Thursday, May 21, 2009

Life is funny

Well, if the amount of blogs I've posted this year is any indication to you, I've been very busy! I feel as though my life has gone through some ups and downs in the past few months, and I'm not sure if it's at the point of stabilizing yet or not!

But before I get to all that, let me fill you in on what's been going on:

~School has been going very well. I still have a struggle with my oldest and biggest class. They really like to talk and there are a few people who try to push the envelope every day. It is difficult to keep them in check without feeling like I'm riding them every single moment. Although they may drive me crazy at times, I don't want them to feel that I'm against them or don't like them, because that is certainly not the case!
The most interesting thing that has happened recently is that we just had Spirit Week last week, which I coordinated again this year. It went very well, although there was some complaints about the fairness of the judging. Of course. :o) Each day was a different theme, and each day the teams had a competition. Monday was clash day, and each team had to come up with a team name and team poster. Tuesday was backwards day, and each team had to spell their name by standing in the form of the letters...but they had to do it backwards. Wednesday was PJ day, and the teams created lullabies. Thursday was Nerd/Jock day, and there were some very creative cheers performed. And Friday was Prom/Dress-up day and we had the final awards ceremony. It was quite a blast! To see pictures of the week, click here.

~In the church realm, things are also going well. About a month ago we moved to another venue that is a little bit bigger and a lot a bit nicer! :o) I think there are still a few kinks to work out, but all in all it's going well. I have joined the worship team this year, and my first week we sang one of the few songs that are difficult for me!! It's so fast and jams so many words in. But I practiced a lot and got it pretty well down...Although I've forgotten it since then! :o) The building project is moving along, although I'm not sure at what pace. They are going to start pouring the concrete for the third floor sometime in the next week, and the building should be roofed by the end of June, so they say. After that, if I understand correctly, the hired workers will be finished and work teams will come to finish it up. I believe they're hoping to have work teams that consist of some people who know how to do construction work (electricity, plumbing, etc), instead of JUST a pair of willing hands...although we need those too!

~In other areas of my life, I'm keeping quite busy. I have a good group of American friends here this semester, and we get together regularly. About half of them would be pretty homesick and a little sad if we didn't keep them busy, so in a way, I view it as a ministry. I mean, it's fun and they're friends, but it does take up a lot of my time to keep them entertained! :o) We all took a trip to Argentina together to renew some visas, and I tagged along for fun and to help translate. It was a quick little trip, but very fun and relaxing.
I'm also getting closer with a few Chileans, and there are one or two in particular that I'm quite close to. And talking with them certainly helps my Spanish!
I've also gotten a trainer with another friend of mine. He's the brother of a girl in my church, and he studied that kind of thing in college. So he comes over every Monday to see our progress, and my friend and I work out 2 other days a week without him. I'm actually enjoying it and can already see some results. So, yay!

~Ok, now to the part that I mentioned at the beginning, about all the confusion and uproar in my life. Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, I had decided that this was my last semester here. But I would stay until September to help out, work at the building project, and say my goodbyes. When I told all this to my "boss," he refused to accept it and told me I'd realize one day that God wants me to stay! :o) He's quite the guy. The rest of the field team and my friends and roommates all made frequent comments about wanting me to stay. It distressed me for awhile because I felt that I was doing what God wanted, and it would be hard enough to leave as it is, and that was just making it worse! So I smiled and rolled my eyes when people said anything and left it at that. Well, in the past month or so I've begun to see the desperate straits the school is in for teachers next year. We have many people leaving, and they're having a hard time replacing them all. And since I teach so many classes, I was leaving behind a big hole as well. So I started thinking, praying, and talking to my parents and a few other people. It started to become clear to me that I should probably stay...I already have my support raised for half the semester, so I figured it wouldn't be hard to just tack on an extra 2 and a half months. So I emailed some supporters, and it all worked out perfectly. I told my "boss" last weekend, and it felt relieving and peaceful to say it and admit it. This is how I feel when I've decided something that is God's will for me. It's always a great feeling. So, I've been somewhat of a hero this week, from field team and students and roommates alike. Although, many people are already joking about me staying a whole year!! They never let it go! :o)
So, I will still be coming home in early October for 2 weeks for a good friend's wedding (one of the conditions of me staying), and then I'll come home for good in December. This actually works out quite well, because now I can bring a lot of my clothes and things home in October which will make packing sooooo much easier in December!!

Ok, well that brings us up to date. I will try very hard to keep posting more regularly. I'm sorry about my negligence!
Thank you all for your support and prayers over the past 2 years. Keep it coming, please! :o)