it was real. And He definitely showed me, through numerous small things, that yes, this was real. 

So now I have a little angel in my classroom! Or Not! This is the part where my lesson comes in. God has had to remind me countless times over the last few days of the bajillion times I have failed Him and continue to mess up and the innumerable times I have had to learn the same lesson. And I expect Silvia to get rid of 14 years of anger and rebellion taken care of in a few days!?! Seriously, Mel!

I think my biggest fight in this is how Satan tempts me to think that it was not real. That Silvia only did it because she knew that's what we wanted, because she thought it would give her a free ride to an easy life. And to that I can only cry with the father of the demonic boy in Mark 9:24, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief!"

Please continue to pray for Silvia, that looking to Jesus instead of obeying her flesh would become easier every day. Pray for the intervention of the Holy Spirit when the language barrier seems to big to describe things like sanctification and being born again and putting to death the old man. 

Visitors!!

So, in my last post-whenever that was ={ I mentioned that I had visitors coming! Yes, I finally got my visitors in the last quarter of the year! Actually, it was good timing, just when I was starting to feel that the year was getting longish, I had fun visitors to look forward to. 

But before I get into that, there is other good news. Silvia is back!

I think she was trying to show off her colored tongue from her sucker!

I was happy to hear the news that Silvia would be allowed to come back to finish the year. But as I mentioned earlier it was with some trepidation. It has been obvious since she is back that while she is not a completely changed little girl she was happy to have a second chance. And I have been thankful for the love that God has given me for her, because I know on my own I would never be able to love her at all. I still feel like I fail so often in how I relate to her, reacting in frustration when patience and understanding is what she needs. I keep praying that I could learn what God wants me to learn from her, and maybe in the meantime she will be able to see a shadow of the love that God has for her. 

And yes, my visitors! 

My aunt and uncle and their two youngest children, Dan, Naomi & Javen and Janae. Although since they have lived only three miles down the road from our family for the last 13ish years they feel more like my younger siblings. Javen and Janae at least, Dan and Naomi are a bit over the age limit to be considered younger siblings! I felt super special that they took time out of their busy schedules to come see my life. 

Just so you can get a look at their pretty faces too! ;)

We had a great time simply hanging out at CICS, watching the Thursday afternoon soccer game, hanging out with the kids, & learning bits of sign language from Elmer's stories! In the afternoons we did a few afternoon trips to Aguilares buying fabric, vanilla, licuados, and some candy that I managed to get them addicted to in the time they were here. They also helped out with some random projects that needed attention. Our eternally dripping kitchen faucet soon caught Dan's plumber-trained eye and for the first time in three years we have a kitchen faucet that can be turned completely off without trying to find that perfect sweet spot where it dripped the least. Lydia was thrilled to say the least! Dan & Javen also found out how we empty the sewer tank here in ES. By hand of course! Thankfully, it was just a gray water disposal tank so nothing to gag worthy. Naomi and Janae pitched in and helped me work on purses, needless to say, three people can get a lot more done in one afternoon than one person alone. 

On the weekend we took the opportunity to explore a nearby tourist town, Suchitoto. We had a beautiful hotel with an amazing view of Lake Suchitlan. Interesting note, Luis, the owner of said hotel, is a brother to one of the "orphans" that was taken care of at the orphanage that used to be where the deaf school is now. Their story is quite amazing and a clear testament to the power of God directing people's lives. 

Like I said, amazing view! 

We enjoyed a small zip line ride, 

boat rides on the lake, exploring a hermit's cave on a nearby island, along with a wrecked plane. 

Of course we also had to do some souvenir shopping and food sampling. French fries from a corner vendor, pupusas with coke from glass bottles and of course ice cream, just to make sure it's the same as in the states! 

The hotel also had a gorgeous pool so we had plenty of things to keep us busy. 

Sunday evening we took off, up the mountain to see how the view compared with our West Virginia hills. I must say, I'm still a very loyal Mountaineer, but there is something about the view from Boqueron. 

Not like you can see that much of the amazing view from this pic! 

Approximately a week and a half after I said good-bye to them at the airport, I once again made the trip to the airport, this time to pick up my mom. 

Yes, I know, we need to practice our "selfie faces!"

She had some dental work that needed to be done and decided to get two birds with one stone. Cheaper dental work and visiting me, win-win situation, especially when there are air miles available! 

Thankfully we were able to get the dental work taken care of first thing and so we were able to take the weekend off. I had direct orders from home, names withheld for security reasons, to make sure Mom got some relaxing done. So once again we headed to Suchitoto. Although Mom got the extra cultural experience of bussing there as well. We took it very easy, and it was a blast! But Monday was back to school and finishing up dental work in the afternoon. The week flew by with school in the mornings and shopping and sewing in the afternoons. Mom also worked on some purses in the morning while I as in school. Needless to say I was thrilled with the end result of the week. Orders finished that had been shelved for WAY to long, made for a very happy me. But the best of all was simply having Mom around to talk to, catch up on news from home and "counsel" me! Phone calls are amazing but sometimes they just don't cut it. 

And last but not least, Andrea came to visit one last time this year. Of course she came primarily to visit Matthias but we managed to do a lot of catching in between. It was great to be able to sit up all night and catch up on each other's lives again. Amazing how many changes can happen in a 10 month period! 

We spent Saturday evening and today (Sunday) in San Salvador at the guest house. We did a little bit of shopping. It was great to shop with a fellow "speed shopper." The ladies in our favorite fabric store recognized us and told us they had some new fabric for purses! It's kinda fun to be known and recognized. Three years ago I would have never thought I would get to that point! 

The end of this past week was a little upside down, as Paty left Thursday morning to attend a funeral of a cousin. Then Thursday afternoon both Samuel and Lidia came down with some kind of fever, upset stomach, headache kind of flu. So Friday school consisted of Elmer teaching Samuel's class, Paty's class being canceled, and Tiffany teaching my class, since I had to go with Nata to drop mom off at the airport. So Matthias was the only regular teacher, but we all survived. And Silvia even managed to not start a fight while I was gone. I was so proud of her! I had told her that she would need to head to the house and help Becky if she started being disrespectful to Tiffany. So I was super happy to see Silvia still at school when I came back. She gave me a big grin and I gave her a big hug, letting her know I was super proud of her. 

Random events of the week, 

The little boys decided recess was tree climbing time. 

Joel was practicing his eye-crossing skills

The three little pigs have recently become fascinated with fixing cars, so here they were fixing "my car" so Dwight and I could make a Pizza Hut run. The imaginations of these kids!

We've finally been having more rain the last while. I was amazed by this stunning clear rainbow only to see the double one after I snapped the picture! 

My latest favorite view, dusk settling over San Salvador as seen from the roof of the guest house. 

And now, we settle in for the marathon of the last two months of school. Cramming those last few words into the heads, starting drama practice, final tests and all the fun reports and grading that have to be written up! Yay! 

Keep praying for the school, especially this week as Nata flies to the states to haul some cars back, and as we round the homestretch to finishing up this year. 

Until next time . . . .