The much needed update! :)

Hey guys, I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get this blog updated…

The 1st of this month, Hannah, Amanda, and I went to the Bay Islands for 12 wonderful days of relaxation, bliss, and time to recharge for the rest of our time here at the Hogar. It was a great vacation. I have always wanted to see clear water, and white sand in person… and I have fulfilled the dream now!

My prayer is that wherever I travel I will let God use me, no matter if I’m on a mission trip, vacation, or whatever it may be. Well, I continued praying that same prayer in Roatan, and the first day we got to spend on the beach, we met a girl on the beach and played soccer with her and a few other people. It was really nice talking to her… but after we finished playing soccer, she said, “hey, will I see you all around tonight at the bars?” and we told her that we don’t drink, but that we might see her around on the beach again. She looked really surprised and said, “oh, are you guys Christians or something?” We said, “yes” and told her that we have been working at the Hogar de Ninos. She didn’t have much to say after that… We saw her the next day in passing… she waved and said hi, we said hi back, but we didn’t stop to really wait for an answer… the whole rest of the day I felt horrible for not stopping to talk to her. I prayed the next morning that God would give me another chance to talk to her, or to witness to her…at that time I heard a clear voice saying, “give her your Bible” and I was a little shocked, and I said, “What? Really, God? And His answer didn’t change… so I thought about how I would go about finding her, because it was Friday at this point in time, and she had said that she was leaving on Saturday. I didn’t know if I’d even be able to find her… but I told the older lady that we were staying with, and she said, “don’t give her your Bible, we can buy her a new one!” So we drove about 35 minutes to a Christian book store, and I bought her a Bible… drove back to the beach where we had planned on being all day. I knew that my chances would be better to find her if I walked around instead of just sitting on the beach… but I didn’t feel safe going anywhere by myself… so, I sat on the beach where we had first met her, and prayed. I prayed, and prayed and prayed, and when I finished praying, I turned to look behind me, and there she was! She was walking by on her cell phone. I ran over to her and said, “hey, this is going to sound really strange, but I have something for you!”. She was really surprised, and I told her the whole story, and she said, “do you think I’m bad?” and I said, “no no, it’s not like that at all! I really don’t know why God asked me to give you a Bible… but, even if you already have a Bible, know that this one was purchased just for you.” After I explained a little bit more, she started to thank me… I don’t know if I will ever know why God had me give her a Bible, or if she was offended… I just know that I heard God’s voice telling me to give her a Bible… and listening to that voice was the most important thing to me. I guess some things we just have to wait for heaven to fully understand… but I believe that everything happens for a reason. I would really appreciate it if you all could keep her in your prayers. I don’t remember her name… but God knows.

The rest of the vacation consisted of relaxing on the beach, snorkeling, and cooking/baking, and eating lots and lots of American food. :)

When we arrived back to the Hogar, there was a group from Andrews University here. They have been coming every year for nine years now. Last week, while the group was here we had FLAG Camp. (Friends Learning About God) I ended up teaching the music class with another Student Missionary, and playing the keyboard for morning worship every morning. It was a really great week. Also, last Friday night we had the opportunity to be on one of the local tv stations here, and so, we (Hannah, Amanda, and I) put together a small choir from the Hogar, and we had a program on a live tv station! It was a really awesome experience. I was behind the scenes conducting for the choir… which was perfect for me, because I am way more comfortable behind that camera.

This last week has made me realize how much fun it is to teach, and also how tiring it is… and how teaching the same things five times a day for five different classes is exhausting… However, I realized that my last classes were always the most put together because I had so much practice teaching the material already! Ha. :) Camp started on Monday and ended on Thursday. Thursday night we had a presentation for family and friends at the church… the whole week I taught them different musical terms at the beginning of class, and the second half of class we taught the kids a new song. So, for the program I had asked the kids to share some of the key terms we learned throughout the week, and then they sang two Christmas carols. It went really well. I was proud of them! :) Then Friday was a field day which was really fun for all of the kids, and it was great for getting all of their energy out as well.

The group from Andrews stayed here for 10 days, and yesterday we went with them to a water park about 3 hours away… it was so much fun. It rained the whole day, but that didn’t stop us from swimming, going down the slides, and body surfing in the ocean. :) It was a lot of fun to have the group here, and to have an extra boost of energy here as well. We all had to say the sad goodbyes last night… it gave me a taste of what I’m going to have to go through when I leave these kids behind… the group was only here for 10 days, but all of the kids were so sad to see them go, and some took it harder than others and were crying tears that made me want to start crying with them. Sometimes I forget what I have here… I have a family away from home. I have a date to look forward to for my home in the States, but what I had been forgetting is how much these kids really do mean to me… and it took last night to realize how hard it is going to be to say goodbye to them in April. Sure, I miss home, and I miss my family, but I know that it is going to be such a sad day when I have to go home. I will be so happy to see my family and friends when I go home, but these kids have touched my heart, and they all have a place in my heart now… and I’m going to miss them so much when I leave… sometimes it’s hard to see past the hard days, past the bad attitudes, past the drama, but I know that God placed me here for a reason. And I have already done so much growth in my spiritual life, and I don’t even feel like the same person as I was when I first arrived here to the Hogar.

I’m not sure what my future holds… but all that is important to me anymore is leaving everything in God’s hands. I can’t thank you all enough for helping me get here, and for keeping me in your prayers. I am so blessed to be here, and to have you all as friends.

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