kindergarten graduation.

This morning, my 20 incredible students graduated kindergarten.  I love them with my whole heart and will miss them a ton.  Here are a few pictures from an awesome graduation day...

Yulianny... or Julie-Bulie :) 

Christine and I attempting to get their hats to stay on their heads.

 John Keith... always ready for pictures.

The whole class... minus Melany.

Melany... refusing to be in the group picture.

 

 Another group picture... this time with Melany included :)

John Keith receiving his diploma.

These kids have blessed my life more than I ever thought possible.  I've learned so much from their giving hearts and their laughter and their honesty.  I've been blessed to see life through their eyes and I'm going to miss seeing their smiling faces every day.

18.

Eighteen years.  It's a big deal, for sure.  I've known Jochi since the first time I set foot on Dominican soil 5 years ago and a few days ago he turned 18.  If you know me well, you know I love celebrating birthdays and I'm so blessed to have been here for his.  The day was full of all kinds of special-ness and I can't wait to see what this next brings in all of our lives.  

...So here are just a couple pictures from the day...

 

Emilee, me, Jochi, Ariel, and Christine... I'm crazy blessed by this family.
 

And cake!

dependence.

Life has been crazy and beautiful and full.  Full of laughter and love and tough decisions and joy and hard conversations and grace.  I would never trade the moments and days spent here with these precious souls.  The Lord has taught me more in this past year than I could have imagined and blessed me to no end.

Monte Cristi is a pretty small town and we mostly just walk everywhere we need to go.  Walking to school in the morning has become one of my most treasured times to process and pray and honestly, just plead with the Lord.  Pleading for Him to break through and change hearts and bring peace and redeem all the brokenness and restore all shattered hearts.  Because He really is our only hope.  

The Lord has taught my independent self an entirely new sense of dependence this year.  Because when I wake up in the morning and when I go to sleep at night, my peace comes from knowing that He keeps His promises and and that He loves these dear brothers and sisters and friends and mothers and fathers and children of mine more than I could ever imagine.  And so I trust and depend on Him.  And I plead for redemption and restoration already knowing that He makes all things new.  And He always will.

...

And here are some photos from a couple weeks ago.  Elizabeth (mine and Christine's other roommate when we lived at the orphanage) came to visit and stayed with us for a while.  We absolutely LOVED having her and are sad that she had to leave.  The family we went to visit back in January came to visit as well and it was an amazing few days.  So here is a glimpse of their beautiful faces...

 Christine and Joanni eating pizza.

 

A bunch of my favorites :)

Nena and I walking back from eating pizza. 

 

A huge kite at the orphanage that one of the boys made.

Domingo flying the kite.

Bringing back old times when I used to braid Elizabeth's hair for church every week :)

...peace and a whole lot of love.

semana santa.

It's spring break... known here as semana santa! I have been so incredibly thankful for a week off from school and a chance to see some of my favorite people this week. My heart is full and it has been such a blessing to spend time with people who I haven't seen in a while. It's hard to believe that March is over and that Easter is in just a few days. The month has been full of birthdays and celebrations and salmonella and conversations that were only by the grace of God. Special moments at the orphanages and teaching math again in Spanish. Late nights and early mornings and lots of coffee and homemade cookies and smiles and joy and laughter. Bible study and ice cream in styrofoam cups and teaching my five-year-olds how to subtract. March was full of the Lord's grace and glory and I continue to feel overwhelmed with gratitude. He is good.

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks...

One of my students coloring a map of the Dominican.

Another one of my students with an "S" worksheet.

Paper beads... Dominican style :) A friend of mine is now making these to sell down here.

We finished up these bracelets by candle light one night when there wasn't power.

Emilee, Jose, and I in Jaibon.

Hope each of you are doing great :)

celebrate.

I absolutely LOVE celebrations. I love finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and finding little reasons to celebrate life. Holidays and birthdays are some of my favorite days because when I wake up in the morning, the whole day already feels special and full of excitement.

February was full of celebrations and I'm being reminded of all the little gifts the Lord has given me every day. Little things that are often hidden under the surface, but waiting to be celebrated. Toothless smiles and fresh coffee and eating dinner by candle light and the sound of the ocean and the feel of sand beneath your toes. Sounds of my students telling other kids that we all love each other in our class and the sound of rain on a tin roof. Tons of hugs and twirling the twins around until we all feel sick and pink cookies for Valentine's day and sunsets in Jaibon. Black skies filled with thousands of stars and 21 voices screaming "Profe" and making paper beads with friends. Bags full of fresh passion fruit and telling stories of memories from five years ago and hearing five year olds pray. Nothing is ordinary. It's always extraordinary and there is always something to celebrate in the little details in life.

And so we celebrate life... :)

Valentine's day... with the crazy "heart people" that Christine's students made at school.

Bebo's birthday with some of my favorite people.

life is meant to be celebrated.

rain.

It's been raining since 5 am this morning which makes today kind of like a snow day in the States. I went to school this morning and only 1 student showed up, meaning I got to come home early. When it rains a lot, it brings the same sort of feeling as when it's snowing... the town shuts down, kids don't go to school, people make soup and stay cozy in their houses, and it's one of the few times when you can wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt and not be sweating. I love it. So I'm curled up on the couch with a good cup of coffee (of course) and thought I'd post a few pictures...

This is our "teapot." Here you don't find people making tea with teabags because you can just go out in your backyard, pick some leaves off of several trees, and make some pretty amazing tea. I've been sick and this is the tea that a friend made last night for my cough.

I absolutely LOVE the ocean... so thankful to live so close.

Truth. Our chalkboard :)

Two precious little boys that I love dearly :)

happy valentine's day.

love!

blessed.

Blessed seems to be the only word I can find to express life right now. There is this indescribable knowing deep down in my soul that this is exactly where I am supposed to be. And even on the extremely hard days, I wake up each morning thankful to be able to live and love people here. There is so much joy in the little moments, the precious smiles, the heart-to-heart conversations over big cups of coffee, the hugs from my students, the crazy things that five-year-olds say, the gift of watching the twins grow up, the opportunity to live within an hour bus ride of both orphanages... the list is endless.

Last weekend, we took a trip to the opposite side of the country to see five precious souls that I love with my whole heart. Jose Luis, Indiana, Nena, Joanni, and Luz Maria used to live in Monte Cristi at the orphanage, but now live with their mom. It was incredible to be able to see them again and the weekend was full of laughing, getting our hair done, reading books, singing, coloring, hugs, and all the other fun things that we used to do when we lived together. Blessed.

These are just a few pictures from the trip...

Joanni, Nena, Luz Maria, me, and Emilee when we first got to their house.

Indiana, Luz Maria, and Nena with their mom.

Me and Indiana

Precious Luz Maria

The whole group

blessed.