glimpses.

Cuidad de Luz :: City of Light. The name of the school where I teach definitely describes the kids in my class. They are all so full of so much light and joy and life and I love each of them so much. All 23 of them. Here are most of them a few weeks ago...

In a lot of ways, we do things you may have done in Kindergarten. We learn letters and play with blocks. We learn to count and cut and paste. We sing songs and learn Bible verses.

We like to take pictures and play at recess. We have special helpers and win prizes for good behavior and attendance. We don't always enjoy doing work, but most days we leave with smiles on our faces.

We write in notebooks and love to color and are always practicing our handwriting.

But in other ways, we do things very differently. We speak Spanish instead of English. We bring plantains and yuca for snack instead of oreos or pringles. We bring pesos to buy our snacks and there is always enough for everyone.

We talk about where I'm from and how most of them haven't seen snow before. We still like to play with pogs here and get excited about the ones that come as prizes in our potato chips. We sing a different national anthem than I'm used to singing every morning and my students call me Profe (Pro-fay).

But mostly, we just LOVE. And so while there may be a few tiny differences, we are mostly all the same. Kids are kids and no matter where they are from, they find joy in the simple things. And so the more time I spend with them, the more I get to see glimpses of life through their eyes... and through His. I'm so blessed.

life.

The past few months have been so full of all things old and new and beautiful and difficult and life-giving. My heart feels fully alive here and I can't imagine being anywhere else. It seems that the longer I am here, the more I can't imagine leaving. Though it seems hard to explain, I can only say that my heart was made for this place.

I love my students to no end. Teaching was harder than I ever expected at first, and the only way I made it during those days was through the Lord's strength and wisdom. But time has passed, all my teaching background has come back to me, and now I find myself missing my students on the weekends and loving being able to spend part of my days with them. As I fill out their report cards, I find it hard to believe that it's already December and the school year is almost half over.

Em and I spend Saturdays in Jaibon at the orphanage and with friends and family there. The boys at the Jaibon orphanage are and will always be a huge reason why I am here. I can't imagine not being involved in their lives as they grow up.

Em and I with Luis Alberto and Jonel in Jaibon.

Our Sundays usually consist of planning and spending time at the orphanage in Monte Cristi. We are blessed to have roots in this town already. As we dream of real change, freedom, redemption, and hope, we have realized again the importance of roots, time, and trust. Discipleship doesn't come quickly and true trust is established through lots of ups and downs. And that's what we want to be here for.

We started art/sewing classes for girls a couple afternoons a week. The classes are definitely at the beginning stages, but we are excited to see where the Lord will take everything. One of my heart's deepest desires is to see women here understand their worth and value and find true freedom in their identity in Christ and who He has created them to be. Poco a poco.

Be looking for more pictures and updates soon, but that is a short overview of life here :)

la casa.

This week has been exciting, exhausting, new, rewarding, and hard all at the same time. Blessed. That's really all I can say. I started teaching Kindergarten this week and it was... crazyyyyy. Me and 24 spanish speaking 5-year-olds in a tiny classroom with lots of character. I already love them with my whole hearts.

We also spent lots of time this week taking care of all the necessary details for renting our house! We are beyond thankful for this gift that God has blessed us with. It's a great house, in an awesome location, with amazing neighbors. We couldn't have found a better house if we tried. Here are some pictures...

We hope you can come visit sometime and see it in person :) There's even a bubblegum pink guest room that can be all yours!

immeasurably more.

We have arrived! Words could not possibly express my heart right now. I am beyond blessed and the past few days have been amazing. God has confirmed that this is exactly where we are supposed to be more times than I can count. It's insane really. I'm overwhelmed thinking about all that He has done just since we got here last Wednesday.

We have spent the past few days meeting with the director of the school we are teaching at, observing classes, hugging and catching up with all the kids at both orphanages, and visiting with our friends and family that we have missed so much.

My heart is full.

I start teaching kindergarten tomorrow and I'm excited! I met my students on Friday and they are adorable. We are also beginning the moving process and will hopefully have moved into the house we are renting next weekend. God has provided us with so much!

These are my two sisters that I get to spend the next year with. This is the only time all three of us have ever been together in the States :)

God is good. I find myself going back to the Scripture that I put on one of my first updates about moving back... "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine... to Him be glory" Ephesians 3:20.

He is truly doing more than we could have ever asked or imagined.

cuidad de luz.

When deciding to spend the next year in the Dominican, all I knew for sure was that the only constant would be change. And that has proved itself to be true before Emilee and I have even left the States. With less than three weeks to go before we leave, we have some really exciting news to announce!

The past couple of months we have talked and dreamed and asked the Lord about where we should invest ourselves in Monte Cristi. It seemed like we had more ideas than we would ever have time, but the one thing that we knew was that we wanted to love people, share hope, explore long-term ministry options, and serve wherever we were needed. This all brings me to the incredible opportunity we were presented with last week...

Cuidad de Luz (City of Light) is a small Christian elementary school that was started by missionaries years ago. Below is a picture of the school when we took our parents to teach there during our time with Orphanage Outreach.

Christine spent last year teaching English at Cuidad de Luz and is currently the first grade teacher. The director has asked me to teach Kindergarten and Emilee to continue teaching the English classes that Christine started last year. We are so excited (ok and maybe a little nervous!) for this opportunity! While I was on the race, I knew the Lord was telling me that I would teach again, although I had no clue what that would look like. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect opportunity for this year if I had tried... I'm humbled by God's grace and blessings for sure.

So with a little less than three weeks until I leave, my mind is now whirling with teaching ideas and ways to make my students feel special and ideas for my classroom and ways to be involved in their lives and love them and their families well.

My heart beats to see restoration in the Dominican and I'm believing that God is going to transform Monte Cristi...

...I'm believing that He will raise up youth that are passionate about the Kingdom...

... I'm believing that girls will know that they are valued and created with a unique destiny...

...I'm believing that discipleship will happen through our relationships in the community...

...I'm believing that God is going to redeem all the broken places...

I'm believing.

t-shirts!

The past couple of days I have eagerly checked my front porch for anything out of the ordinary each time I pulled into the driveway. I honestly didn't expect there to be something there, so when I saw this big box today, I may have freaked out!

This box just so happens to contain all of the t-shirts that Emilee and I designed and ordered two weeks ago! To say that we were excited for its arrival is an understatement :) Here they are...
We LOVE them! I don't want to repeat myself or for you to read the same thing twice, so please take a moment to click on the t-shirts tab at the top and read about the incredible company that made these shirts and/or buy one! Purchasing one for $20 would greatly support Emilee and I, as well as the Dominicans who made them :)

enough.

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

1 John 4:16

I've been ruminating on God's love a lot today. Sometimes it's the most simple truths of God's character that dig their roots deeper into my soul, revive my heart, and renew my mind once again. God is love. He loves us. And we love because He first loved us. And that's enough. Really, it is. His love is enough to cast out all fear. It's enough to bring freedom to the captives. It's enough to restore broken hearts. It's enough to shed light into the darkest places. It's enough to send people to the nations. And it's enough to satisfy our soul's deepest longing.

God's love is enough.

I just pray that this simple (but not small) truth will penetrate my heart once again and not just my head. Because a lot of times it seems a lot easier said than done to live life with God's love being enough when I'm worried about everyday things.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..."

1 John 4:18

thanks, dove.

no words...

I feel like I need to start this blog out with something fancy, but I can't seem to think of any words that could possibly express my emotions right now. So I'll just go with this...

I BOUGHT MY PLANE TICKET BACK TO THE DOMINICAN TODAY!

I'm so excited that I can't focus because in a little over a month, I get to go back to my other home! Blessed. My heart is so full of gratitude right now. It's honestly sometimes hard to believe that I have been given these opportunities. I'm so thankful for the Dominican and my family there and the chance to once a again spend time pouring into their lives. Thank You, Jesus!

Rewind. How did I go from questions and prayers to a plane ticket for September? Well, let me share with you :)

Most of July was spent visiting with friends and family and doing a lot of praying and searching for what the Lord had next for me. Through some conversations with my dear sister, Emilee, at the end of the month, we came to the conclusion that we needed to start pursuing what we knew God had laid on our hearts. Our hearts came alive in the Dominican and we have known all along that God has called us to this place. We believe that He has entrusted the nations to His children... and is specifically entrusting us with a small northwestern province in the Dominican Republic. So we couldn't be more thrilled to be going!

We spent the end of July and August planning and praying and dreaming and preparing the many logistical details. After unending lists and a lot of confirmation, our hearts can't wait to finally be back in the place we call home. We are heading out in late September to join Christine and spend the school year there. While all of the details aren't clear, we are thrilled to be back in the place where our lives were forever changed. We can't wait to continue to pour into the kids at the orphanage and teach English in town and be more involved with the local church and follow wherever God leads. I simply have no words to express my excitement!

Can't wait to see them...

and Luz...

...and everyone else of course!

The next month will be full of preparations, visiting friends and family, and raising support. I would love to see everyone before I leave so send me a message :)

I'm also selling these...

These bracelets are $10 with free shipping and come in just about any color you could imagine. The beads are hand-made out of paper, so you name the color :) Let me know if you would like to buy one for you, your mom, your friend, (anyone!) and I will get it to you asap! If you would like to support me in this way, you can email me at heatherleighcolbert@gmail.com.

Emilee and I are also selling these...

T-shirts will be available soon, so keep your eye out :) AND, they are made by this amazing company based in the Dominican: Alta Gracia Apparel. Check them out! And, you can support me anytime by clicking the paypal link on the right.

Thank YOU for letting me share my news and my joy with you! God is good and I feel incredibly blessed!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

the question...

Within the World Race community we often say that home is where our backpack is. After spending only 3 full months of the past two years in the States, that still remains true in my life. I realized yesterday morning that this is my first summer in the U.S. (and not in the Dominican!) in 5 years. With that came a lot of emotions... longing to be back in the Dominican, contentment with a season of rest, and realizing that life looks a lot different now than I thought it would when I entered college 6 years ago. But I love it. Living out of a suitcase or backpack seems no different than living out of a house.

So if home is where my backpack is, then right now home is at my parents' house. I got back from the Race several weeks ago and have spent my time with family and new friends and treasured old friends who I hadn't seen in too long. I'm blessed to be here right now and have time to catch up with people I love. And then there's the common question... "What's next?"

Oh that question... We hear it a lot in life, generally in the times when we really have no clue what is next. So what is next for me? What does life look like in the next couple of months? I have lots of dreams and questions and hopes and desires floating around in my head. But for now, I'm grateful for a season of rest and seeking the Lord and asking for His dreams for my life to overtake mine. My heart is still in the Dominican and I can't wait to be back there. Sometimes I feel like a small child, constantly asking my Father if it's time to go yet... and where we are going, and what we are going to do when we get there. He's got it all under control. He's got all the plans in His hands... the same hands that made the Heavens and the Earth and placed all of the stars in galaxies. He knows when I'm going back to the Dominican and what we are going to do when we get there. He knows me and He knows my heart and for now He's telling me to rest. To sit and fill up. To dig my roots down deep in Him. And He'll take care of the rest.

So in the meantime, I constantly find myself day-dreaming about what it's going to look like when I finally set my feet back on that island. Dreams of restoration. Dreams of new jobs for women. Dreams of hope. Dreams of providing a way out for those who are trapped. Dreams of new life. Dreams of a whole lot of love for 61 kids who are my family. Dreams of esperanza.

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

Proverbs 16:3

I also feel as though I need to talk about this little treasure...

This book, One Thousand Gifts, is completely changing my perspective on, well, almost everything. Written by Ann Voskamp, the book talks about viewing life through God's perspective and seeing grace in everything. We are blessed with so many gifts from the Lord, but we often don't take time to stop and thank Him for them... or even recognize them as gifts for that matter. Anyway, I highly recommend reading this gift.

race blog :)

Just wanted to give a little shout out to say to keep on reading my World Race blog to receive updates...

heathercolbert.theworldrace.org

LOVE and miss you all!