There and Back Again Part 2

It is a rainy Sunday morning back in La Paz. I am sitting in my bed, listening to the sound of raindrops splattering gently on our roof and on the concrete walkway outside my window.

I have been back in La Paz for 18 days, just under 3 weeks - 2 of those weeks back in the classroom. But before I get to that...Let's jump back to December...

After our Thanksgiving adventure, there were only a few weeks until Christmas break!

We spent a lot of time in my classes doing Christmas math activities including calculating discounts and percents for Christmas shopping, graphing pictures of snowmen on the coordinate plane, and finding the modern day total cost of the gifts in the 12 days of Christmas.

Highlands had its annual Christmas program, and on the last day of school we had a middle school Christmas party.

Elf + Playing Soccer + Karaoke + Spur of the Moment Dance Party + Food = Priceless

(Middle School was definitely the cool place to be that Friday!)

After the party, we all headed home and finished packing things up for our flight to the U.S. the next day! I was so excited to go home.

It was wonderful to walk off of the plane into 70 degree Florida Christmas weather, to feel the beach breeze, to see a beautiful sunset, and to hug Mom and Dad for the first time in 5 months!

All of the boys were home for break, and it was fun to see them and to exchange stories over dinner. And that was just the beginning.

My break was full of time spent with fabulous family and friends, a visit from Ben and a trip to Illinois , lunch at LaSpada's, a few good books, and more. It was incredibly refreshing, and after a busy first semester, it was a nice break from managing 45 middle schoolers.

Seeing Ben was definitely a major highlight of the vacation - it was so much fun to spend time together in person after not seeing each other for so many months. We met each others families, played some tennis, watched some quality movies, made pancakes, ate Moose Tracks, saw "A Christmas Story" (the musical), toured around Chicago, ate deep dish pizza!, played lots of games, and rang in the New Year with midnight hockey. :) I couldn't have asked for a better break.

As January 10 approached, for a few days, I kept saying to myself, "I'm not ready to go back!" But by that Monday, as Caleb and Jeff headed back to school, I realized...I was ready to pack and fly back to La Paz. Back in July, I was filled with fear before I left. In January, I was filled with readiness and excitement. I picked up some last minute things at Target, packed my suitcases while watching "How I Met Your Mother," and spent my last day visiting with some great friends. And then...I was off.

We flew into La Paz at dawn and were greeted by the beautiful sight of fresh morning sunlight illuminating snow-capped mountains which were peeking through a blanket of low-hanging clouds. We landed, got our luggage, and Jess and I found a taxi to drive us home to Obrajes, Calle 16. As we descended into the city from the airport, I was surprised to realize La Paz felt like "home". I was once again awed by the orange and green mountains surrounding the city, and my heart was filled with the sense that I knew this place. It no longer held the fear of the unknown for me.

We opened the heavy green door into our courtyard, and were greeted by a very friendly, very excited Diana (our landlord's beautiful, blue-eyed husky). We lugged heavy suitcases down the steps to our casita and opened the door...ah...perfection...

Haha ok, so not really perfection. We did discover soon after arriving that...1) our internet router had blown out and 2) our washing machine was on the fritz again, but hey, it could have been worse! We were pleasantly surprised to see that our friendly ant colony was nowhere to be seen...for about 5 minutes. They were SO excited to have us home, they rushed all over the counters to greet us. There's no place like home. :)

And that's that.

Well, not quite. We're back to school these days. 2 weeks into the 3rd quarter, and things have been busy and great. I love seeing my students again, and it has been so much fun to spend time with Jess and the rest of our AWESOME friends on staff again. My parents gave me a projector for Christmas, which has been my fun new teaching toy this quarter. Carnaval is approaching in February (we'll have a 4 day weekend!), and all of us have to watch out for rogue water balloon throwers these days. In the spirit of the holiday, the city makes mischief - one of the primary methods is lobbing water balloons at unsuspecting pedestrians.

On the flip side, after a busy 2 weeks in the classroom, I am tired. Getting the ball rolling again takes a lot of time, and I haven't been sleeping as well or as long as I need to. Please pray for energy and for efficiency as I plan and prepare my lessons. Please pray that I will depend on God for my strength as we continue our busy lives here in the city. I have been praying about what it looks like to make planning for my classes an act of worship, although I am not sure what that really means, and I am considering the best ways to invest my time this quarter. I would really like to spend more time practicing Spanish, get involved with a small group at church, and continue developing friendships with my fellow teachers and with people I have met at church. Please pray that I will have wisdom to know where to invest time and balance in my daily life.

Additionally, our middle school girls' discipleship group has begun meeting regularly on Thursdays! It has been so much fun spending a little extra and more informal time with our girls, and I am excited to see what God does through our time together. Bekah and I are leading the group, and so far, we have just been getting to know each other better. Please pray for us as we prepare for the discipleship group that God would teach us how to lead well and show us what we should do with the girls. We are considering spending time in Psalm 1 this week, and we will be working through some "how to study your Bible" ideas throughout the quarter. I am also continually praying that our students who don't know Christ would see his reality, that they would become aware of their sin and their need for a savior, and that all of our students would recognize that he is WORTHY. Because he is. It is amazing to see how God has already worked in the hearts of some of our students. We know that God's word does not return empty, and I pray that God will make our students' hearts like the good soil that bears much fruit. I pray that they would not just be saved, but that they would become faithful servants of our Lord and king, that they would be dependent on him alone, and that they would see themselves and the world through his eyes, not their own. And that is something I too need to keep always before me "Let us fix our eyes on what is unseen..."

And that's that! Really this time.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers. I am so blessed to have such a supportive group of family and friends at home and, although I am not as consistent in my updates as I wish to be, it means the world to me to have you all share in my adventures.

As I close, it is still drizzling outside my window, and I am looking forward to a restful Sunday in the Southern Hemisphere. I can say with confidence, the Lord has led me here, and he has blessed me beyond measure. Though I am weak, he is strong. What a privilege it is to walk with the Lord!

"Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him..."

Psalm 32:1-2