tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38369186633840309502024-03-14T02:52:59.012-07:00Melody's JoyMelody Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14540044849033938518noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-19847532683190821402017-07-28T09:34:00.000-07:002017-07-28T09:34:42.352-07:00An Unexpected BlessingAs Roberto and I were making out plans to move to Honduras and teach together, something unexpected happened. I got pregnant. Kids were certainly in the plan for our marriage, just not quite yet. Even so, we're both incredibly excited about being parents.<br />
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However, being due in January and knowing that the salary provided by the school is minimal led us to make the decision to stay in Nicaragua and build up our family. Roberto is still working for a call center as he waits for his degree to arrive so he can start looking for teaching positions, and I'm doing freelance writing again.<br />
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We've been living with his family, who have been more than generous in so many ways. One such way is that they gave us part of their small property so we could build our own home. I got to make the design which was a TON of fun, and phase one is nearing completion! We had enough money saved for the first floor, and are now working on how to pay for the second floor.<br />
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There have been a lot of adjustments for both of us, and this transition has been hard, but once the struggles are over, it's going to be worth it. For me, it's been hard learning how to be a wife, especially as I was struggling with morning sickness for a couple months which left me feeling helpless and incapable of doing anything. For Roberto, he's been juggling more responsibilities than ever: working two jobs, overseeing the construction on the house, and taking care of everything around the house.<br />
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As I enter into my second trimester and as the construction draws near to an end, things are getting better. I can finally eat without throwing up and can walk around without feeling like I'm going to faint. Roberto has a new schedule which leaves him less time for running construction errands, but more time to relax in the evenings.<br /><br />My initial goal with this blog was to share my experiences as a missionary, and that goal has now only slightly changed. Although I had a hard time adjusting to the idea of not being a missionary anymore, I now realize that the call on my life has not changed, and that I have been given the greatest mission yet: motherhood.<br />
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Now as my child grows within me, I prepare for the arrival with the understanding that being a parent is an enormous responsibility and honor. It is I who will teach my child to put the Lord first in all things. It is I who will teach them how to act in a way that is honoring to God. It is I who will teach them how to love and how to treat others with respect.<br />
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Of course I recognize that this responsibility does not fall completely on me and I am blessed with a husband who will be my partner in this, but if I allow myself to get complacent and expect Roberto to pick up the slack, I have failed as a wife and as a mother. God has entrusted this little one to me, and with His help, I will persevere.<br /><br /><br /><br />
Please be praying:<br />
- For the continued health of myself and my baby.<br />
- For our marriage, that our struggles would continue to bring us closer to God and to each other rather than tearing us apart.<br />
- For our finances as we work to finish building our home and provide for our baby. Specifically that Roberto is able to find a good-paying job in his field and that I am able to find good-paying steady writing work.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-49536903702222591432017-04-23T13:05:00.002-07:002017-04-23T13:05:19.724-07:00Coming Full CircleHere's the super short version of this update if you don't want to read the rest: Roberto and I will be working at an elementary school starting in August, the one I worked at before.<br />
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Here's the longer version:<br />
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I got an answer back from the Ranch, and it was one I had sort of seen coming but didn't want to admit: I would not be welcomed back to the Ranch. Even though I had felt like things had been moving to that end, it was still a painful shock to me that I'm still recovering from. So then I had to ask the question that I always hate answering: What now?<br />
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So as Roberto and I talked about our options and our future plans, he suggested we go and work for the school where I had been before the Ranch. I had been missing teaching, the kids, and the friends I had made there, so I readily agreed to contact them and find out if we could do that. After what seemed like a long wait (but was really just over a week), they said yes!<br />
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There are still a LOT of details to figure out, but I'm getting more and more excited every day about returning to San Pedro Sula to teach with my husband by my side. Although I previously faced a lot of emotional problems while being there, a lot of that came from isolation, which won't be a problem with Roberto. I'll not only be able to be working and living with my soul mate, but we'll also be able to more easily go places together that I wasn't able to do safely while living alone.<br />
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Please be praying for us as we make this transition!<br />
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We currently have 2 weeks to find a place in San Pedro Sula to store my things and a way to transport them (it's about 8 hours from Ojojona to San Pedro Sula), and I also have to renew my Honduran residency in San Pedro Sula. And, I have to do it on my own because Roberto has to stay here to finish up his university classes and to work.<br />
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It's also going to be a big adjustment when we do move in August because we'll be even more on our own which means I'll have all the possibilities of running a home in addition to working. And he'll be adjusting to a slightly different culture and ALL new people in his life.<br />
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One more thing!<br />
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We want to be able to do ministry in San Pedro Sula, but aren't sure if we'll have the financial freedom to do so. Our first step will be buying a car, which we're both working hard for right now. Once we get to San Pedro Sula and get a vehicle, we can start exploring our options and see where God leads us. I have a few ideas, but nothing definite yet.<br />
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If you would like to continue supporting Roberto and I in our missionary work, then you may do so by sending money to my personal <a href="http://paypal.me/MelodyJoyCary">PayPal</a> or a check to my dad with my name on the memo line. For info on giving by check, please <a href="mailto:melody.joy.cary@gmail.com" rel="nofollow">email me</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-6840132446328513842017-04-07T11:02:00.001-07:002017-04-07T11:02:13.901-07:00March 2016 Update - When “When” Becomes “If”<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It’s hard when you’re making all of your plans because
you’re sure of what’s going to happen. You’re able to turn to your husband and
say “when we get to the Ranch, we’re going to…” and “when we’re raising support
to go to the Ranch, we’ll need to…” But when all of that changes and everything
is up in the air, it’s hard. It becomes “if we go to the Ranch, then we can…”
and “if we don’t go to the Ranch, then I guess we’ll have to…”<o:p></o:p></div>
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At the beginning of March, there were two groups that
came to serve at the Ranch back to back. I had originally agreed to return to
during that time to help with the groups, but then something happened… Olivia,
the kitten I’ve been raising since she was just 10 days old and needed to be
dropper-fed with goat’s milk every 3-4 hours, wasn’t able to walk or even
stand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Long story short, she had a calcium deficiency that had led
to weakness in her bones and so she started limping badly on one back leg after
I tossed her from the bed (she was out of control biting, and that was far from
the first or last time she’s been tossed from a bed), but then did something to
her other back leg and couldn’t stand at all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This happened 2 days before I was supposed to leave to
help with the teams, and right after I had packed all my things in preparation
to leave. Because I knew I wasn’t necessarily NEEDed at the Ranch like I was to
take care of my cat who now needed to be propped up to even use the bathroom
(which nobody here could easily do since they’re used to big dogs, not delicate
kittens), I asked to be released from my verbal agreement to go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That led to a lot of frustration on both sides. They at
the Ranch felt like I was once again breaking my agreement with them, and I
felt like they weren’t being very fair when I was just as frustrated about not
being able to come, but wasn’t willing to risk Olivia’s life to do something
that I knew could happen without me. After several more conversations,
everything has been left up in the air.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Roberto and I both know that we want to go to the Ranch
to serve. But, we don’t know if we will be allowed to serve there and if we
are, when we would be able to go. It may be this summer or it may not be until
fall. If it happens at all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s in God’s hands now, and He knows what’s best for us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So now we’re just waiting, which is really hard for me. I
like to be able to be planning for the future, so not knowing what the future
holds makes that impossible. If we are going to the Ranch, then I want to be
planning Bible studies and start connecting with people and churches to visit
during our furlough. But if we’re not, then I want to be planning for living
here in Nicaragua, and possibly going with one of the other ministry ideas that’s
been forming in my head.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Please be praying for us during this difficult time! Pray
that God opens the doors for us to go to the Ranch if that truly is His will
for us, or that He will make it abundantly clear if we’re not meant to go
there. And if He does have other plans for us, pray that He opens new doors to
let us pursue other ministry opportunities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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To my supporters: Your support is SO appreciated, and I want
to assure you that I’m not using any of it while living here in Nicaragua.
Roberto and I are currently supporting ourselves from what he’s earning and are
waiting for God’s direction before using any ministry funds. I will keep you
updated on finances as we learn more about what God has for us in the future!<br /><br /><br />P.S. Olivia is now back to her normal crazy self!<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-36466794375465253082017-02-25T10:00:00.001-08:002017-02-25T10:01:21.407-08:00Meet the World's Cutest Brother-In-Law! - February 2017 Ministry UpdateAs I prepared to leave the Ranch for a time to be with my husband in Nicaragua, I knew that I couldn't leave without letting the kids who come to Bible study ride Zoeva, so on our last Friday together for a little while, I groomed and saddled the little mare and got all of them on for a short pony ride. Most of them got on without hesitation although a couple took some extra motivation. But they all enjoyed it, and of course I made sure I got pictures of them.<br />
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Hold on tight, cowboy!</div>
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Ready to ride while Oscar plays soccer with the boys as they wait for their turn.</div>
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Excited to finally get to ride!</div>
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We even convinced P to ride! </div>
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Seflies!</div>
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The following week, we all headed off to the Honduran Fellowship retreat, where us and a couple hundred other missionaries spent time worshipping together in English, attending workshops about a number of problems missionaries face, and eating meals together. I was able to secure housing off-site with a family so that I could bring my kitten along.</div>
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It was an AMAZING time of rest, learning, and fellowship. It was really good to be able to reconnect with friends I had met at previous events throughout the year and last year's retreat, and to make new connections. Although I was no longer able to be a part of the single missionaries event, I enjoyed sitting down with other married missionaries and hearing their stories. What an inspiration to be with couples that have been serving for over 30 years together!</div>
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Are we there yet?</div>
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Directly from there, Roberto and his dad came all the way to Tegucigalpa to pick Olivia and me up. We all had lunch together and then as the Beards went back to the Ranch, I went with my family to Nicaragua. It was a long journey made even longer by the construction that was everywhere along the two-lane highway, but we made it to the border around 10pm and then finally to the house around 2:30am.</div>
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Stretching out after a LONG day of traveling.</div>
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My mother-in-law thought she was done having kids nearly 14 years ago with the birth of her third son, but God had other plans and so while I was at the retreat I got the news that her water had broken which eventually led to a c-section because she had some heart issues during the pregnancy. Little E had some minor complications after birth so he was kept in the hospital for a few days.</div>
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I was excited to get the invitation from my father-in-law to go with them to pick him up. Of course I instantly fell in love with all 5 and a half pounds of him. He's not only super adorable, but he's also a really chill baby.</div>
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Like I said, world's cutest brother-in-law!</div>
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The young woman who's been helping out with the cooking and cleaning is on a short vacation, so I've been taking over a lot of her duties along with Roberto. I've never cooked Nicaraguan food before and never really consistently cooked for more than one or two people, so it's definitely been a learning experience, but overall it's been good, and I love being able to help out around the house.</div>
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Hanging out with E while his bathwater is readied!</div>
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And I've of course been able to spend a lot more time with my husband which has also been really good. We're still really new at marriage, so it's not all pretty, but we're both working hard to overcome our cultural differences and really communicate well with each other so we can have an amazing marriage. I can't help but to be in a constant state of awe at the amazing man that God has blessed me with.</div>
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Brothers!</div>
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I've also been able to get a good start on some marketing ideas M and I have for the trade school. I'm working hard to gather lists of names and contact information that we will start working our way through to hopefully get more of the trade school products out there in the world. If we can get even a few positive responses, then it will be a huge blessing to the students in the trade school.</div>
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Please be praying:</div>
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- For the staff at the Ranch as they continue doing ministry without me, that God brings in more help as needed and that they wouldn't burn out with too much work.</div>
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- For the connections I will soon be trying to make, that it would be a blessing to the trade school students.</div>
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- For the Bible study lessons that I'm planning that I would be able to reach the kids for Jesus through them.</div>
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- For unity within my new family, that I would continue to adjust to the culture and be able to help them as they need me. In particular, for my mother-in-law as she cares for a new baby while her body continues to heal.</div>
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- For our marriage that it continues to be honoring to God and that we continue to work together to make our relationship rock solid.</div>
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- For Roberto's work situation as he continues to wait to hear when he'll start at the call center where he applied a month ago, as well as that we would be able to get his visa to be able to travel together to the US this August.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0k_vwvuEPBrY_MdrDlg_8GmfkEv1s9kfd2KtgrTgjwSbwaxaBCC1rwW6nMjL17ozFRvcQlWLW5xkK9lYeNfj9uuqDU3ba-wXuTw2PN2W3Dp93hECgYRD-2IUhSetvC6n38nH-OFM8Mw/s1600/IMG_7540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0k_vwvuEPBrY_MdrDlg_8GmfkEv1s9kfd2KtgrTgjwSbwaxaBCC1rwW6nMjL17ozFRvcQlWLW5xkK9lYeNfj9uuqDU3ba-wXuTw2PN2W3Dp93hECgYRD-2IUhSetvC6n38nH-OFM8Mw/s320/IMG_7540.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Weak kid who spent the night in my room.</div>
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He's now doing great!</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you are interested in supporting us financially, you may do so online or by check.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Online: Visit <a href="http://www.ro4y.com/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: windowtext;">www.ro4y.com</span></a> and click the “Donate” button on the sidebar to give through PayPal. Make sure you include my name (or Roberto’s) and your email address so the funds can be directed to us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">By check: Make checks payable to “RO4Y” and include a note with my name (or Roberto’s) and your email address, then send the checks to: Rancho Oasis for Youth, P.O. Box 1853, Mason City, IA 50401.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-9490324260461322512017-02-02T06:57:00.001-08:002017-02-02T06:57:37.854-08:00Our Wedding Story and BIG Announcement - January 2017 Ministry Update<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When you have less than 3 days to plan a wedding, things
can get a little crazy. I arrived in Managua, Nicaragua Saturday evening and
the plan was to get married that Tuesday. We needed to get legally married
through a lawyer, have the marriage officially recognized by the government,
make arrangements with the pastor and the church, get me a dress and him a
ring, buy a bouquet, find a caterer, and rent tables and chairs for the guests.
It sounds insane and impossible, but we did it. It all happened so fast that
it’s all blurred together, but here’s how we did it as I remember it.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Sunday, we went to see a friend of his dad who’s a
lawyer and were able to get the legal marriage taken care of. That evening, we
went out and found me a dress and did some other shopping with his mom and
brother. Monday morning we went to the government office to get the paperwork
and fully legalize the marriage, and that’s when things got interesting…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ06Ix2mOkvbPMFXTreCsCdUP9xlLUpG5E-cVDUjghlzyge6m3QK4NukwdeTebqcw9RBnIdBJTKnewrs8EKSeSXcMA74b4JKPJqBY2cLnrA5iA73nrd4AKjl-3uXQ2KwwLJDXIvCn1YCE/s1600/IMG_7456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ06Ix2mOkvbPMFXTreCsCdUP9xlLUpG5E-cVDUjghlzyge6m3QK4NukwdeTebqcw9RBnIdBJTKnewrs8EKSeSXcMA74b4JKPJqBY2cLnrA5iA73nrd4AKjl-3uXQ2KwwLJDXIvCn1YCE/s320/IMG_7456.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Roberto’s mother’s name was not written correctly on his
birth certificate, which meant it didn’t match her name as we had put it on the
marriage paperwork which meant we had to go back to the lawyer to get it fixed,
but he was out of town all day. So, we spent the rest of the day getting
everything else done while praying that we’d be able to get the legal stuff
finalized first thing in the morning before our 10am wedding. We managed to
find everything we needed (his ring, bouquet, caterer, tables and chairs, and a
few other things we realized we needed along the way), so we were as ready as
we could be before heading back to the lawyer and handing over more money to
have him fix the mistake and print a new paper.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next morning, we headed back to the government office
and this time, Roberto had to go in alone while I waited outside (it was the
last day they were open before Christmas, so everybody and their brother was
there, so only one person per need was allowed in). After a while, he came out,
and was frustrated. On the way to the car, he explained that the legal check
went fine (where we had the snag with his mother’s name before), but when he
went to pay, the lady there said it hadn’t been written correctly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I read over what the lawyer had given us as Roberto
explained the problem. It was supposed to say that I was a US resident but was
currently residing in Nicaragua, but it didn’t… Except that it did. Right where
it was supposed to say that I was living in Nicaragua, it did, with the exact
wording that it was supposedly missing. I pointed it out to Roberto and he
headed back inside to show that it was indeed correct.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By the time we were back in the car, it was already 10am,
and the house wasn’t set up for the reception and the caterer was not there
yet. Not to mention we were still in jeans…<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was a whirlwind of activity going on at the house,
and soon everything was ready. We got dressed and ready for our wedding, and
Roberto went for the caterer while I finished putting up decorations with the
help of his little brother and his brother’s friend. Roberto went ahead of me
to the church and his dad brought me there, and so it began.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEed3KTzLXv47AfVN9zCVZgjly9ANwn7C8AzHAuPojO_ZCBHTsWN-CplL68rFykGDWHGcFmnG8jEahYFfFmsgqWnGup8dgD1nt-rgUX1lXZPep8WpRJktJN2daVQ09W18zbwmcsx-u3w/s1600/IMG_7336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEed3KTzLXv47AfVN9zCVZgjly9ANwn7C8AzHAuPojO_ZCBHTsWN-CplL68rFykGDWHGcFmnG8jEahYFfFmsgqWnGup8dgD1nt-rgUX1lXZPep8WpRJktJN2daVQ09W18zbwmcsx-u3w/s320/IMG_7336.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I was super nervous. Not only was this a huge step in my
life, but I was also doing in front of people I didn’t know and in a language
I’m not 100% fluent or comfortable in. But I was also incredibly excited to be
marrying the man that God had brought into my life to be my husband.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2YE5xuEyW57JoGQ6kehf1xo5AosAHZGAf77KNeKVpx_mZ4ZfprTFFD1liqDeu_axWYPEEDZX1sSmyeohQKWAXAgpsjvYESTAmwPHlwHLa1vlUEx9QmTnBdvTHRpi09JhkfLMU_PXkTE/s1600/IMG_7337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2YE5xuEyW57JoGQ6kehf1xo5AosAHZGAf77KNeKVpx_mZ4ZfprTFFD1liqDeu_axWYPEEDZX1sSmyeohQKWAXAgpsjvYESTAmwPHlwHLa1vlUEx9QmTnBdvTHRpi09JhkfLMU_PXkTE/s320/IMG_7337.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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His dad walked me down the aisle and gave me away. The
pastor spoke of what marriage is and means, and as he said the familiar lines
about for richer and poorer and sickness and health, I thought for one glorious
moment that I wasn’t going to have to repeat anything in Spanish. Having never
been to a wedding in Latin America before, I had no idea how the ceremonies
are, or how they differ from those in the States.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then we brought out the rings, and did indeed have to
repeat our vows to each other… Uh, oh. I was glad that Roberto was first
because it gave me the chance to hear them a couple of times before it was my
turn. The pastor then asked Roberto quietly “Is she going to be able to do
this?” to which he confidently replied “yes” and I said “I hope so.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBAPpFCr-fQq-oQIY3p3i1W0zH3o4rAQ8mN3d0jPFTe3r1TI4C2PfSiq1i9__nTHyt3Ch8HGCJwxkhc_dn_gjLiJ0Nlc2v_AkMCK5xAGIAlj-Ox6oGQ3RW-2LD54UKxzbnRFJ-dkIPUI/s1600/IMG_7338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrBAPpFCr-fQq-oQIY3p3i1W0zH3o4rAQ8mN3d0jPFTe3r1TI4C2PfSiq1i9__nTHyt3Ch8HGCJwxkhc_dn_gjLiJ0Nlc2v_AkMCK5xAGIAlj-Ox6oGQ3RW-2LD54UKxzbnRFJ-dkIPUI/s320/IMG_7338.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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And I did it… Mostly. There were a few words I had
trouble with and I had to have Roberto help me out a couple of times, but I
muddled through. Roberto was holding back laughter the whole time, of course,
and teased me about it later, and about halfway through the pastor breathed a
prayer of help for me, but I did it. And I didn’t break out in hysterical/nervous
laughter or pass out from nervousness or the heat.</div>
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As we held hands and the pastor laid his hand over ours
and prayed over us, I felt God moving through me and something inside me seemed
to changed. I knew that it was at that moment that we were married. I’d
wondered before at what point exactly does a couple become married… Was it when
they said their vows, exchanged their rings, or kissed at the end? Now I know
it’s when God touches you after you’ve made your promises to each other before
Him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The reception was another adventure, but I won’t go into
too many details… The main thing was that we had only invited (and therefore
planned on feeding) about 20 people. Although we had made that point clear to
the pastor when we had agreed to invite the whole church to the wedding but not
the reception, he invited everyone to the house anyway, and since it was within
easy walking distance, we soon had about 25 people (fortunately a number of
them were children) at the house.</div>
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We had to have the caterer divide meals to make sure the
kids were fed, give up our table until the caterer was done with the dining
room table before sitting down to eat, and hear about a woman complaining about
how the children she brought with her (some of which weren’t even hers) didn’t
get enough to eat. But, despite the minor frustrations, we enjoyed ourselves,
and as soon as everything was cleaned up, we headed off to the hotel to get
some rest and then to have a nice dinner together.</div>
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And now, for my BIG announcement!<br />
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Long story short: we thought we could handle a long-distance marriage, but we
can’t, so I’m moving to Nicaragua for a few months. It took several days of
praying and crying and thinking before we both felt like God was leading us to
be together during these first few months of our marriage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, in mid-February, I will be going to Nicaragua for
three weeks not only to spend time with my husband, but also to help my
mother-in-law as she’s due to have a (surprise) baby on the 18<sup>th</sup>,
and I have agreed to help her with that. The first couple of weeks of March
will have me back at the Ranch to help with two teams that are coming
back-to-back, and then I will be back in Nicaragua until the end of May when
Roberto finishes the last credits he needs to graduate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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From there, we will both be coming back to the Ranch to
serve full-time. I will return to my roll of assisting with the equine program
and trade school, and he will be starting up an English program as well as
helping out in other areas as needed around the Ranch. We’re both incredibly
excited about all the things that God is going to be doing through us here at
the Ranch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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During my time in Nicaragua, I will continue to work on
ministry things by planning the girls and boys Bible studies (which will give
me more time to train the horses when I return, rather than all the planning
that goes into it), marketing the trade school, and a couple of other projects
that you’ll find out about soon enough!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The trade school is such an important part of the
ministry and helps meet a number of needs in the community, but in order for it
to grow and make an even bigger impact, we need to market it more so we can
make sure we’re selling everything that the students put so much work into.
And, unfortunately, I don’t usually have the time to devote to getting the word
out, so I’m excited that I’ll have a chance to help it grow.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A small part of the motivation behind spending time in
Nicaragua is being able to save up some money for a couple of things: a visa
for Roberto to travel to the United States, plane tickets for both of us as
well as other traveling expenses, and Roberto’s living expenses while being at
the Ranch during the summer. He will also be working hard to cover as many of
these expenses as possible, but once he’s at the Ranch with me full-time, he won’t
be able to find outside work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Please be praying:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For the directors and Ranch staff. My absence
makes things extremely difficult for them, which is a huge part of why leaving
was such a hard decision. Pray that God would bring in others to help or else
show them why He’s leading them into a time of slowing down in the ministry.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For my mother-in-law to have a safe birth for
both her and the baby as she has already had a number of medical issues
throughout the pregnancy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For Roberto’s visa process to be quick and
simple, and for the visa to be approved.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For our finances, that we would be able to have
everything that we need to serve God as He has called us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For our marriage, that God uses this time to
strengthen us and help us build a strong foundation for our future.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcoMffBPumOw2IKT3vKy-vDGbeeqAelYtqsOIL76uHrmbZZBWjHZj51bv8JlfSTH-0SW1Pd5_z7Ls-mOn_ttKpSzUUrhQyZ3aGhZIPx_6KzMlEkEDR6qSRQRhaew3OFWFilOCzv5XNwM/s1600/IMG_7046.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjcoMffBPumOw2IKT3vKy-vDGbeeqAelYtqsOIL76uHrmbZZBWjHZj51bv8JlfSTH-0SW1Pd5_z7Ls-mOn_ttKpSzUUrhQyZ3aGhZIPx_6KzMlEkEDR6qSRQRhaew3OFWFilOCzv5XNwM/s320/IMG_7046.PNG" width="268" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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If you are interested in supporting us financially, you
may do so online or by check.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Online: Visit <a href="http://www.ro4y.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.ro4y.com</span></a>
and click the “Donate” button on the sidebar to give through PayPal. Make sure
you include my name (or Roberto’s) and your email address so the funds can be
directed to us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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By check: Make checks payable to “RO4Y” and include a
note with my name (or Roberto’s) and your email address, then send the checks
to: Rancho Oasis for Youth, P.O. Box 1853, Mason City, IA 50401.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-35907533943856339692017-01-25T15:32:00.003-08:002017-01-25T15:33:58.999-08:00Why I’m Here – Mini Update<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After a few months of teaching the kids things about
horses and how to work with a horse that’s standing still in the barn (how to
groom and saddle, etc.), it was time to start getting them to interact even
more with the horse, and teach them how to lead.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWSC2jR2V4O3szUkclklIm-GReVQlywlZ-f1TSCW29Waiy2z3yRXYCNoSCO-R7gTAoiDC9szdUnh7bv77wAODkTcrLROBpzoKQpmaL6YXQyJTE6NOALr4nGZLxaWPWnECoFaRIn6fhjg/s1600/IMG_7252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLWSC2jR2V4O3szUkclklIm-GReVQlywlZ-f1TSCW29Waiy2z3yRXYCNoSCO-R7gTAoiDC9szdUnh7bv77wAODkTcrLROBpzoKQpmaL6YXQyJTE6NOALr4nGZLxaWPWnECoFaRIn6fhjg/s320/IMG_7252.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Some kids fell in perfect step with Zoeva.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Zoeva is easily one of the sweetest horses you’ll ever
meet. She’s not fond of having her cinch tightened and she might squeal and
squirm when you hurt her bad leg, but she’s an angel otherwise. One week to
demonstrate what faith meant, I sat beneath her belly while she was tied and
then left the rope hanging over her neck and had her follow me in circles
around the riding ring, which she did despite me having never trained her to do
so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And yet, nearly all of the pre-teen girls were terrified
of her and didn’t want to step up and lead her. N led the pack and led Zoeva
around the round pen first, but since she knows the horse well and is fearless
(in their minds), that did nothing to encourage them to do the same. I got a
few of the other girls to take the pony out for a spin, but the others took
more convincing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3GTHdqaCY3HoCtaRuSws5FndWrnV8FPI0ezQkiFORTK0QyXh9Y3ALDJpMko2icI3srjzCQ8_3SM3gFxFaWbQtC0exg06Og8mDNW57pb1fnha5iJuw21s0RtUibFE751A4UyKEqIV66E/s1600/IMG_7289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3GTHdqaCY3HoCtaRuSws5FndWrnV8FPI0ezQkiFORTK0QyXh9Y3ALDJpMko2icI3srjzCQ8_3SM3gFxFaWbQtC0exg06Og8mDNW57pb1fnha5iJuw21s0RtUibFE751A4UyKEqIV66E/s320/IMG_7289.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The little girls were shy but fearless.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a couple of them cringed away from her while declaring
their fear and desire to NOT lead her, little Zoeva would turn her head toward
them, ears forward, and seemed to be asking them why they were so afraid of
her. I don’t know how, but every time she picked out the girl who I had asked
to go next, and stared her down until she relented and grabbed the lead rope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLc3cyN0Par_KSPbwzKWqRoxfm4duxWTqFM3I-Ig6CGfLU1wBg_7l1wtmTk_r20dvREqGSdHXsjaTknPeXUIFGyimjFTVMyZNJwaLF5pDhS8JXLHfScpz2gey_w0SGQbbprOtTkL3kFhw/s1600/IMG_7270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLc3cyN0Par_KSPbwzKWqRoxfm4duxWTqFM3I-Ig6CGfLU1wBg_7l1wtmTk_r20dvREqGSdHXsjaTknPeXUIFGyimjFTVMyZNJwaLF5pDhS8JXLHfScpz2gey_w0SGQbbprOtTkL3kFhw/s320/IMG_7270.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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She wasn't a big fan of the "barrel race" I set up, but the kids got a kick out of it!</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I walked with the last three, and a conversation that I
had had dozens (if not hundreds) of times at the camp in Michigan came to mind,
and so I began it with all of them as I leaned casually on Zoeva’s neck. I
asked them what is bravery. The answer came quick: “Not being afraid.” I shook
my head and told them, “Being brave means doing whatever it is you want even
though you’re afraid. It’s ok to be afraid, but you can’t let that fear stop
you from reaching your goals or from doing what you need to do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">They nodded their heads in agreement, but I pray
that they meant it, that they really understood the lesson, that something has
sparked in them and that by overcoming their fear of leading a horse, they can
become emboldened to overcome other fears they have in other areas of their
life. That’s why I’m at the Ranch. For this moment, where I can use a horse to
reach the heart of a child.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHF1qELByUDQCWfDwdOIyrRJ48z42sJMNU6S7dQ6g0hnoNMXLJ4ccQcsHjxSgQQ_Pof3zb3Sv_7yUmFQmQ4TN5LfQ2noGmGayG6ZD0b-jPeU8HELaGehSX-q4S2ZTtNBwt1zikdXvSgz0/s1600/IMG_7298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHF1qELByUDQCWfDwdOIyrRJ48z42sJMNU6S7dQ6g0hnoNMXLJ4ccQcsHjxSgQQ_Pof3zb3Sv_7yUmFQmQ4TN5LfQ2noGmGayG6ZD0b-jPeU8HELaGehSX-q4S2ZTtNBwt1zikdXvSgz0/s400/IMG_7298.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-52695313701137452572017-01-05T09:00:00.002-08:002017-01-05T09:00:45.250-08:00Merry Christmas from Nicaragua! (December 2016 Ministry Update)<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This month started out with a TON of sales! We were
blessed with several opportunities in Tegucigalpa (the capital city that we’re
about an hour outside of) to sell the jewelry and other things made by the
trade school students. Because they were specifically for Christmas, we got a
group of students together to make Christmas ornaments, wreaths, and paper bead
garland.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVKYsXhN_nvq0Q_Wwb5iiHVhNopa1NLW0l_uwIKgIYMZj0gcF1hlyqBCYfivXhsw44j7qcv-npIOspkGu2IDQPJGRvfqoKLtcbkrLvHmlGyC7WjkIBUB-sQu0qHIwi64wVfhbM3zWpd4/s1600/IMG_6656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVKYsXhN_nvq0Q_Wwb5iiHVhNopa1NLW0l_uwIKgIYMZj0gcF1hlyqBCYfivXhsw44j7qcv-npIOspkGu2IDQPJGRvfqoKLtcbkrLvHmlGyC7WjkIBUB-sQu0qHIwi64wVfhbM3zWpd4/s320/IMG_6656.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Just a few of the beautiful Christmas wreaths the students made!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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One ornament in particular, which one of our youngest
students and myself had been making (he was new at it and therefore slow, so I
contributed a few as well) ended up being WAY more popular than we had
anticipated and so we sold out before the end of the first sale at the US
Embassy. Praise the Lord! It was a HUGE blessing, and then we got several
orders for more, so we put the whole “Christmas team” onto making them and
cranked out 31 of them in just one day!<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4CMQA6EU2wh5Dty96dmJ35cS3e4iYOnc6-rF6BVebJl79EbVRUYavIcW0q7mXjqji3qJFxZPvkLYt-KOCChfEUUQxmFNKSma5dpupCyfrcRYwZZ9QnWGM4eslTE5bOKz_petyAZt73SE/s1600/IMG_6714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4CMQA6EU2wh5Dty96dmJ35cS3e4iYOnc6-rF6BVebJl79EbVRUYavIcW0q7mXjqji3qJFxZPvkLYt-KOCChfEUUQxmFNKSma5dpupCyfrcRYwZZ9QnWGM4eslTE5bOKz_petyAZt73SE/s320/IMG_6714.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
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A few of my contributions to the sales.</div>
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The following week, we had three days of sales, two for
one school and one at another. Although these sales didn’t go as well as the
first one, it was still a blessing for the students, and I believe we’re
planning on attending at least one sale again next year!<o:p></o:p></div>
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J and I stayed in the city since the sales were in the
evenings and it was too late to be driving all the way back to the Ranch. It
was a nice little mini-vacation in the city. J stayed with a friend and I
stayed at a retreat center for a big non-profit organization which was really
nice. It was slightly outside the city and up the mountain a bit so the back
porch had an AMAZING view of the city and surrounding mountains.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We had all been waiting for the arrival of “Baby Cinco,”
who decided to arrive halfway through our three days of sales, so J headed back
to the Ranch and I went to one by myself with the help of another missionary.
As soon as I finished setting everything up, I got the text I had been waiting
for: Baby Cinco had arrived safely via a water birth attended by M, J and the
kids, and M’s parents. He was healthy and beautiful!<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_2AIgxgy4lyGGdjYx7aKQqBBc6b2m7ZVv2MtyuSQLtMqaV1Dq2WOQqAEV7HqHjLTxdAbvjeLqyH4mXUc9gmx5C2uri1WBRLnKm7iEbB2uemB7MfvxhD-JDsGiQZ7-3e_8MCQSeOlpl8/s1600/IMG_6818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_2AIgxgy4lyGGdjYx7aKQqBBc6b2m7ZVv2MtyuSQLtMqaV1Dq2WOQqAEV7HqHjLTxdAbvjeLqyH4mXUc9gmx5C2uri1WBRLnKm7iEbB2uemB7MfvxhD-JDsGiQZ7-3e_8MCQSeOlpl8/s320/IMG_6818.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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My first time meeting Baby Cinco!</div>
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The following week, we wrapped up girls and boys Bible
studies for 2016 by combining the two groups and watching a Spanish version of
the story of the birth of Christ, putting on a play about the birth of Christ,
and then doing a Christmas craft. It was a LOT of fun and the kids had a blast!<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqC8unvzGNrDhZnr6GEgHN_xsi7FntJDdv8uvEudLSI_ixFdxa8SKOwgBrafwRIr-SUgVRxX93kgSIf1k61iyyx1X67sRrlKYiS_fdRGiSIovlu6m2V1VgtMVTco-bTTRqodw0EWg2bMg/s1600/IMG_6949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqC8unvzGNrDhZnr6GEgHN_xsi7FntJDdv8uvEudLSI_ixFdxa8SKOwgBrafwRIr-SUgVRxX93kgSIf1k61iyyx1X67sRrlKYiS_fdRGiSIovlu6m2V1VgtMVTco-bTTRqodw0EWg2bMg/s320/IMG_6949.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The angels announce the good news of Jesus' birth.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSHBn4hbLxxNhXcULAbCfxLBFyhmxCAiaBfrjYJHhuTeS8_rM4de12pZvQDHQrANd4DE3KpAKE7TY4RL_gU_186d88zKr7yEiuDrGp7FrKX0B5VA7jhnAmxcPtWB5Na-Oj_oQbIbI-bY/s1600/IMG_6956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSHBn4hbLxxNhXcULAbCfxLBFyhmxCAiaBfrjYJHhuTeS8_rM4de12pZvQDHQrANd4DE3KpAKE7TY4RL_gU_186d88zKr7yEiuDrGp7FrKX0B5VA7jhnAmxcPtWB5Na-Oj_oQbIbI-bY/s320/IMG_6956.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The shepherds come to worship the newborn King.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0aO0InwWAuToE6ZrnI7-cPLSscj6B56nA9eQKXps1It5e5s0OB31j276HzYESE3wEQgOTodVgHfPFKaXL9L0VMa5P7HhPktWTEfKY25RF-B6QBJhdKOcsLsJiiM0-ByeIqLbamP4xqQ/s1600/IMG_6961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0aO0InwWAuToE6ZrnI7-cPLSscj6B56nA9eQKXps1It5e5s0OB31j276HzYESE3wEQgOTodVgHfPFKaXL9L0VMa5P7HhPktWTEfKY25RF-B6QBJhdKOcsLsJiiM0-ByeIqLbamP4xqQ/s320/IMG_6961.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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J gets the magi ready to follow the star to Bethlehem.</div>
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After that, I headed to Nicaragua to spend Christmas
there with Roberto, where we also GOT MARRIED!! Our original plan had been to
simply do the legal wedding so we could start the visa process, but then
decided to just go for it, and also put together a simple church wedding… In 2
days. It was insane and super stressful, but once it was done and we were
married, we were able to just hang out and relax for the rest of the time
together. (Special blog coming soon just about our wedding.)<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJttKPCIDhLUWTySWni7P-2B6jWHVoxRdoHjmvSm4G8gBeOJDyMKMwPLghGM3IB9OJg8-3kYJupeiDcmuvrCqp-TYSJXjiKFkqAtS1n0LYVD8Hyi7aBA7o_L1Kuc0BuNbFM18p8CuotA/s1600/IMG_7046.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJttKPCIDhLUWTySWni7P-2B6jWHVoxRdoHjmvSm4G8gBeOJDyMKMwPLghGM3IB9OJg8-3kYJupeiDcmuvrCqp-TYSJXjiKFkqAtS1n0LYVD8Hyi7aBA7o_L1Kuc0BuNbFM18p8CuotA/s320/IMG_7046.PNG" width="252" /></a></div>
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Small and simple. <3</div>
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Christmas in Central America is different than the
States. Here, they celebrate on the 24<sup>th</sup>, which they call “Noche
Buena.” They eat a big meal late in the evening with their families (around
11pm), and then at midnight, everyone lights off fireworks in the streets so
that it sounds like a war zone. Gifts are also often exchanged at that point.
Then on the 25<sup>th</sup>, most people have the day off to just relax and
spend time with family.<o:p></o:p><br />
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My husband took me to see the many nativity scenes set up along one of the main roads.</div>
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Some were quite elaborate. This one had a waterfall behind it!</div>
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New Year’s Eve is often celebrated the same way, with
fireworks and a big meal late in the evening. Unfortunately for me, a meal I
had enjoyed earlier in the week had come back to haunt me, so I spent most of
New Year’s Eve in bed with frequent trips to the bathroom. However, by midnight
I was feeling slightly better and as the clock rolled over into the new year, I
was on my knees praying with my husband, undoubtedly the best way to ring in
the new year, recognizing how good God is and placing the new year fully into
His hands.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am unbelievably excited about everything that this new
year has in store for myself and for my husband.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Please be praying:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For our marriage, that we continue to put God
first in everything we do and that we continue to learn how to love and support
each other, and for strength as we will be living most of our first few months
as a married couple separated as he completes his final semester at university in
Nicaragua and I continue to work at the Ranch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For the trade school as we start up with full
days again and as we decide what the students will be making this year so that
they can have a good income through the ministry.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For the girls and boys Bible studies, that the
kids come with hearts softened and ears open to hear the gospel that we present
to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For the horses that God has prepared for the
Ranch that we don’t have yet, that God would make those connections and that we
would be able to bring more horses here to keep expanding the horse part of the
Ranch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For finances, as Roberto plans on joining me at
the Ranch as soon as he can, so we will need to raise support for the two of
us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you are interested in supporting us financially, you
may do so online or by check.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Online: Visit <a href="http://www.ro4y.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.ro4y.com</span></a>
and click the “Donate” button on the sidebar to give through PayPal. Make sure
you include my name (or Roberto’s) and your email address so the funds can be
directed to us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By check: Make checks payable to “RO4Y” and include a
note with my name (or Roberto’s) and your email address, then send the checks
to: Rancho Oasis for Youth, P.O. Box 1853, Mason City, IA 50401.<br />
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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My Christmas gift to Roberto: a painting inspired by a dream he had and then shared with me.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-28323363176183831702016-12-09T08:57:00.000-08:002016-12-09T08:57:03.033-08:00November 2016 Ministry Update - Falling Off Nyssa and Starting Bible Studies!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This month started off with a bang, or whatever sound you
imagine when someone hits the ground while falling off of a horse… After a
little over a month of working on the ground with Nyssa, I felt like she was
ready to be ridden, and so I got on her for the first time. She accepted me
like she’d done it a million times when I first got on, and took 5 calm steps
before she felt too off-balance and decided she needed me off of her…</div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LwScHl3-qI0/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LwScHl3-qI0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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If you review the video several times (as I have, occasionally frame-by-frame because it's even funnier in slow motion), you can see that
she’s actually started to settle down about the time I’ve completely lost my
own balance. It wasn’t the LEAST painful fall I’ve had, but other than a couple
bruises from the horn and a need for some self chiropractic care for my hips, I
was fine, and never happier to have decided to set my phone up to record the event.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next time I got on her, it went a lot better. We took
it a couple steps at a time and even though she felt off-balance again under my
weight, she stayed calm and we piled praises on her for doing so well. M and I
are both SUPER excited about that and her future as a Ranch horse. She’s very
smart and catches on pretty quickly to whatever we ask of her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The second week in November I got to take a little break
from the Ranch to go and visit my fiancé and then go to a women’s conference! It was nice to get some rest, and I’m so
thankful to Lu and N for feeding my baby kitten while I was gone, and for a
friend who picked me up to the bus station to go to the conference!<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the recurring themes in my life seems to be
brokenness as I often feel broken in many different ways which also makes me
feel like I’m not good enough or that I can’t serve as well as I could if I
were whole. Sure enough, the focus of the conference was on brokenness and how
we shouldn’t be afraid to keep living even as we’re broken and that we can
still serve and love and be loved no matter how broken our hearts may be.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At the end of the conference, one of the women shared
(half-jokingly) about how everything there had been specifically for her and
how she was glad we’d been there for “her” healing time. We laughed, but I
couldn’t help but to have felt the same way, as it seemed like everything that
was said, sung, and done spoke directly to me. God is really cool like that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was plenty of time for laughter and fun at the conference as well!</div>
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This month, we also started up with girls and boys
horse/Bible studies. We decided to launch into incorporating the horses into ministry
by combining the girls Bible study with horse lessons. Then, as there has been
an ongoing need for a boys Bible study (that doesn’t involve soccer since not
all the boys in the community play and some are too young to join the teams),
we also started a boys Bible study doing the same thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It has been AWESOME! I take a group of kids in the barn
and teach them something about horses and then Jon teaches Scripture that goes
along with that lesson. We spent the first three weeks in I Corinthians 12, talking
about how we all have different spiritual gifts that are all equally important,
how there are different parts of the body, and how we need to take care of the
body of Christ. So, in the barn we talked about the different brushes (they all
have different purposes but are all equally important), the parts of the horse,
and basic horse care (we need to take care of the other members of the body of
Christ) which involved listening to the Zoeva’s heart and stomach sounds as
well as taking her temperature.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After that, we had a review day during which the kids
were able to win prizes for memorizing the Bible verse (Lo cierto es que hay
muchos miembros, pero el cuerpo es uno solo. 1 Corintios 12:20… Where’s my
prize?!?), and for winning the games. We had a relay race to find the correct
brush, a Healthy/Unhealthy challenge (if the horse has green stuff and blood coming
from her nose, is she healthy or unhealthy?), and they had to tape the names of
the parts of the body onto the horse.<o:p></o:p></div>
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J leads the boys in worship.</div>
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The boys loved brushing Zoeva!</div>
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Zoeva gets a full-body beauty treatment from the girls Bible study!</div>
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I think she wins the most tolerant horse of the year award!</div>
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Race back to the pole, but did you grab the right brush?</div>
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Needless to say, this month has been AMAZING, and ended
with two Thanksgiving meals, one at the Ranch which was INCREDIBLE and one at
the church with the other missionaries which was a lot of crazy fun! I’m so
excited for everything that December has in store for me!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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This little one was a bit intimidated by all the older girls,</div>
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so she brushed Sheeba with N. Dogs need some loving with brushes, too!</div>
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Prayer requests:</div>
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- For my fiance and I as we continue to learn to love and respect each other more, and as we struggle with the long distance and as we prepare to do all of our wedding planning in two weeks in December.</div>
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- For the sales events we've been invited to, that they would be a blessing to the students.</div>
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- For the boys and girls Bible studies, that the kids would come with soft hearts and minds open to receive the gospel and that J and I would have wisdom while teaching these precious ones about horses and God.</div>
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- For the continued training of Nyssa and for the connection we made during the conference to be fruitful so we can get some more good Ranch horses.</div>
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- For peace and comfort for me as I head into the Christmas season away from my family and normal traditions.</div>
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- For the funds to come in to finish the staff house so I can move in!</div>
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Last year I planted some strawberry seeds from some store-bought strawberries,</div>
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and now I've got a strawberry developing! They love the cooler mountain weather!</div>
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If you are interested in supporting me financially, you
may do so online or by check.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Online: Visit <a href="http://www.ro4y.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.ro4y.com</span></a>
and click the “Donate” button on the sidebar to give through PayPal. Make sure
you include my name and your email address so the funds can be directed to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By check: Make checks payable to “RO4Y” and include a
note with my name and your email address, then send the checks to: Rancho Oasis
for Youth, P.O. Box 1853, Mason City, IA 50401.</div>
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To give specifically to the completion of the staff house, make a note on your check or when giving online!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-17733452054513588442016-11-14T14:12:00.002-08:002016-11-14T14:12:17.224-08:00New Beginnings – October 2016 Ministry Update<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This past month has seen a lot of new beginnings, and has
been awesome! After spending some time in the States and some time in
Nicaragua, I arrived back at the Ranch at the end of September and started
gearing up for my first full year of ministry at Rancho Oasis for Youth!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Before I got to the Ranch, however, I got ENGAGED! I’m so
thankful to God for bringing me to a wonderful man who loves the Lord and
encourages me in my own walk in so many ways. I get more excited every day for
everything that God has planned for our future together!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">After taking me by horse-drawn carriage to the lake, he brought me to the top of an old fort</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">where he asked me to marry him and gave me my mom's engagement ring set with a new stone.</span></div>
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The day I arrived at the Ranch, there was another
arrival, a surprise baby goat. His mom sort of rejected him (she herself had
been rejected as a kid) and so I spent the first few weeks of his life holding
her so he could eat. And, a couple weeks after he was born, we had three more
surprise babies, a pair of twins and another single kid. These two mamas are
great, though, and watching the four kids play together has been SO much fun!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Twins! A boy and a girl!</div>
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Our only black goat gave us another to match her!</div>
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Before his friends got big enough to play, this little guy hung out with me a lot.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>On October 20<sup>th</sup>, there were four kittens born
to one of the barn cats, all calico girls. When they were just over two weeks
old, the mother decided to move them from the barn, but left one behind, so I
took her in. Keeping her fed (with goat’s milk out of a dropper) has been a lot
of work, but it’s also been a huge blessing because it’s been so long since I’ve
had an indoor cat, and for those of you who don’t know, I absolutely love cats.</div>
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I also spent much of this month refreshing Nyssa on her
training. M had been working with her since she was a baby but hadn’t been able
to actually ride her yet, so I started working several times a week with the
young horse and could see that she definitely remembered her training. By the
end of the month, she was ready to be ridden, but there were certainly some
bumps and bruises along the way… Like the first day of training when she got
overly frustrated and kicked me pretty hard in the leg… To her surprise and
dismay, I worked her even harder after that.</div>
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Day 1: Getting her moving and remembering what she'd learned before!</div>
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Day 1, Later: Things didn't quite go as planned... But at least it's pretty! </div>
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Trying to get her used to my weight on her... She wasn't a fan of me hopping onto her...</div>
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Ready to take the next step to being a Ranch pony!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Trade school started up again, but since this year they
hadn’t sold quite as much as in previous furloughs and since “baby cinco” is
coming soon, we decided to stick with having the students come just to turn in
the beads they had rolled during the week and to dip the previous week’s beads
in varnish. I also lead a simple devotion with them which has been a huge
blessing to me as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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M created some lists of work projects that need to be
done around the Ranch, one for general things and the other for the animals. I
got to organize and prioritize them and now that we’re more organized with our
needs, we’ve been able to focus on our priorities and are excited to both check
things off the list as they get done, and add more things to really get the
Ranch to where we know it can be. It’s a long process when there’s a lot of
work but not many workers!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I got some lead ropes and rope halters made and then put in the nails to hang them!</div>
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In our staff Bible study on Wednesdays, we are going
through the book of Colossians, and it’s been amazing so far. One day we talked
about grace, and what it meant. One of the questions to ask ourselves was “What
is an example of God’s grace in your life?” Of course I thought immediately of
how He brought a group of people together to support my ministry here, and that’s
a great example of grace, but I couldn’t think of any little, everyday
examples.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The very next day as I was cutting a freshly-cut tree
branch on a miter saw for a couple of projects, something happened and the
small block of wood I was holding still got sucked into the saw along with my
hand. I believe it was the plastic guard I had been holding up with my other
thumb that came down and smashed my thumb, but it happened so fast that all I
know for sure is that my thumb was smashed but still fully intact.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Praise God that my thumb was not as chewed up at the piece of wood I was cutting.</div>
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(The orange on my nail is polish; all I suffered was the tiny cut at the base of the nail.)</div>
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As I sat down to avoid passing out from the
pain/adrenaline, I couldn’t help but to feel overwhelmed by God’s grace in such
a small thing as a thumb. Although it was so painfully swollen I had to take
some ibuprofen to sleep for a couple of nights and had to re-learn how to do
simple things like unbuttoning my pants for a week or so, I am SO grateful to God
because it could have been SO much worse. Now it’s already healed up quite a
bit and am just waiting to see if I’m going to be growing a new nail or not.</div>
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Once the polish came off, I found it a lot more bruised than I had thought...</div>
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A little worse for wear but not a bit deterred, I’m
looking forward to what the next month has in store for me as I serve God here
in Ojojona, Honduras!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WsUX_RXsFVo1UYu3LFdysuCKixYrQXCypP1J_Qz9LCQPVmAf-u8eGm9IzdEZ9aY7UyX89IpY_60ZbM-CsPQ-VTDzIFpEgTpGfc9P5raHOb7D9hs7O0ZRllInKSCFgip5ticSERxVP9U/s1600/IMG_6194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WsUX_RXsFVo1UYu3LFdysuCKixYrQXCypP1J_Qz9LCQPVmAf-u8eGm9IzdEZ9aY7UyX89IpY_60ZbM-CsPQ-VTDzIFpEgTpGfc9P5raHOb7D9hs7O0ZRllInKSCFgip5ticSERxVP9U/s320/IMG_6194.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sometimes while you do your nails on a Saturday afternoon, it turns into a nail party!</div>
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Please be praying:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For my fiancé and I as we plan our wedding from
two different countries and for our relationship to continue to get stronger as
we prepare to be married.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For sales on the Etsy store for the trade school
students so they can earn money and reach their goals.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For our search for more horses for the Ranch,
that God allows us to connect with the right people and find the right horses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For the girl’s Bible study as we begin to
incorporate horses into the Bible lessons.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->For the finances to come in for the staff house
to be completed.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGoSxUxc4LoMuR8dk-BJtNf0JNLRCHptdW9yNgYdskGcoBsEKJkkCXKw28_ojluurRkyONXIUwp4RJTWUwRWzIbnzPN9pJgQivN7nUQYZXKiiYqthyphenhyphenoAxeLzPhW8jIdkkKY6yDKy3nVc/s1600/IMG_5996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTGoSxUxc4LoMuR8dk-BJtNf0JNLRCHptdW9yNgYdskGcoBsEKJkkCXKw28_ojluurRkyONXIUwp4RJTWUwRWzIbnzPN9pJgQivN7nUQYZXKiiYqthyphenhyphenoAxeLzPhW8jIdkkKY6yDKy3nVc/s320/IMG_5996.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Are you my mother?</div>
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Sheeba, the Ranch dog, thinks she's very helpful with the baby goat.</div>
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If you are
interested in supporting me financially, you may do so online or by check.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Online: Visit <a href="http://www.ro4y.com/">www.ro4y.com</a> and click the “Donate” button on
the sidebar to give through PayPal.</div>
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Make sure you include my name and your
email address so the funds can be directed to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By check: Make
checks payable to “RO4Y” and include a note with my name and your email</div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.5in;">address, then send the checks to: Rancho Oasis for Youth, P.O. Box 1853, Mason
City, IA 50401.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSCp2S08liaOHURQND9yXiePD6RBe1IDE0qQLW1fu-dxvfF1y2RUOhqrF4vX38S3Gct0EspAsWCSqX54B0XAcCyZzIUMv8d-fkpYcbDKZCUQm8N2plrCGgMQWctVHA1vQGApjl97aXwM/s1600/IMG_6026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSCp2S08liaOHURQND9yXiePD6RBe1IDE0qQLW1fu-dxvfF1y2RUOhqrF4vX38S3Gct0EspAsWCSqX54B0XAcCyZzIUMv8d-fkpYcbDKZCUQm8N2plrCGgMQWctVHA1vQGApjl97aXwM/s320/IMG_6026.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Can you spot my assistant?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrbqjY0qj7Eq1zCBtbXanWKlf7d3Dwo87BGHd03-AwSqjzb6Xwf6uBhw4C7qlMbtll2TGDWxt-frtaWoQgMvPpqk-j7GU1qm_7y9bGTdMlUXcTcx73SFs81_KJJRna9feYKORKGAnTWM/s1600/IMG_6025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrbqjY0qj7Eq1zCBtbXanWKlf7d3Dwo87BGHd03-AwSqjzb6Xwf6uBhw4C7qlMbtll2TGDWxt-frtaWoQgMvPpqk-j7GU1qm_7y9bGTdMlUXcTcx73SFs81_KJJRna9feYKORKGAnTWM/s320/IMG_6025.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lizards can give some great horse training advice sometimes... </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-58143298845573700912016-09-23T17:36:00.001-07:002016-09-23T17:36:12.460-07:00Free Falling (August/September Ministry Update)When you take a leap of faith, that means that you're probably going to do some free-falling at some point, and it is both terrifying and exhilarating, but that's coming from an adrenaline junkie... I remember well sky-diving and that feeling of falling through the air and not knowing with 100% certainty that it was going to end well. Such was how I spent most of my summer, but in a different way.<br />
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Once I returned to Michigan, the real work began on raising support. My mom is AMAZING and helped set me up with four different places to speak: two churches, and two church groups. She also threw me a birthday party in which I invited family and friends to hear what I had to say and offered them a chance to ask questions about the ministry I'll soon be doing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGWq864vweKibntejIfWeBFrAYsUeUpGGybuoB6RJmHJkIWRklisq9FkltXqFZJL2bBfdP7YbpMfcHlIJJBq3hGuH_JSJdZ9RRYgolyHekQ2NmmoghFkPG7D5AneDkH-9AVGgdUd2PIg/s1600/IMG_5257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGWq864vweKibntejIfWeBFrAYsUeUpGGybuoB6RJmHJkIWRklisq9FkltXqFZJL2bBfdP7YbpMfcHlIJJBq3hGuH_JSJdZ9RRYgolyHekQ2NmmoghFkPG7D5AneDkH-9AVGgdUd2PIg/s320/IMG_5257.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
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After a long couple of days of travel, my mom met me in the airport! :D</div>
<br />Some of the places I went and the people I interacted with offered me one-time donations, which I gladly accepted and was excited about for covering everything that I buy in Michigan because it's cheaper and/or only available there, including a new computer since my previous one was on it's last leg already and then the screen started going...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMMm81sGWoXgQ5JMK5zjJLqkgr1vl8Ecbrd-dK9a4RFm2P3tK6PrPv5V8zxE70FzG8wW58Bijt88CsuSABbg1ryua2vDyDMxa8H8Ilb7Nulfov398FlZIWszsRJvW9vZibm44Q9Nq56k/s1600/IMG_5583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMMm81sGWoXgQ5JMK5zjJLqkgr1vl8Ecbrd-dK9a4RFm2P3tK6PrPv5V8zxE70FzG8wW58Bijt88CsuSABbg1ryua2vDyDMxa8H8Ilb7Nulfov398FlZIWszsRJvW9vZibm44Q9Nq56k/s320/IMG_5583.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
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Lola is not a huge fan of being held... </div>
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But, up until just a few days before I was leaving for a quick vacation to Nicaragua before returning to Honduras, I was still lacking some of the ongoing monthly support that I would need to complete the work God has for me. Even though I was trusting God to provide everything for me that I needed, it was still scary to feel that free-falling and not being 100% it would turn out as I had expected. I started wondering if I would need to return to the States for more fund-raising.<br /><br />But, God did provide for me, through an unexpected blessing from someone I had never met before at one of the churches and a relative coming through just a couple days before I flew out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99e7i8_qTv3T8SGQu0rITacq5uBQeOkBRUzJ7eUQSHZqECbb4fse4qwTY_dJ1fEg0AaxNlBlo9d2uVMhvlUbll_HuD92xBrv7Z-u50qnpFjUTfr-GP_RyOMDdclGX77yQi0SqCofu3gU/s1600/IMG_5573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99e7i8_qTv3T8SGQu0rITacq5uBQeOkBRUzJ7eUQSHZqECbb4fse4qwTY_dJ1fEg0AaxNlBlo9d2uVMhvlUbll_HuD92xBrv7Z-u50qnpFjUTfr-GP_RyOMDdclGX77yQi0SqCofu3gU/s320/IMG_5573.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Spotted a double rainbow while hanging out with my brothers, a reminder that God is faithful.</div>
<br />Now I'm safe in God's arms and have all of the monthly support that I need to pursue God's plan for my life to reach out and help the youth in Ojojona, Honduras. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do full-time ministry and am so thankful to everyone who has committed to supporting me.<br /><br />In a few days, I will be back at the Ranch and will launch myself into the work there. I have to organize things to begin discipling the young women that work at the Ranch and begin training the younger horse already at the Ranch. We'll also be looking for two more horses which will also need to be acclimated to the Ranch and may need some additional training depending on where we get them from. That's in addition to helping M get ready for another year of Trade School and J with another year of girls' Bible study and everything else that goes on at the Ranch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic31sX_vfinwX83dO_9t0IZa5JABhB_eRndQaqEhOXyxx_W7yuNBs56IC3kQSQbZAykiXoSZlW3btHwqgAvmvJ8fntsRqc06vJnTyXKAh27sm86yJWRy1MzbwuVhAhyQXozUZb-ZoKong/s1600/IMG_5774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic31sX_vfinwX83dO_9t0IZa5JABhB_eRndQaqEhOXyxx_W7yuNBs56IC3kQSQbZAykiXoSZlW3btHwqgAvmvJ8fntsRqc06vJnTyXKAh27sm86yJWRy1MzbwuVhAhyQXozUZb-ZoKong/s320/IMG_5774.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Family photo that was WAY overdo! :D</div>
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This rest (which didn't involve as much resting as I would have liked, but that's just how it goes sometimes) was awesome and I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend with family and friends, but I'm also excited to get back to work, too!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhIGiIMXfOg0YBgIgYYE3_46Jw61AppjGIPWv6ICz0WUXceA29qkP94IkXsiSe3cSAkyD5G6d4GPa-6WEiY2YWnNXom5oTSWL8ZNNdqgzxc7NACtk0YCVzYQiVwiya8CRC50JGyuUKK0/s1600/IMG_5362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhIGiIMXfOg0YBgIgYYE3_46Jw61AppjGIPWv6ICz0WUXceA29qkP94IkXsiSe3cSAkyD5G6d4GPa-6WEiY2YWnNXom5oTSWL8ZNNdqgzxc7NACtk0YCVzYQiVwiya8CRC50JGyuUKK0/s320/IMG_5362.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Super excited about learning to play my new violin, a birthday present from my boyfriend!</div>
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Please be praying:<br />- That we find the right horses for the Ranch at the right price.<br />- That I'm able to work with Nissa (the younger horse) and get her properly trained. I've never trained a horse from the ground up before.<br />
- That I'm able to connect with the young women at the Ranch in order to disciple them well.<br />
- That the girls that come to girls' Bible study come with the intent to learn and that J and I are able to teach them in wisdom.<br />- That I transition back to life at the Ranch quickly to be as effective of a servant as possible.<br />
- That my relationship with my boyfriend continues to bring glory to God.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-89083474552862479912016-06-26T15:58:00.001-07:002016-06-27T19:18:20.714-07:00June Ministry Update - My First Week at the Ranch!<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "uictfonttextstylebody"; font-size: 17px;">I have just completed my first week at the Rancho Oasis 4 Youth and it has been quite the adventure already. Here's an outline of my first week here serving at this ministry. </span><br />
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Saturday </div>
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Lu from the Ranch and a missionary friend of mine from San Pedro showed up early at my apartment to help me move. We drove together to the Ranch, stopping only for a lunch break, and then got everything into my room. I got all of my clothes into my dresser and left my kitchen stuff to one of the other staff members to sort through and add to their kitchen as needed or to leave what they wouldn't use in the boxes. She had a talk with J and M that evening and is now taking a break from the Ranch, which means some of her responsibilities have now fallen to me.<br />
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I'm already good friends with Daisy, who is responsible for keeping other dogs off the property with her big barks and sleeping in the holes that she digs around the yard.</div>
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Sunday</div>
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We went to church in Tegucigalpa (the capital city of Honduras which is about an hour drive from the Ranch) and had lunch together afterwards. I then went with Lu to the mall to try to get internet on my phone which turned into a long wait at the phone store and then a failure to withdraw money from my bank account (forgot my PIN since I so rarely use it here) and buying just enough to get me through. Then we went grocery shopping which was great because I had left all of my frozen and refrigerated goods at the apartment in my roommate's fridge... Oops. </div>
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Monday</div>
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M wasn't feeling well, so I watched the youngest two kids for a couple hours while she slept. Then, she went up to the barn with me where we talked until lunch about what I could be doing and what the vision of the Ranch for me was and all that fun stuff. In the afternoon we had our staff meeting where we looked at the calendar for the week and the next couple of months.<br />
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One of the does, who reminds me so much of my goat Freedom I had in MI.</div>
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Tuesday</div>
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I got in and started cleaning horse tack which had been sitting and getting covered in mold for a few years. I made it through all of the bridles, taking them apart, carefully cleaning and oiling them and then putting them back together. Fortunately, I had the assistance of the boy (age 5) and P (age 3) who used q-tips to get in the little holes and then played with the kittens while I worked with the sponge on the bigger parts.<br />
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Introducing: Luke Skywalker, Tornado, Growltiger, and Jo-Jo.</div>
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I helped clean the barn out and learned from O who's been in charge of the animals how they rotate the goats around the property. Because we lack proper fencing all the way around, the goats are kept on long ropes and are moved throughout the day, though the horses are free to wander. Then, I went to work on the saddles that were there and finished the wiping down and soaping up parts of the cleaning. The English saddle had been lovingly cleaned by M a couple years ago and has been stored in a wooden trunk since then so it was in great condition. The Western saddle, on the other hand, had been out in the open and needed a LOT of TLC, as you can see. That afternoon, we had Bible Study with the staff, which included the missionaries and the Honduran staff. Since it ended up just being J and I with the Hondurans (Lu wasn't feeling well and M was watching the kids), we conducted the whole Bible Study in Spanish. <br />
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P following Nick to the barn; there's always an adventure to be had at the Ranch!</div>
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I spent the whole morning oiling the Western saddle. It took over an hour for one of the straps in particular, which was so stiff I was afraid it would snap if I bent it. It's not perfect yet, but it's flexible now after a lot of rubbing in the oil and flexing it. I then started taking inventory of the horse supplies and getting a list together of everything that we'd need to move forward. We had guests at the Ranch that day, the pastor's family from church, and so they made fried chicken on the stove, and since I was the lucky one who had to do the dishes that day, spent a couple hours doing that. Later that afternoon, M, Lu, and I met for our women's Bible study and they shared their testimonies, which was really cool to hear. We ran out of time, so I'll be sharing mine next week when we also decide how we'll proceed in the fall (Lu leaves for her furlough in a couple weeks). </div>
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It's mango season, and the family likes to buy 600 mangoes for a good price from O's family, which all have to be cut up, dried or frozen for use throughout the year. I volunteered to help, and so spent a couple hours cutting mangoes with M. Then I was able to finish taking inventory in the barn and have a couple lists together of things we need and things to do. I also met with J that morning to go over the lesson for girls Bible study, which I then spent the early afternoon preparing for. The girls arrived later in the afternoon and after a time of worship together, J took the 3 Jr. High girls outside and I had 12 elementary-aged girls to myself, along with Lu as an assistant. The kids were also there, except for P. Because the girls didn't know me and because they're used to a teaching style that's more focused on listening and copying than discussions, it was painful to get them to answer the questions I had about the passage in John we were reading about Jesus being the Bread of Life. But, I did get some answers and I felt like they did get something out of it, so it was good. We also did a craft in which we made a paper chain with Bible verses that they will (hypothetically and hopefully) read throughout the week. It was a lot of fun, though, and I trust that as I'm there more often, they'll warm up to me more and get used to being able to answer questions.<br />
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Before...</div>
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.... And after!</div>
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That brings us around to today, when there aren't any ministry things going on so I can relax a bit. I will be building shelves out of boards and cinder blocks so I can finish unpacking, but that's about all I have to do today. After a much busier week with more physical and outdoor work than I'm used to, it's nice to have a more chill day where I can get stuff done without worrying too much about sticking to a schedule. </div>
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Please be praying:</div>
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- For the staff member that is taking time off, that God would guide her to make the right decision with whether or not she continues at the Ranch. She is a vital member of the team, but is also struggling with wanting to be here full-time. </div>
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- For my body to fully adjust to my work here and the change in altitude. I've been sleeping 9+ hours a night and still wake up feeling tired.</div>
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- For God to place desires on people's hearts to become monthly supporters when I return after my trip to Michigan in August. </div>
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Praise for:</div>
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- Being fully-funded for this summer vision-mapping trip!!!</div>
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- Arriving safely here and being off to a great start. I already love everybody here and am thoroughly enjoying everything about the Ranch. </div>
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- Having fairly-priced and well-working internet on my phone which allows me to stay in contact with the people I love. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-40532986120127609462016-05-22T19:02:00.001-07:002016-05-23T17:58:35.023-07:00A Giant Leap of FaithOver the last few months, there have been some interesting developments in my life, and I can now very excitedly announce... I'M CHANGING MINISTRIES!!!<br />
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My days at the school will be over as soon as the school year ends, and then I'll be moving to a small village about an hour south of the capital city of Tegucigalpa and about 6 hours from where I am now. I will be working alongside a missionary family who have a ministry there known as Rancho Oasis for Youth, where they do a variety of ministries with the people they work with, but I will be focusing on building up their animal program.<br />
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Over the summer, I will be on a vision mapping trip, in which I'll be getting to know everyone better and coming up with a more exact plan on what my job there will look like on a day-to-day basis. Right now, I know I'll be working with the horses to get them ready for kids to ride, and the goats (and probably chickens) to start a sustainability and animal care program for the community.<br />
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Here are a couple videos to give you a better idea of what the Rancho Oasis for Youth is all about. The first one is older but has a good overview of everything they do, and the second one is more up-to-date and will show you what they're doing right now.<br />
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Although I'm INCREDIBLY excited about this opportunity, I'm also terrified because it means a lot of changes, including the need to generate my own support. I've been self-supported during my entire time in Honduras so far between working at the school and working online (freelance writing). Now, God is asking me to make a huge leap of faith and trust that He's going to provide for me while I do the work that He has for me.<br />
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After much prayer and some dragging of my heels, I have stepped away from nearly all of my online jobs and am fully believing that God is going to supply all of my needs. I'm currently believing for $1000 for my vision mapping trip that will last from June 18 through July 30. This will cover all of my living and moving expenses. I'm also believing for monthly support of $750.<br />
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During the month of August and the first week of September, I will be in Michigan on furlough visiting family and friends and getting more support. If you would like me to meet with you, your church, or another group to share my vision, please let me know so I can start filling up my calendar. I'm eager to share the vision God has given me with others.<br />
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Please pray about supporting me, either financially or prayerfully. As I am stepping out in faith, I know that the enemy will come against me and so I am asking for your prayer support as well to keep me strong while I serve the Lord in Ojojona, Honduras.<br />
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Here's how you can give financially, whether you are giving a one-time gift for my vision mapping trip or want to give monthly to support my ongoing ministry:<br />
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My PayPal: bride_of_christ728@yahoo.com<br />
My Google Wallet: melody.joy.cary@gmail.com<br />
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Please note that giving to me directly is NOT tax deductible.<br />
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To donate through the Ranch, visit: www.ro4y.org and click their "donate" button in the sidebar.<br />
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By check:<br />
RO4Y<br />
P.O. Box 1853<br />
Mason City, IA 50401<br />
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These gifts are tax deductible, and please be sure to include your email address so they can send you your monthly statement and include my name when giving.<br />
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I will now be keeping my blog updated much more often so that supporters can see what I'm up to and be aware of my prayer needs as those arise. If you would like to receive email notifications when I upload a new blog, please let me know and I will create an email list to send out with links to updated blogs.<br />
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Thank you in advance, and may God bless you!<br />
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Please be praying:<br />
- That those who God has called to support me answer the call.<br />
- That everything goes well as I begin packing everything in preparation to move.<br />
- That I finish the school year well and continue pouring into my students until the very end.<br />
- That God would give me peace of mind as I go through this big transition.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-3462085304335342232016-01-06T11:25:00.001-08:002016-01-06T11:25:25.708-08:00Should Things Be Open 24/7 (Blog Posts by 3rd Graders) These blog posts were all written and then typed out by my 3rd graders. We were studying blog posts in their spelling class, so I figured I might as well let them actually create a blog post. The topic was supposed to be an opinion piece on whether or not we should have either stores, restaurants, or offices open 24/7, but a few of them got a little off topic. Enjoy!<br />
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my name is juan jose I have 8 years old I stay in the school of eagles christian academy I am in 3grade.<br />
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I talk only for the nature.<br />
my opinion is we need to help the nature for are good for the planet.<br />
my question is are you stay recycle<br />
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my name is angeles i am 8 years old i am in the school of eagle christian academy i am 3 grade<br />
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i talk only of offices open 24/7 it is bad because the animals has to much light my opinion is bad for the animals question for reader do you thing that the animals like the light 24/7 if you were a animal you dont like it and love the animals i have 4 dogs,4 cats,4 turtle,4 hamsters.<br />
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donovan you the 9<br />
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the police have more monkey. the police have more prisioner. i think offices open 24/7 is a good/idea. do police work at niht?<br />
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my name is astrid i love go to scool.<br />
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the people have jungre 7:00 the restaurant make more mone. i think it a good idea to have restaurant 24/7. wy restaurat open ol the time?<br />
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My name is Miss Melody. I am 100 years old. I am the teacher of 3rd grade and 4th grade.<br />
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When stores are open 24/7, it uses a LOT of electricity. That is bad for the environment. I think stores should close at night. Do you think people need to go shopping in the middle of the night?<br />
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my name is jahir I eat hamburger and baleadas andpizza is delicions<br />
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good the store 24/7day eat 30/percent hours go store yes money. ISgood have things incredible.<br />
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what things do you use for video<br />
you eatin the video<br />
what is your productor<br />
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my name ios jose. a lake baketol<br />
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the stores have 30 persentu hours i think stores open 24/7 is a good idea do you think it good to have storer open 24/7<br />
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Thanks for reading! Please be praying for these precious ones as they continue to learn and growAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-86522481232600943052015-12-02T07:07:00.002-08:002015-12-02T07:07:43.602-08:00School Stories: Thanksgiving, the Secret Garden, and Animal FriendsThe past (insert however long it's been since my last post) have been filled with a lot of activities. We're still getting ready for our Christmas show which is now LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY, and we also had Thanksgiving, and finished preparing and planting (for now) our "secret garden." Here are some more school stories for you.<br />
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Since Thanksgiving is primarily an American holiday, not that many people actually celebrate it here, except for the bilingual schools. After doing the smoothie challenge with my kids (which you can see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUNC2_XUa30">here</a>), they had some time to play and then we all sat down together as a gigantic crazy family to eat Popeye's chicken, fruit, and various snack foods. It was a lot of fun despite the natural insanity that comes from trying to feed 60 kids and 15 adults in such a small space...<br />
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Normally we have everything in the church so there's a bit more space to work with. Last year, I actually had a dance battle with a couple of the boys while we waited for the food to arrive, but there was only enough room for a turkey sound-alike contest this year... I should have won, but the kids were too excited about our very reserved director making some turkey noises, so they all cheered for her instead of me... But I'm not bitter about that at all... Mostly because there wasn't a prize involved... Anyway, the reason why we weren't able to have it in the church is that we are expanding the church to double its size, so there's currently a very large hole in one of the walls. Here is the empty church right before they took out the wall.<br />
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The whole wall by the stage up to the first air conditioner is now just a tarp.</div>
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The garden has been a big project that both third and fourth grade have been helping with immensely. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it all myself. It started as a science project about how plants grow, but then when they actually started growing I wanted to plant them somewhere, and then I also solved the problem of where to plant my own growing tomato and pepper plants after getting permission to plant a garden in the gated-off area between the school and the wall of the soccer field. So, after a lot of weed-pulling, digging, and finding bugs, we've got plants in the ground and they're doing GREAT!<br />
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Fourth grade working hard at pulling weeds and digging.</div>
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Third grade working on digging to loosen up the soil and get out the big rocks before planting.</div>
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We found some wildlife while we were at it, and these two worms were just the tip of the iceberg.</div>
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The miniature rock wall that we built with all the rocks we found in the ground.</div>
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The tomatoes and bell peppers I've been growing at home ready to go into the ground.</div>
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5 of my tomatoes from home and the 3 that sprouted at school in the ground!</div>
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We set up an old gate as a trellis for the tomatoes and to hold the seedlings that are still growing. I made sure to rope off the area to prevent accidents.</div>
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Little sunflowers planted in a row. :D</div>
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This is some type of flowering plant that one of the girls brought. My policy with the garden is: if you bring it, we will plant it.</div>
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These are the strawberries that have sprouted at my house from strawberries that I bought at the store... They're tiny little guys, but are getting bigger slowly but surely every day! (Yes, you have to squint a little to see them, but there are about a dozen there.)</div>
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The other morning, I saw something adorable happening outside, so I went out to take a picture. It's hard to see, but this is a little poodle-y dog and a cat hanging out. The dog is actually somebody's pet, because they came around the corner and were looking for him/her right after I took the picture, and I'm assuming the cat is a stray. But, they were hanging out together for a bit and I thought it was cute so I snapped a picture. The distance was pushing the limits of my phone's zooming capabilities, but I'm glad I was able to get some sort of picture before they both slipped into a hole in the wall that's below the half-wall they're both sitting on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eRjbD-f7ivmyTZZtpM1F2gjY2_rj6hyphenhyphenxTnce9CpW52cFWIm2kyn3hqxCDe7OfZrNJbP_R1_BelNl2RHWNPewL2nMfkEIHFEjKqbP7kz8E1c-w8Smb9G_KeH9kUF8UBtdWEfvlEBEEj8/s1600/IMG_2735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eRjbD-f7ivmyTZZtpM1F2gjY2_rj6hyphenhyphenxTnce9CpW52cFWIm2kyn3hqxCDe7OfZrNJbP_R1_BelNl2RHWNPewL2nMfkEIHFEjKqbP7kz8E1c-w8Smb9G_KeH9kUF8UBtdWEfvlEBEEj8/s320/IMG_2735.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Best friends. :)</div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
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Please be praying:</div>
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- That the construction on the church is completed before our Christmas show.</div>
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- That everyone comes together to make our Christmas show amazing.</div>
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- That I continue to seek God in everything I do and put Him first in my life.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-61029854479271305772015-11-15T15:41:00.002-08:002015-11-15T15:49:14.168-08:00School Stories - Pinatas, Rainbows, and PoemsThis week, I decided to focus more on my third grade class since last week was all about fourth grade... Quite on accident, I assure you. Sometimes, one grade is just more interesting than the other. As crazy as things are already getting as I have to leave my kids to work on their own while I practice for Christmas with the older grades, we're still finding plenty of time to have fun and keep things interesting.<br />
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Here is the saga of the 3rd Grade piñata... Which I documented through the daily vlog I'm doing over on my YouTube channel.<br />
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First, you see my kids begging me to do a piñata because they apparently hate the Lion King... Who hates the Lion King? It's the best movie EVER!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kfKsp0YyFwc" width="420"></iframe><br />
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Then, when it came to actual piñata-making day, none of them had brought the balloons they were supposed to, so I sort of rant about that and describe the version of a piñata we did that I wasn't sure would actually turn out....<br />
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Then, I managed to use masking tape and pure magic (I guess) to keep it all together, and somehow we had an actual piñata that actually survived a few blows....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HlDKe8Qh8cxEn5KvFz7nyjRr1nQyLxfbHMBxbjxY-Q5R-_ZEMiVkfm8eYCMIgymZOsdQXdt1f8PR7k7nPIBxnfySfw3WtUczXoRHUkHYJ3VNQnjFxB_O8_gdkSCEiotJ-hrd-z0gcsY/s1600/IMG_2594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HlDKe8Qh8cxEn5KvFz7nyjRr1nQyLxfbHMBxbjxY-Q5R-_ZEMiVkfm8eYCMIgymZOsdQXdt1f8PR7k7nPIBxnfySfw3WtUczXoRHUkHYJ3VNQnjFxB_O8_gdkSCEiotJ-hrd-z0gcsY/s320/IMG_2594.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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They're all smiles (and rabbit ears) so they must be happy about how it turned out!</div>
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We're also doing a unit on poetry in third grade, so part of their homework involves them writing poems. Although I only require 4 lines, I sometimes get more, like this masterpiece about cooking, done as a shape poem (which we did in Spelling class).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRWiUQ8g8-le9U_RgQcMStxTeXihRF4vRFCThQc3VVt6H3NQBcce-mmZYnkxjXwhLU6obV6kWBotns9yMHB3tAymiwf_Xa75mHj2gUHxlq7GQImggws50lZy97LUOoHtfqdy7h4f46hU/s1600/IMG_2569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRWiUQ8g8-le9U_RgQcMStxTeXihRF4vRFCThQc3VVt6H3NQBcce-mmZYnkxjXwhLU6obV6kWBotns9yMHB3tAymiwf_Xa75mHj2gUHxlq7GQImggws50lZy97LUOoHtfqdy7h4f46hU/s320/IMG_2569.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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I am cooking<br />
If I don't cook I don't eat.<br />
My mom don't cook because<br />
she don't lik and my brother to<br />
is not in the house. I love<br />
cook because I can do pizza<br />
cake and spagety.<br />
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(by Angeles)<br />
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This picture I took from right outside my bedroom one morning. It was raining as I was getting ready, and then as I was rushing to go downstairs where my ride was waiting, I caught sight of this beauty and decided there was always time to take a picture of a rainbow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9c_MguWMH4D1AbCNLB1N-a5Aihu8XIvEVKOfQkeFdWSyfonpEdIUOHV5_QBK34q4R0zbgenaDztxL_T4FTsbhssTTCy90UtlN_iUaxELXFs6dUIk-HC8RMxxgQYUoqFu2Rb805ldnOQ/s1600/IMG_2578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9c_MguWMH4D1AbCNLB1N-a5Aihu8XIvEVKOfQkeFdWSyfonpEdIUOHV5_QBK34q4R0zbgenaDztxL_T4FTsbhssTTCy90UtlN_iUaxELXFs6dUIk-HC8RMxxgQYUoqFu2Rb805ldnOQ/s320/IMG_2578.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Sidenote, the easy access to other rooftops often makes me think of Aladdin....</div>
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My third graders have also been working hard on a science project in their own homes about the needs of plants. Unfortunately, I only got pictures of two of their finished projects which they brought to present to the class, but here they are:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdPfwV4NK6DmppBUBYR2BIN_5dXVhDcmJjC3s1oqH3gA200Yh7XCKy_vBKs8VAgMFutr7tqv6ueIG1Je4qM-V-9alcmciiWGdpBoKiPkZYvxXgqOpsBLrqpC6Kl5ED5O6nSsLRtGwlT0/s1600/IMG_2579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdPfwV4NK6DmppBUBYR2BIN_5dXVhDcmJjC3s1oqH3gA200Yh7XCKy_vBKs8VAgMFutr7tqv6ueIG1Je4qM-V-9alcmciiWGdpBoKiPkZYvxXgqOpsBLrqpC6Kl5ED5O6nSsLRtGwlT0/s320/IMG_2579.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Angeles bought two similarly-sized flowers and put one in a bag and didn't water it...</div>
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She determined that plants need sunlight and water.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrINnvHAltdc8P9NS54AZXwBDi5oDLahMFGZcZhrWI3_MvnhWOeUobQS_kNnN6jyUUpk0hicJGg3aI0j2fXNdz7x-yG3u9iNIwKzFG-AkNOqer7VLbtURxlABu1WxZlmNoTQdT-hbKLc/s1600/IMG_2601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrINnvHAltdc8P9NS54AZXwBDi5oDLahMFGZcZhrWI3_MvnhWOeUobQS_kNnN6jyUUpk0hicJGg3aI0j2fXNdz7x-yG3u9iNIwKzFG-AkNOqer7VLbtURxlABu1WxZlmNoTQdT-hbKLc/s320/IMG_2601.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Juan Jose chose to grow plants from seeds, one of which was placed in a plastic bag. This gave me a good opportunity to talk about how seeds hold nutrients so that plants grown from seeds don't actually need sunlight at the beginning. I further showed that with Jahir's project, which was basically the same as this one. But, his plant that had sunlight was bright green whereas the other was much more dull in color.</div>
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Last Monday, it was the director's birthday, so they had a surprise party here at the house. I decided to spend most of the afternoon painting my nails rather than doing any writing work, so here is the result of that.....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_1MpjankNKFm_fDockLgLL84MnMV_Wfdj5bEbSF7rC53LBLgXlAWpEBZx8e62DKQozEST_T-A-ga2YntoPTYJWD9C0zNxGcximFaobe673D757AlYSBBSQJUMNQwKT0aJenHromnLRU/s1600/IMG_2575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_1MpjankNKFm_fDockLgLL84MnMV_Wfdj5bEbSF7rC53LBLgXlAWpEBZx8e62DKQozEST_T-A-ga2YntoPTYJWD9C0zNxGcximFaobe673D757AlYSBBSQJUMNQwKT0aJenHromnLRU/s320/IMG_2575.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Yes. That's a feather on my ring finger.</div>
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No, it actually wasn't that hard to do.</div>
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That's it for this week. I'm expecting this next week to be just as exciting, because when you're working with kids, you just never know what's going to happen next!<br />
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Please be praying:</div>
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- That God continue to move in the hearts of the kids as we have daily worship and prayer times.</div>
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- That everything continue to come together smoothly for the Christmas show, which is in less than 4 weeks already!</div>
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- That I continue to seek God first in everything.</div>
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Also, quick praise report: Last week, I was suffering from some pretty intense lower back pain, but thanks to a chiropractor friend in my Bible study, I am now completely pain-free once again! :D</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-66372907204985075592015-11-08T16:00:00.001-08:002015-11-08T16:00:09.702-08:00School Stories - Science Project, Twins, and More!I meant to start updating this weekly, but totally forgot last Sunday, so here's two weeks worth of fun school stories, with pictures!<br />
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In science, we were learning about plant reproduction, so they were all asked to bring in two flowers so that in case some of them forgot, there would potentially be enough for everyone to do one.... One girl remembered and showed up with two roses... They're lucky I love them and wasn't actually giving points for it. So, it turned into a group project and competition (boys verses girls, of course) to find as many different parts of the flower as possible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ57VxkjwZMEbAMA2RDvzHEKHL5ROi6zMtG1r5IdTHv_kaVoD83rgS3nhyphenhyphenSPqt0oS1-ClzfJpSP2d9jG0PIcgNfvU70KxT4Oa1pFquX2Rw_-HN8ppo1avXDs09hehr0a3LVOOVwbGfne4/s1600/IMG_2454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ57VxkjwZMEbAMA2RDvzHEKHL5ROi6zMtG1r5IdTHv_kaVoD83rgS3nhyphenhyphenSPqt0oS1-ClzfJpSP2d9jG0PIcgNfvU70KxT4Oa1pFquX2Rw_-HN8ppo1avXDs09hehr0a3LVOOVwbGfne4/s320/IMG_2454.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Opening up the rose to prepare to tear it apart.....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftI4Nwa7onQq3lPF7-awWUGPzG7vEA2_7vqVXKVoFsl6hx87swOHFVqkd_oUxn8qXsXXZbEMT5rTb4HmBgOwue9Buxm9NOAkonty4JjEtMMa44R4_DdnR5MzgsZ6bxrKMX0Js3a1tDts/s1600/IMG_2456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftI4Nwa7onQq3lPF7-awWUGPzG7vEA2_7vqVXKVoFsl6hx87swOHFVqkd_oUxn8qXsXXZbEMT5rTb4HmBgOwue9Buxm9NOAkonty4JjEtMMa44R4_DdnR5MzgsZ6bxrKMX0Js3a1tDts/s320/IMG_2456.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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..... And the rose has been destroyed in the name of science.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcJWArycQxDX1hX7VD_0_W6wyDASvsbft6vmOkKrYmOPHlQYimlEfMJ1YMYTMvFV0ffFimOAT_Xlqi_7XCK_zHyNJdhbpNFjPM1AkAbRkQz6IUiJ25RkTfUEJ2AaKnJfwBA0D5PZUCak/s1600/IMG_2457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQcJWArycQxDX1hX7VD_0_W6wyDASvsbft6vmOkKrYmOPHlQYimlEfMJ1YMYTMvFV0ffFimOAT_Xlqi_7XCK_zHyNJdhbpNFjPM1AkAbRkQz6IUiJ25RkTfUEJ2AaKnJfwBA0D5PZUCak/s320/IMG_2457.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you couldn't figure it out, the girls' project is on the left and the boys' is on the right. :)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TTmo8Z-lUyCaqLhRWDGNMuI5eFsBxmt3OQyUG0upPiOiCcsvo-9XakWXINQyldAfAufUBHMS4P5asfCFsKYypflo5F0SbCFWLOx896jFrbtFTOnUU4N35YzfsL-Gb1fWbbxxPMoyu7I/s1600/IMG_2460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1TTmo8Z-lUyCaqLhRWDGNMuI5eFsBxmt3OQyUG0upPiOiCcsvo-9XakWXINQyldAfAufUBHMS4P5asfCFsKYypflo5F0SbCFWLOx896jFrbtFTOnUU4N35YzfsL-Gb1fWbbxxPMoyu7I/s320/IMG_2460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The boys technically one with more parts labeled......</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3EO2QKVSx3YHWf64bS3CtsZHxbu8sKh2lVjQgeXw1jTkEdikC0xE96cpE5yS4XGR5vEHuugcwJWsQNd8c5k9Xhbu807gcOLbJiWVQWs3w-8mDwhpaFHgr37Gxj-aJp02a2RJCZp1Uq8/s1600/IMG_2461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3EO2QKVSx3YHWf64bS3CtsZHxbu8sKh2lVjQgeXw1jTkEdikC0xE96cpE5yS4XGR5vEHuugcwJWsQNd8c5k9Xhbu807gcOLbJiWVQWs3w-8mDwhpaFHgr37Gxj-aJp02a2RJCZp1Uq8/s320/IMG_2461.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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But I also considered the girls winners for pure artistic work.</div>
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In reading class this past week, we were reading about weird jobs, including line waiters, egg smellers, chocolate engineers, and.... zombies. Since the beginning of the year, a couple of the kids have been stumbling across this picture randomly and insisting that it was my boyfriend, so at their request, I sent it to my actual boyfriend and said that it was my real boyfriend. He responded with a series of angry faces and guns, then said my boyfriend was disgusting.... And then a few hours later sent me a picture that said "I'm so glad I know you" so I'm pretty sure he was over it by then.... :D</div>
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Probably no reason for real jealousy here......</div>
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This precious young lady is Gissel. Her and I apparently are twins or at least psychically coordinate our accessories before coming to school...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWK3ni1AVoScUToUFS2d8k-jKHgeBssfGWssER2b5bKSgF-8I82AlNquVt4GuNTPi9v-o-4xbRMiOl_gbC92nae-ZPw_9UFyHZMLjpDlBBU5dmR0JQ-wWf8t_EgKFivckQ-d0jmoPfkw/s1600/IMG_2469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWK3ni1AVoScUToUFS2d8k-jKHgeBssfGWssER2b5bKSgF-8I82AlNquVt4GuNTPi9v-o-4xbRMiOl_gbC92nae-ZPw_9UFyHZMLjpDlBBU5dmR0JQ-wWf8t_EgKFivckQ-d0jmoPfkw/s320/IMG_2469.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Matching pink headbands....</div>
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.... and it's hard to see, but we're both sporting butterfly earrings.</div>
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(that's Kyle photobombing our twin selfie)</div>
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If I've learned anything teaching, it's that kids are crazy, and they have some pretty interesting thoughts on the way things work. This masterpiece was done by Dennisito. It's apparently me, accidentally pooping out a baby.... As much as I wish it were that easy right now, I can imagine a future me will wish it even more.....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXQSDc_TtdHyCoL0CwyYaXzInngmc50WzEHUT_cSSuVXX_m2k00cNhiy3SwvF0hj6KdcKi1BkWDmGMJJTGFcqsGXguF2Px01dcfbduleOEDKAxJw6gVKZEMIl_w-UOxi6Fqc9HYUpn4c/s1600/IMG_2535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXQSDc_TtdHyCoL0CwyYaXzInngmc50WzEHUT_cSSuVXX_m2k00cNhiy3SwvF0hj6KdcKi1BkWDmGMJJTGFcqsGXguF2Px01dcfbduleOEDKAxJw6gVKZEMIl_w-UOxi6Fqc9HYUpn4c/s320/IMG_2535.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Also, I'm a little concerned because it appears that the baby is going down the drain....</div>
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That's all I got for you this week. Hopefully I'll have some more fun stories and pictures for you next week.<br /><br /><br />Please be praying:</div>
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- That everything goes well with organizing, planning, and practicing the Christmas program.</div>
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- That the construction on the church continues to move forward so we can be in our bigger sanctuary very soon.</div>
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- That God continue to fill me with Him and everything that I need to pour out more of Him onto the kids.</div>
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- For the school, that everything works out with the math teacher position.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-59095413528133856672015-10-25T14:16:00.002-07:002015-10-25T14:16:39.952-07:00Back to School!Ok... Yes, it's nearing the end of October and actually we've just finished up the first semester so we're already 1/4 of the way through the school year.... But close enough, right?<br />
<br />
In my last "real" blog post, I talked about a really cool opportunity that I had to teach at a school in a poor area where I could really make a big impact. However, that opportunity fell through for several reasons that were not related to me. It was devastating at the time, though.<br />
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I spent a nice 6 weeks visiting family and friends in Michigan during the summer. I was also working during that time which sort of sucked, but I feel like I also would have gone crazy if I wasn't doing anything productive while I was there. It was mostly the online writing jobs that I normally do, so it was only a couple hours a day.<br />
<br />
Anyway... I also spent a lot of the summer just feeling like I was adrift and had no real direction or plan for what I was going to do upon my return to Honduras. I had several more opportunities with other ministry groups, but there was always something that just didn't allow it to work out, so I just met more and more disappointment... It was a little rough.<br />
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Finally, after much praying, I realized that God had me right where He wanted me, so I have returned to the same school, though I have been given different grade levels. I'm now teaching 3rd and 4th grade, which is a million times easier than the little ones. We've been having a lot of fun, and if you haven't seen some of the videos we've made, then you should check out my YouTube channel...<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/brideofchrist728">https://www.youtube.com/user/brideofchrist728</a><br />
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Right now I'm doing daily vlogs throughout October, so that's been fun. I may continue through November, but we'll see. I'm also planning the whole Christmas production for the school, so there's a lot that I have to do for that... Including choreographing a LOT of songs.... Which is my fault for picking songs that aren't super popular, but I'm trying to get a point across and need songs that go with the skit, so.... I've already choreographed 5 or so, but need another 3 or 4...<br /><br />So, that's pretty much what's going on with me right now. I am going to be updating my blog on a weekly basis with weekly highlights. The posts will be shorter and will hopefully have more pictures in them, but I want to get better about keeping people updated on my life here in Honduras.<br />
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Please be praying:<br />
- For preparations for the Christmas show to go well.<br />
- For a member of the church/school staff who just lost his son.<br />
- For missionary friends that are moving back to the States after 9 years of serving in Honduras.<br />
- For my relationship with my boyfriend to be honoring to God and continuing to grow.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-36700275420220676472015-06-04T13:27:00.001-07:002015-06-04T13:27:29.820-07:00I'm Officially Honduran Now!Well, it's official. I am a Resident of Honduras! My paperwork finally went through after months of waiting, and I went to Immigration on Tuesday where I paid the final fee, handed over my paperwork, got fingerprinted, and then was handed my official paper that says that I am a Honduran Resident. Eventually I'll get an actual ID card that I can more easily carry with me, but in the meantime, this paper means that I don't have to leave the country every 90 days and that I don't need to have a "return" ticket when flying out from the United States.<br />
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It makes me feel like an official Honduran.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyntAYJR34lCG3K5lnb-T1OyaNHEcHKcQMyIs5hxWNLXN1bU_vllThGJMOkB-zAn5HAk3oGO_Uhvh2lWIy_nfICpSxSn7clELle1Jz_8NBda1vEVIGb8dQqR8-zLBEQWojCQiWWEW0d5E/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyntAYJR34lCG3K5lnb-T1OyaNHEcHKcQMyIs5hxWNLXN1bU_vllThGJMOkB-zAn5HAk3oGO_Uhvh2lWIy_nfICpSxSn7clELle1Jz_8NBda1vEVIGb8dQqR8-zLBEQWojCQiWWEW0d5E/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-74009978292249346112015-05-25T17:28:00.000-07:002015-05-26T06:05:18.353-07:00The Door is Open...<span style="font-family: inherit;">The door is open, but whether or not I will be able to walk through it is still up in the air.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I currently have an opportunity to work at a different school that is in the works by a missionary friend of mine. They have a sponsorship program in a poor community where they get kids into schools that wouldn't otherwise have a chance to go. They now have so many kids enrolled in the public schools that the schools are refusing to take more of these sponsored kids, so they have decided to open their own school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When they approached me about it, I had already been seriously considering a move to another amazing ministry far outside of the city. There, I would be primarily in charge of the animals and help create a sustainability program with the local community, and would also be able to help with the trade school where women make jewelry among other things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I visited them over Easter break and LOVED it because it was a lot of working with my hands and the animals and great people, but something just didn't quite feel right about it. I honestly can't explain it, but I just didn't have an absolute peace about going there. But I was still thinking about it and wrestling with my decision when J offered me a teaching position at their school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course I then spent several weeks going back and forth and not being completely sure about either, and frequently joked about just tossing a coin to decide. As it would turn out, there were a couple of seemingly minor events that confirmed my direction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One night, I did actually pull out a coin and flipped it. While it was in the air, I knew I wanted it to land on the school, on staying here in San Pedro Sula and working with the kids that I love, the ones that don't have another chance to go to school, the ones that I've already been working with on the street.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There's a large Coca Cola sign on the side of the mountain that can be seen from a number of places around San Pedro, and there's also a trail that goes up the mountain so that you can go behind the sign. My roomie and I conquered said mountain trail one Saturday morning and as I took in the breath-taking view of the city beneath me, the thought that bubbled up along with a strong sense of belonging was: "This is my city."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I've never considered myself a city girl, despite the fact that I spent the majority of my life in the suburbs of Detroit, but there's something about this city that just makes it feel like my city. My heart is here. I don't know how this big city stole my heart, and I certainly don't know when, but somewhere along the way, it happened.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And so... If all goes well with the paperwork process involved in starting a school here, I will be taking a teaching position starting in February. The school year here goes from February to November, although a lot of bilingual schools are on the American schedule of September to June.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's the catch: I will be teaching Spanish reading and writing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is slightly terrifying. In a <a href="http://melodysjoy.blogspot.com/2015/03/corner-school.html">recent blog post</a>, I talk about Corner School, where I have been teaching the street kids Spanish reading and writing. So, I know it's something I can do, but on the street corner with 2 - 3 kids that have no expectations and are not going to be tested on anything is a heck of a lot different from being in a class of 10+ kids that do have to learn everything and will be tested on it. And it's something I will be getting paid for and have to prepare for and all that jazz.<br /><br />So, after I head up to Michigan to visit family and friends for the summer, I will be returning in August to begin one-on-one Spanish tutoring. My original plan was to attend a Spanish school, but after much asking around, I found a friend who is a great Spanish tutor (she's tutored several missionary friends of mine who all recommend her) who's going to charge me less than half that I would pay in an actual school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, since I won't be getting paid (except in online work if I can keep getting it) during that time, I'm looking for donations and any assistance that I can. Here is a breakdown of my anticipated expenses during that time. I don't yet know where I'll be living, so that is estimated, but here is my budget during that time:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Tutoring - $6.50/hour for 10 hours/week - $65/week - $260/month</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Housing/Utilities - $150/month</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Food/Etc. - $100/month</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Misc. - $100/month</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Total: $610/month</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.8500003814697px; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">For 3 months: $1830</span></span><br />
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If you are interested in helping, here are some ways that you can help:<br />
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Donate directly to me though PayPal: bride_of_christ728@yahoo.com<br />
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Donate through my GoFundMe campaign: <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/melodyjoyfunds">www.gofundme.com/melodyjoyfunds</a><br />
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Buy some of the jewelry I have for sale: <a href="http://melodyjoyfundraising.blogspot.com/">melodyjoyfundraising.blogspot.com/</a><br />
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Hire me over the summer!<br />
- Babysitting<br />
- Painting<br />
- Yard work / Gardening<br />
- House Sitting / Pet Watching (possibly my house with pets)<br />
- Summer tutoring<br />
- Spanish lessons<br />
- House / Garage cleaning (I'll even haul away the junk you don't want.)<br />
- Pretty much anything else you could possibly need help with!<br />
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More than anything, though, please continue to pray for me as I step out in faith every day and try to follow God's plan for my life. Pray for the legal process involved in starting the school, that they would have favor and that everything would fall into place. Pray for me as I transition to being back in the States for longer than I've been in over a year and for transition back to Honduras after that. Pray for every student that God has already planned on placing in the school that they would get sponsors and be able to come and learn and be loved.<br />
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Thanks!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-32886416648798619932015-04-23T13:49:00.003-07:002015-04-23T13:49:54.775-07:00ESL Stories - Part 2This is the second installment of some cute and funny ESL stories that I have gathered from school. Kids are funny to begin with, so when you throw in a language barrier, things get hilarious. It can be frustrating at times, of course, but the moments of frustrations are far outweighed by the moments of joy and hilarity.<br />
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<a href="http://melodysjoy.blogspot.com/2014/12/esl-stories.html">Click here to read my first installment of ESL stories!</a><br />
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First, a quote from me: "Ok... No more dance. It's exam time."<br />
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For some reason, one of my first graders simultaneously got stuck on "2005" and Beethoven's 5th symphony (the one played in the movie about the dog with the same name for those who are not overly familiar with classical music). This resulted in her singing "two-thousand-five" repeatedly to the tune of Beethoven's 5th. Still not sure why that was happening, but eventually one of the other students picked up on my mild annoyance at it and decided to tell her to stop by using the same tune to sing "no-thousand-no...."<br />
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In Kindergarten, things can get very weird very quickly as a result of their limited English combined with their endless desires to amuse and entertain and be the centers of attention. One day, I was asking what something was called. I'm no longer sure what I was referencing, but it had nothing to do with the Lord, sheep, or green pastures. However, one of the girls responded by quoting the Psalm they're memorizing: "The Lord is my shepherd... Even though I walk through the valley...."<br />
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In first grade, we do journal entries almost every day. It gives them a chance to do something a little different and we can talk about whatever I want rather than having to stick just with the book lessons. During the month of February, we made a paper chain that contained words on it that had to do with love, pulling mainly from <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13">I Corinthians 13</a>. One of the words therefore was "believe." So as we made a list together of things we believe in, one of the girls started singing: "I believe I can fly."<br /><br />In Kindergarten, we were working on learning future tenses of verbs, and despite the similarity between English "future" and Spanish "futuro" they were having a hard time remembering what future was. So it happened that one day in class I asked, "What is future?" to which one student replied, "Octopus." After rejecting her answer, another student thought for a moment and replied, "Future is Wednesday."<br /><br />During chapel on Fridays, we sing a variety of songs, one of which is called "Jesus is my Superhero." The chorus consists of singing "Yeah.... yeah... yeah... yeah...." then declaring that Jesus is better than [fill in name of superhero]. One day in first grade I asked a student if she had a pencil and rather than simply answering yes, she answered by singing, "Yeah.... yeah.... yeah... yeah..." complete with hand motions.<br /><br />I have a personal rule about laughing at students. I simply do not do it, no matter how poorly or badly they mispronounce words. The last thing I want is for them to think that I'm laughing at them and I know how it feels to be laughed at for bad Spanish. However, I broke that rule a while ago because I was completely caught off-guard by the word that was mispronounced and because of the way it was spoken. In Kindergarten's vocabulary class, they had the phrase "put on your clothes" as part of the lesson on what your day looks like. We hadn't studied it much in class, but they had been given flashcards with the words on them to study at home, so I hoped that at least a couple of them might know the cards when I pulled them out in class. One boy did... sort of. When I showed him the card and asked him what it was, he got excited because he knew it from studying with his mom (who doesn't speak any English) and loudly proclaimed, "Put on your CRAP!" I lost it, regained my composure to correct him on it and get the kids to say it correctly several times, and we moved on. As we went through the cards a second time, it came up for the girl sitting next to him. She couldn't remember it, so he helpfully whispered it in her ear. Like him, she loudly proclaimed it to be "Put on your CRAP!" Again, I lost it. That time I also tried to explain that it was a bad word to discourage them from making a habit out of it, but I'm not sure they caught that. At any rate, I was able to correct them on it, and no longer had them say it unless I read it first to them.<br />
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Hope you enjoyed them! Thanks for reading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-26159617696776631342015-03-30T12:06:00.002-07:002015-03-30T12:06:15.177-07:00Corner SchoolIt's been a while since I've updated as per usual. A lot has been happening since then which has kept me busy. Teaching remains as busy as usual, and I've added a couple of personal blogs that keep me busy in my off time, PLUS my roomie and I started up a little ministry which we call "Corner School."
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Corner School happens at the intersection by the mall where a bunch of street kids (and a few homeless guys) hang out. It happened one day that on our way out of the mall, we decided to buy baleadas (my favorite Honduran food) for the handful that were out that day, and while we waited for the women to make them so we could pay, we discussed what we could do for these kids to sort of make them work for their food.
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So, I asked them if they went to school. One of them was in school, another had gone to school through 3rd grade, and the other two were not in school. We asked if they wanted use to teach them since we were teachers. The one who had gone through 3rd grade asked in English or Spanish and I said whatever they wanted. He was eager to learn English, so we agreed to teach them starting soon.
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A couple weeks went by before we were able to actually get started, and the day before we planned on starting was a Sunday. We were walking to meet a friend at Denny's when we found about 10 of the boys hanging around the corner. They gathered around us at the urging of one of the older boys and I made the announcement that we would be teaching English and Spanish starting the following day at 4pm.
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And so it began.
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We now go Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 4pm. We have 15 notebooks that we carry to and from the mall each day, but rarely have more than 6 to 8 kids show up. Most of them work in Spanish with me, and a few of them work with English with Dana. She now has a guy our age who sells fruits in the streets who wants to learn English that she works with.
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I don't know how much of a difference it's going to make in the long run, and I don't know if these kids will ever be able to read or write fluently since many of them don't come consistently, but I know that some of them are starting to learn and they are eager to learn and work hard when they do come. But what is more important than teaching them to read and write is the time that we're investing in them that will hopefully show them God's love.
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One day, my star student Walter got hit in the side by an older boy as we arrived. I didn't really see it happen, but I did see Walter sitting on the ground, crying and upset. Knowing that the other boys would do nothing to comfort him, I went over and sat beside him. I put my arm around him, asked him what happened, and gently rubbed his head and back as he vented about what the other boy had done to him. Since the boys don't really have supervision and there's not really anything I can do about it, there was nothing much I could say, but I was able to comfort him.
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The thing is, even if years from now none of them remember me, I will remember them. Even if I don't end up doing anything for them, they did something for me, probably more than they'll ever know, and probably more than I'll even realize.
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<br />
You see, my Spanish sucked up until a couple months ago. Sure, I understood a lot and could even order food for myself, but when it came to having an actual full conversation in Spanish, it just didn't happen. I have some social phobias, and because I knew my Spanish wasn't the best, I tended to get super fearful when it came time to talk in Spanish and whatever Spanish I did have suddenly disappeared and I couldn't come up with any words and just felt more embarrassed.
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<br />
So, I never really spoke in Spanish which meant it never got any better which meant I still got nervous when I had to speak it. I had also been teased about it by a guy, which made me feel even more incompetent... But because I was in a teaching environment in which I was comfortable and talking with kids that weren't judging me on my Spanish or making me feel bad about it, something clicked. It was like all the Spanish that was locked up inside me had become unlocked and I began to speak it more freely and without fear.
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<br />
One day in particular stood out to me. It was the only day (so far) that I've gone to Corner School by myself, but my roomie had a massive migraine and I wasn't going to let the kids down. That day, a young woman approached me and asked me about what I was doing with the kids. I told her and invited her to join us anytime, but she worked until past the time we usually started. Another woman stopped in her car and asked about what I was doing, and I sent my phone number to her (via one of the kids).
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<br />
Then, on the way home, a guy who had seen me on the corner was coming out of his business and asked me about what I was doing with the kids. We ended up talking for nearly 5 minutes about it, and I only tripped over my words a couple of times, but just kept going. I exchanged names with him, became Facebook friends, and started hanging out with him.... He's now my boyfriend. He speaks virtually no English.
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<br />
No no matter where I go or who I'm talking to, my Spanish just flows more freely and I don't worry that much when I don't have the words right because it doesn't matter as much. Sometimes I stumble and fall in my words, but I just keep getting up and plugging along. I definitely have those kids to thank, who were willing to open up to me to allow me to teach them. I hope that I can continue working with them and maybe someday I can repay them for what they've done for me.
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Please be praying for me in these ways:
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- I have a HUGE decision coming up as to where I might be doing ministry next fall. Please pray that I make the right decision based on what God would have me do, not based on what I want to do.
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- Pray that my new relationship continues to bring glory to God and that we continue to seek God's will in our lives.
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- Pray for the kids that come to Corner School, that they would recognize that we're there because they love them and that we love them because God loves them.
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- Pray for the older guys we've met at the corner who want to get clean but don't know how (I am talking with a friend about getting them to a rehab center).
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- Pray for the kids at Eagle's that they would continue to work hard in the final semester and that God would continue to give me the patience I need to get through the rough days.
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- Pray for traveling mercies as I am currently in Costa Rica renewing my visa and will be traveling back to Honduras tomorrow.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-19545289351559463552015-01-27T13:52:00.001-08:002015-01-27T13:52:59.004-08:00Moving In and The Great Fridge AdventureFrom the time I was born until I moved out of my parents' house at the age of 21, I lived in 3 different houses, 2 of which were before I was 1 year old. So, I really didn't have any experience with moving until I moved out of my parents' house. Since moving down here just over a year ago, I have no lived in 3 different houses and just finished a brief stint staying with the pastor's family.<br />
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Moving in to this new place has been quite the adventure, much more than I had anticipated. First of all, the apartment has been vacant for several years, so it had become a storage space for the owners of the house, who are the pastor's parents. Here's how my week has been going...<br />
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On Tuesday, we went over to the new apartment and helped a couple of guys from the church/school move several many boxes of books and bags of clothes into other storage spaces. Then, we picked up my bed from my previous residence along with a couple random bags I had there. We were supposed to grab our suitcases from the pastor's house and stay at the new apartment that night, but it was after 5pm that night, and I was able to reason that we had no fridge or food and would still have to sweep and clean... And so we were able to stay another night with the pastor's family.<br />
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On Wednesday, we packed up our suitcases and headed off to school. While there, Hermano R moved all of our stuff to the new apartment. Thank God for him. After school, the director took us on a couple errands she had to run, and then to the supermarket where we were able to get much-needed sustenance. Then, we got back to the new apartment and went to work.<br />
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I began by cleaning out the fridge, since there was so much ice built-up you couldn't even use the small freezer compartment. In the process, I stabbed a small hole in the metal freezer compartment, but didn't think anything of it, even though there was a hissing sound and air escaping.... I was really just more focused on the ice and don't know much about how mini fridges work.... But more on that later.<br />
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My roomie was able to cook us dinner in the meantime, and sweep out the bedroom. So, we moved our beds in first. Then, I arranged a few of the things that were left behind so that they weren't in the way, and decided to take off the loud, not-well-attached, and slightly-in-the-way closet doors. The ceilings in the bedroom are high so there was plenty of space on top of the closet to store them.<br />
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Then, it was go time. While my original plan was just to clean the bedroom, get stuff that Hermano R left outside inside the house, and call it a night, I started realizing how much needed to be done and how much I didn't want to spend the next week or so slowly getting the house put together. So, I started working, unpacking boxes, hanging the shower curtain, cleaning kitchen cupboards, and taking down the shelves above the kitchen sink.<br />
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Here's the thing about this apartment. The bedroom is nice and big. We were able to quite easily divide the room into two parts and each have plenty of space for our things. The bathroom is cramped and the sink is pretty much in your lap when you're on the toilet, but I'm not planning on spending too much time in there, so I'm not worried about it. The living room is small, and it's hard to quantify it right now since there are still boxes in there, but I suspect the kitchen table will still fit comfortably in there if we are able to get the couch in.<br />
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Then there's the kitchen.... The kitchen is tiny. It's in the walkway as you come in, and I just have a feeling that whoever designed this house has never actually cooked anything ever. There's a sink with a small amount of counter space on either side, and the other side is where our mini fridge is along with food shelves which will hopefully also fit all our pots and pans and dishes and such. Above the sink side were three shelves, the two above the counters at about eye level and the one above the sink a little higher.<br />
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My roomie had already put a couple loafs of bread on one and two cartons of eggs on another. But, as I went around cleaning and organizing the whole house, I decided to take one shelf off so we could actually access the counter space without there being a shelf in our faces. The shelf wobbled as I took the bread down, and I soon discovered that the wire shelf was attached to the metal brackets with bent over (but not twisted together) twist ties and that several of the metal brackets were screwed into rolls of paper that had been used in place of plastic anchors, so they came off with a little bit of effort.<br />
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So, part of the housing renovations involved pulling all the shelves off of the wall. Now there are a dozen holes in the wall, but there's an ACE Hardware in the mall that's within walking distance, so there will be spackling and painting happening soon.<br />
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On Thursday morning, I opened the fridge in the morning and found it still warm.... I had broken it. As far as I can tell through what happened and through talking about it to someone else, I had caused all the gas to leak out of it. So, I pulled out my soldering iron once again, the same one I had started using to melt the ice after I stabbed a hole in it with my knife. I managed to solder over the hole so that when I turned it on, there was no longer a hissing sound of escaping gas.<br />
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I was feeling super handy and maybe like I had saved the day, but when we got home after school, the fridge was still warm. So, even if I did effectively fix the hole, it didn't actually matter because there's no gas left to cool anything anymore. Live and learn, right? But we were out of luck, because we still didn't have a fridge. The good news was I had an awesome excuse to cook and eat the entire package of bacon I had bought.<br />
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On Friday, we told the director about our predicament, but the pastor wasn't coming home until late that evening, so she promised he could take us the following day. We had already tossed most of the refrigerated foods at that point, so one more day wouldn't really matter.<br />
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On Saturday, we went to the discipleship program through the church, and then to the used appliance shop afterwards, which is actually where I got my first fridge. They were closed, since they're only open until 1pm on Saturdays and it was nearly 5pm by then. So, we opted to go to a discount new store to see what they had. I insisted on not paying more than $300 for a new fridge, primarily because that's all the cash I had saved up at that point. The plan was to get a new mattress or maybe a TV, but fridge takes priority.<br />
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As soon as we walked in, a small fridge caught my eye, and I fell in love with it. As I got closer, I found the price to be just under $300. Just to be certain, I made a quick tour of the other fridges in the store, but only one other one was cheaper, and it was an off-white mini fridge. It took less than 5 minutes to confirm my decision on the pretty little white one that I first laid eyes on. The pastor, ever the diplomat, talked them into giving us a missionary discount, so the total ended up being about $270. Since my roomie chipped in 1/3 of the price (she won't be here after June, so it was unfair to ask her to pay for half of a fridge she's only going to use for 5 months), it was a sweet deal.<br />
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The guys from the store wrapped it up, wheeled it out, and refused to put it in the car because I guess you can't put a fridge on its side because of the gases and such. So, we had purchased a fridge, but couldn't bring it home quite yet. The pastor planned on asking someone at the church the next day who had a truck.<br />
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On Sunday, we went to church, and then the pastor did ask the guy after church. However, he had a cap covering the bed of the truck and seemed hesitant to take it off for whatever reason. As the pastor and he discussed it, another woman spoke up and offered the use of their truck, which they hadn't driven to church, but did have. They also have kids that go to the school, so the plan was the following day after school. I mean, we'd gone this long without a fridge....<br />
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On Monday, the couple along with a couple guys from the school went and moved the new fridge to our house near the end of the day. So, we got to come home to our new fridge, all wrapped up in plastic. We pulled all the plastic off and it felt like Christmas Day. We still had to wait to plug it in for whatever reason, so that night before bed, I plugged it in after making a solemn promise to not stab a hole in it, filling the ice cube tray with water to test it's functionality.<br />
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You would think that that would be the end of the story, right? That the fridge worked and we all lived happily ever after? I wish it ended there.<br />
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On Tuesday, I went to check the fridge and found the ice cube tray filled with slightly cool water and it was decidedly not cold. The problem was the electrical outlet. I should have known better since the electric burner that is our stove didn't work well in that outlet, and neither did the soldering iron for that matter, but I thought I would give it a shot, primarily because the location is absolutely ideal and there are really no other nearby outlets.<br />
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So, before school, my roomie and I moved the fridge into the living room, pushing the table to the side and moving the chairs to the other side of the room. We plugged it into the outlet there and were pleased to find that it made a lot more noise there than it had in the kitchen, and were hopeful that it would actually work there.<br />
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Well, we got home from school and I was certain that we couldn't possibly have any more bad luck with fridges.... AND I WAS RIGHT!!!!!! There was a breeze of cold air upon opening the fridge, and inside the freezer compartment was one tray of completely solid ice cubes. I have never in my life been so excited about ice cubes. I may have jumped up and down and hugged the fridge several times.... Ok. I totally did that.<br />
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It's now Tuesday afternoon, and although the fridge is currently located in a slightly awkward location in the living room, it's working. And I'm so thankful for the way it did all work out, even though it was one issue after the next. But as I remember the whole story, I also remember how many people came together to get this fridge: the director and the pastor, the couple from the church/school, the guys from the school, and the couple we're living with, who brought us 1 - 2 meals every day since they knew we were without refrigeration.<br />
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I'm feeling super blessed, and all for a fridge, something most people take for granted.<br />
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One of the hidden benefits of having a roommate is that they will make you a sign to hold up when you do stupid things so the world can laugh <strike>at</strike> with you....</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-35564613263390794832015-01-15T07:28:00.000-08:002015-01-15T07:28:41.676-08:00TransitionsThings have been pretty crazy over the last month or so...<br />
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It started near the beginning of December as we began preparing for our school's Christmas program. It meant spending a lot of class time practicing and occasionally having one of the other teachers come and pull my kids out of class to practice... Which threw my whole planned schedule off, but I managed.<br />
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During the last two weeks leading up to the performance, things had started settling into a routine, and I would go help manage the kids during their practices for a couple hours in between their two recesses. Somehow, I still managed to get all their classwork in, though it took some effort.<br />
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The Christmas show went well. I filmed it all by setting up my camera on a tripod near the back of the room, so although there are occasional parents standing in the way (and a minute or so where there's actually a head blocking 1/3 of the screen), it actually turned out pretty well. I'm hoping to get in soon to edit it and put each song up on YouTube separately... They should be up by next Christmas.... ;)<br />
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So, the weekend after our Christmas show, I spent packing up the entirety of my belongings here in Honduras. The room I was staying in was just barely big enough for me (if you consider having to share my bed with my clothes normal), so when a friend made plans to move down to teach with me, the school decided to move me so we could live together in a larger space.<br />
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I hate packing. With the passion of a thousand burning suns. So having to literally pack everything knowing that I didn't actually know when I would be unpacking it was torture.<br />
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Here's the thing... They were planning on putting us at the director's mom's house. But, there were only 3 apartment rooms there. Two were occupied by young men who have less-than-ideal reputations, and the third is kept open for visiting family members.... So they were going to add another room to the house... And we were going to stay with the pastor's family in the meantime.<br />
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As of right now, the room hasn't even been started yet (to my knowledge), either because they're running on Honduran time or because they found a different home for us with the pastor's parents, which is bigger and already exists, which therefore makes it better.<br />
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But.... his parents are in Texas visiting family right now, so we we haven't been able to move in quite yet.... They're supposed to be coming back tomorrow, so hopefully this weekend we can move in to our permanent home. Yay!<br />
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It's been kind of hard simply because most of my stuff (including most of my clothes) are still at my old place. And there are random other things that I want to do or think about doing but realize that I can't because it's in a box.... At another house.... So I can't get to it. I mean, we do have exams this week, so I have been keeping busy planning exams, checking exams, and planning classes for next semester, but it's still frustrating to realize that you can't transfer all those video files onto your external hard drive because it's.... In a box.... At another house....<br />
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I have been realizing lately that although I do ok when I'm in transition and am fairly flexible in that I can be content wherever I am, it is really important to me to have a place that I call my own, even if I know it's temporary. The last place I stayed felt like mine as soon as I stepped inside, and even though there were a lot of things I didn't like about it (cold showers, no sinks, one electrical outlet...), it felt like my own little corner of the world where I was free to do whatever I wanted, so I loved it. And although I love all the conveniences of living with the pastor's family (delicious free food, hot showers, reliable wifi....), I'm excited to get into "my" house, about which I'll get to create a new list of likes and dislikes, but I can call it mine.<br />
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Also, I went to Michigan for Christmas and it was pretty okay....<br />
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Just kidding. It was AWESOME. I was only there for a little over a week, but I was able to see a TON of my favorite family members and friends.... I was going to make a list of some of the things I did while in Michigan, but I realized I pretty much only saw family and friends.... Which is way better than just doing things.... But I did do some shopping, a lot of eating, a couple puzzles, a game of bowling, a bit of churching, a little gaming, plenty of singing, and a lot of eating.... Yes. That was twice on purpose, because I really feel like all I did was eat while I was there.... I'm pretty sure I gained like 5 pounds that week.... I have no regrets.<br />
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It was weird to me because the last two times I visited my family, I really wasn't thrilled about going, primarily because I was missing school and didn't like that part of it. But this time, after the stress of so many Christmas show practices in which I was responsible for supervising all 50+ kids while doing choreography.... I was ready for a break. Even that was a weird transition for me, to be in Michigan and then back to Honduras so quickly. It was definitely a part of this whole last month feeling like a transition, and it's not over yet since I'm moving in a few days...<br />
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While I was in Michigan, I realized something important: No matter where I am, I will still be me, which means I will have the same issues to deal with. And at the same time, God will still be with me to help me through them.<br />
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Something I've been asking myself lately is this: Do external factors affect our internal states more or less than our internal state affects our external factors? Should they? I really don't know the answer to this, but it's something I've been thinking about.<br />
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Anyway.... Congratulations if you're still reading this, as I've sort of been rabbit trailing and may have lost sight of the original idea of the post at this point.... Please be praying for me as I move toward the end of this time of transition, that I keep relying on God to get me through, and that I remain strong in Him. And please be praying for ministry opportunities for me, that I can pursue a ministry that's even closer to my heart than teaching.<br />
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Thank you, and God bless!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18058057312080510720noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-88966434898096520402014-12-16T10:41:00.001-08:002014-12-16T10:41:38.414-08:00ESL StoriesAs promised, I'm going to begin to share quick stories and funny things that happen during class. I jot them down as they happen so I don't forget. I tend to think that I'm going to remember something, only to try to think of it later, and only remember that it was something funny.... So here are a few anecdotes from the last couple of weeks....<br />
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I'm going through the Christmas story one character or element at a time with First Grade (today we talked just about the angels and their involvement). The other day we were talking about sheep. So I asked: "What do sheep have to do with the Christmas story?" One girl answered something about dancing, to which another replied, "No! Sheep can't dance. They don't have hands."<br />
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During a rainy lunch/recess time, Preparatoria (Kindergarten) was eating in the class and playing a guessing/I-spy type of game, asking "What's red and a circle?" and answering "A ball." They mostly used pictures or objects that they could see around the class, which made it easy for me to guess because I just had to look where they were looking.... So at some point one of my class clowns looks directly at me and asks, "Who has a mouth and glasses?"<br />
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With Christmas coming up, we're doing a lot of practicing of Christmas songs and dances. One of the boys excitedly exclaims to me in class, "Miss! Ya entiendo que es Merry Christmas! Es la cumpleanos de la escuela!!" (I understand what is Merry Christmas! It's the birthday of the school!) He went on to explain his reasoning being that one of the songs contained the phrase "Happy Birthday." I'm not sure which song he's referring to, but I did manage to explain to him that it is the birthday of Jesus we celebrate.... not the school.<br />
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Sometimes kids and their language skills just make me laugh. I had one of my First graders come up and ask me all in Spanish: "Can I tell you something? But can I tell you in Spanish because I don't know how to say it in English?" I ignored the fact that she had just asked me all of that in Spanish and let her continue.... I didn't entirely follow her story, but it was something about Santa.<br /><br />In both grades, we've been talking about bees. In First Grade, we read a story last week all about Honey Bees. I would ask at each page the jobs of the different types of bees that the story discusses. We get to the drones, the only male bees in the colony. In the book, it says "The drones help the queen." So I ask the girls, "What do the drones do?" Their answer? "The queen."<br />
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In Preparatoria, we're reading a story about flowers, so I took some time to explain nectar, pollen, and bees. Not sure if they got it, but they got some of it... So then I explained the difference between bees and wasps. I drew a bee with honey and a wasp with an arm showing a stinger and a sad face... I asked what bees make, and the answer was a resounding, "Honey." Then, as I worked on the drawing of the arm, I asked what wasps make. One girl hesitantly responded, "Sandwich?"<br />
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More to come soon!Melody Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14540044849033938518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3836918663384030950.post-29880000297458780052014-12-12T13:12:00.000-08:002014-12-12T13:12:30.639-08:00Quitting TimeSometimes, it's just time to quit, so that's what I'm doing... Not my job..... Facebook. I'm quitting Facebook.<br />
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Last night, I was still up at 10pm, and instead of either reading my Bible or just going straight to bed to get a "full" 7 hours of sleep at that point, I signed on to Facebook.... I used the excuse that I was chatting with someone to keep scrolling aimlessly through my feed, reading, liking, and commenting on things I didn't necessarily care about and could have done without knowing.<br />
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When I finally got off at 12:30, I had an epiphany, and finally admitted to myself that I was addicted to Facebook among other things. After doing some journaling, praying, and declaring myself free of these things, I decided to quit Facebook.... I felt the same sense of overwhelming relief and freedom that I've felt on several occasions when I made decisions to get out of unhealthy relationships.<br />
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So, today, I made my last post (a birthday greeting to my brother, although now that I think about it, THIS will be my last post, but this feels more like the shutting of the door), will soon be updating my cover picture to direct people here, and then it will be time to close that tab for the last time. I am asking my cousin to change the password so I can't get back in, but people can still get in contact with me if necessary.<br />
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The good news is that this will give me more time to pursue real relationships with people rather than searching for personal connections in a long list of posts. I'll also have more time to devote to the ministry I'm doing here and the work I do from home. It will provide me with more time to sleep and get into the Word.<br />
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While this one victory over this one addiction tastes sweet already, I know I still have a long way to go, but am grateful to know that God is still willing to work on me, and that He hasn't given up on me, and that He isn't finished with me yet! Defeating this one addiction will help me get the strength to continue breaking the others, one by one if necessary.<br />
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The other good news is that I will be updating my blog more often since I don't have a better way of keeping the "general public" informed of all my happenings. :) Please feel free to check out my Facebook page to get my contact information. If you don't know me and desperately need to get in contact with me for some reason.......... Leave a comment? That will work.Melody Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14540044849033938518noreply@blogger.com0