Totally Revamped!!

Since its a new year I decided to clean up my blog and start somewhat fresh. However, for those of you checking out my blog for the first time, I'll quickly summarize my past blogs. Around May of 2005, after much thought and prayer, I made the decision to sell most of my possessions, pack up my Bible and other books, clothes, and, of course, my Pampered Chef cookware and move to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. My objective was to minister to the children and families here by becoming the new third grade teacher at a Christian bilingual school called New Generation. It was the hardest year of my life thus far but thank God for that because it is in our difficult times and trials that we are stretched and grown and boy did I do a lot of stretching and groaning (just a funny little play on words there - did you catch that?) Anyway, groaning aside, this place and these children had a big enough hold on my heart to make me want to come back for another year and so here I am again...back in Honduras.

I have a whole set of new, beautiful faces in the seats where my little ones from last year sat and they are so different but just as wonderful as my babies last year. My new kids are so smart, some of them could probably teach the class for me! Diana has better handwriting than I do and knows the answer to every question I ask. Clarissa so wants to do things correctly she works on her homework for hours checking and rechecking over and over again. Guillermo is so careful to make sure that he follows all the rules and gets so upset when he makes even the tiniest mistake. Ramon makes me laugh almost every day with his funny and creative journal entries. And Daniel reads better and comprehends more than anyone in the class but he has no idea how smart he is...yet! It's going to be a really great year but I have to admit I'm already worn out. The first few weeks are tough because the kids are getting used to English again. They also need to learn the rules so we have to be patient and flexible but yet firm so that the rest of the year isn't so exhausting. Our incredible, new director has also worn me out. She is so smart, organized, and full of experience and she has already made this year ten times better than before. She came with a lot of extra work for the teachers though, which I'm sure will be incredibly useful throughout the year but right now it just feels like a lot of work. Thank God we have a few days off to celebrate Honduras' Independence. It gives me a chance to get things done.

OK - funny story time - The week before classes started I decided to paint my bookshelves. I was told that I needed to use the paint gun for my metal bookshelf, which I did not know how to use, so I had Eduardo our janitor teach me. Eduardo solicited the help of George and Dennis (two other teachers here) to help him translate something for me that I could not understand. They couldn't figure out how to say a word in English, so they said pantalones, which means pants. I then deduced that Eduardo wanted me to put other pants on for painting. So I changed my clothes and came back but apparently that was not what he wanted. So, George and Dennis tried again to explain. Dennis said "Do you have panties?" I said "WHAT??!!!" and started laughing hysterically because I knew he had to be trying to say something else. Once I regained composure George finally described what they were talking about and I figured out that Eduardo wanted a pair of pantyhose to strain the paint. So we all had a good laugh and I wanted to make sure I shared it with you all so you could have a good laugh too!

That's about it for now. Remember to check out the rest of my posts. The one that says Partnership Opportunities has all of my contact information. My phone number has changed so please take a look and remember it is a Packet 8 phone so you can call me without paying international fees. It's like making a call in the U.S. (I sound like a commercial!!). Also, be sure to check out the Praise, Prayers, and Needs post to see my most current praises, prayers, and needs. God bless you all and I will post another blog again soon!