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 :)