Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad ! I hope you all had a great holiday season filled with many blessings :D

So I'm feeling over whelmed by the fact that I haven't updated this in 3 weeks and as I sit here to write I can't even remember what happened in the last three weeks. I think that is because I've had a really good but busy last week. I will start with December 23rd and you can assume that the normal school things happened the weeks before that. I'm assuming that because I can't remember them...
The Eve of Christmas Eve dawned bright and sunny with the smell of vacation in the air. As it was the first day of our Christmas break, I did pretty much nothing all day and it was fabulous. I did make cookies in the afternoon in preparation for the Christmas service my church was having that evening. Now, normally in the USA when Christmas is on a Sunday there are still services on sunday and saturday night for Christmas Eve. Yes? Well, now I will explain why we couldn't do that down here. Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve technically.  Everyone is setting of fireworks, partying and generally having fun and then they will eat a big meal with their family around midnight, most families stay up really late that night and do a lot of sleeping on Christmas day. Exchanging of presents and decorating for Christmas is not necessarily how the typical Honduran family would celebrate, just depends on the family. So Friday night, we had our Christmas service. The Hosier's and our pastor's wife (and many other people) put lots of hard work into creating a Christmas drama with the children of our church. I got to help some and the video and singing turned out great! (I don't think it's on Youtube yet or else I'd give you the link for it). Then. our Pastor, Tim, spoke on Isaiah chapter 9, which foretold the coming of Jesus. After service, we feasted on tamales (this is a very typical latin american food, but even more so, everyone eats tamales on Christmas here in Honduras) and a variety of desserts. Christmas Eve at our house was low key. I spent a bit of time wrapping presents and then hanging out with the kids. On Christmas morning we read the story of Jesus' birth and the coming of the shepherds and the wise men. We opened presents in a very orderly fashion (thank goodness!) and I am very thankful for the things I got! I was able to get everyone in the family a couple simple gifts.
 I know right now some of you are putting yourself in my shoes. Maybe you've never spent Christmas away from your family or maybe I was one of the people missing from your Christmas day. (Lots of people in my family read this!) You might be thinking "Christmas without snow, decorations, caroling and family??" I'll give you some insight on how it felt to be away from my family. It was a break from tradition. Have you ever done something that the people around you weren't expecting or suggested doing something differently than your family, work place, school (etc.) usually does thing? It's hard, but it's also good at the same time. Liberating! I missed my family a lot and found myself thinking about all the things I would be missing, but in it all I remembered that I was following God's call when I came down here AND that I live with a family I love AND I have lots of great friends down here who stayed for the holidays too (I saw most of them on Christmas day in the evening...just like an extended family :D). I've been blessed with great friends down here and I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating my first Christmas away from home with them. I think God might be calling and preparing me to miss a lot of holidays with my family. I also learned an important lesson. It's not snow, North American traditions, brightly colored lights, or rampant materialism that matter to me in the least at Christmas-time. I didn't miss those things at all this year!! It's the fact the Jesus came to be born as a baby so He could live among us on earth and eventually give His life so we could be forgiven our sins and have everlasting life!!

This week was my break! I went out for pizza, I made Chai and Strufoli with some awesome ladies, went out for baleadas, spent a day with my pastor's wife, watched a bunch of movies, read a few books, enjoyed the fabulous weather and generally had a great time relaxing. Tomorrow is New Year's eve and right now I'm not quite sure how I am celebrating,  but you can bet there are going to be A LOT of fireworks happening here in Siguatepeque! I'm excited about a new year. Even though I know it's totally mental, it always seems like a fresh slate. There are so many adventures to be had!! I was listening to the radio and the DJ was talking about making a New Year's resolution that was not tangible, but something you felt like God wanted you to improve on this year. He challenged the listeners to pick just one word. My word is Patience.

Here are some ways you can pray for me: I found out a friend committed suicide last week. That was hard. I've been in constant pray for their family and friends. Also, I'm a little down that I am missing my sister-in-law's entire pregnancy. Ariel is due a few weeks before I come back to the US. Not being there is hard.

I read some really great verses in 1 Peter this morning.


"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." (2:1)
"As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (2: 4-5) 
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." (2:9)
"Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor." (2:17)

Pack up and GO!

So it's only been a week since I wrote, but a lot definitely happened. (Please refer to my Facebook page for pictures...it's so much time to upload them twice!! Sorry!!) If you read my last post you'll remember that I was having some trouble with my residency. Well, I ended up having to leave the country. Or flee the law like my brother David said...Either way, I went to Antigua, Guatemala. (Not the Caribbean Island...Antigua is also a small town next to Guatemala City, Guatemala. )
Let me start at the beginning of this adventure. The Hosier are in the process of renewing and changing thier type of residency. We kept being told that we didn't need to leave the country and the person helping us would get it figured out in time and we wouldn't need to pay any fines or anything. All of that was....a fabrication. The day I needed to leave the country - my 90 day visa was up - kind of sneaked up on us and suddenly we realized. WE HAVE TO GO!!! Thus began the process of getting directions to Guatemala, finding a hotel, etc. It was a little bit stressful, but we got everything done before we left bright and early Wednesday morning.  When I got to the border I was told that I had been in Honduras for 91 days which is ONE over the allowed limit and I had to pay a fine. Some squirrely things followed and I ended up paying about half of what they were asking. We were told that if you enter on the 8th of a month you can leave on the 8th of the month 3 months later, so essentially they usually count months not days. Yeah, that didn't happen when I walked up the the window at immigration -_-.  It took us 12 hours of drive time to get to our destination.Yes, that is A LOT of time in a car. We listened to music, Prince Caspian on CD, talked and basically tried not to get on each other's nerves. It was a very pretty drive out there actually.
We got to our hotel in the evening and we had already stopped for dinner, so the kids and I explored the hotel some and Emma and I started a fire in our hearth and hit the hay early. The next morning we enjoyed our free breakfast in the hotel, went swimming, then set off to explore the town! Antigua is full of very old, very adorable buildings and we just wandered with no agenda. We stopped at a bagel shop and got very delicious sandwiches for lunch. Yum...I'm currently enjoying the memory of eating it...After lunch we wandered more, just checking out little shops and basically being tourists. Sometimes people would ask us where we were from and we would say. "Oh, we live in Honduras.." and people were always really surprised! We had really good veggie pizza for dinner and just relaxed in the evening and watched cooking shows.
The next morning we left bright and early again and set out for home. We made it about an hour and into Guatemala City and then got hopelessly lost. Each person we asked for directions sent us on a wild goose chase. At one point we got on the right road and we were pretty excited because we just KNEW we were going the right direction and then POOF! the road disappeared. Seriously. No signs, no warning. The major highway we were on just turned in 4th Calle and we were lost again. I knew things were bad when Paul said "Christine, I don't know what to do. Should I turn left or right?" I said left (trust me it was the only logical choice) and then we stopped at a gas station where the nicest man on the planet drew us a map on the ground with a rock. We followed his directions, made it to our road again and sped out of the city. 3 hours lost in Guatemala City was quite enough! Paul said something about him being like Jesus scribbling in the sand and I said "The next time someone asks me what I think Jesus was scribbling in the sand I'm going to say: Directions for lost travelers!!". I made it back into Honduras with out any fines and we made it home safe and sound.
Saturday, we were invited to a Christmas party at the Colbath's. I absolutely love this family and there was delicious and abundant food and a multitude of people! I had a lot of fun just hanging out with people and talking. So much laughter! Sunday, I spent a few hours hanging out with some of my teacher friends who live in town. We went out for lunch and did some shopping around town. It was just good to chill with friends! During the service I helped the kids practice to the songs they'll be signing during the Christmas pagent. Turn out, singing in at second language is really hard!! Today after I was all done grading school work, Morgan said "Do you want to play outside?!" and I said "I WOULD LOVE TO!!!" So, we made a kite! It worked pretty well until one of the dogs tore it to pieces. After that, we all made bows and arrows in preparation for our Archery Competition that will commence at DAWN tomorrow (or during our 10am break from school :D). So, overall it was a fun week, but now we have to work extra hard the next few days to make up what we missed! Love you all! Thanks for reading!!

Let us be encouraged by Abraham's example...


"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." - Hebrews 11: 8-10

Sometimes just living takes up all your time...

OK, it's only been about a week since I updated my blog but MAN a lot has happened this last week. On Saturday night it was decided we would leave for Tegucigalpa on Sunday morning instead of VERY early Monday morning. Since early mornings are my mortal enemies, I was all for this idea. We had some minor troubles on the way there...About 10 mins away from home the Hosiers realized that all the important paperwork they needed to bring was still at the house. We'll call this delay #1. We were making good time, the weather was fantastic, the birds were chirping...then BANG!!!! thud thud thud. I screamed and covered my head with my hands for like a second. THEN, I realized it was just one of our tires EXPLODING! OK, it only had a small hole in it....but it was SO loud!! Luckily, Paul has a spare tire with him at all times and he got the tire changed and we were on our way again soon. Praise God that Paul was prepared and capable of changing the tire! We'll call this delay # 2. We got going again and I said those fateful words...."Um...sorry.... but... I really have to go to the bathroom..." You guessed it - delay # 3. So we got to Tegus a couple hours later than we planned, but everything worked out fine. We ended up going out to lunch with some friends of the Hosier's who have an ADORABLE baby girl and we got invited to an evening church service. While in Tegus I stayed with some other friends down the street from where the Hosier's were staying. one of them had just gotten a puppy a few days before. SO CUTE.
Thus begins the saga of our fours days at Tegus. Let me start with saying this: almost everything possible went wrong but God is working it out for good! OK, Monday morning while Paul and Sheila were figuring out all the paper work they needed to bring to immigration, I was doing school with the kids. Emma started getting a migraine and she got violently ill. I will spare you the gory details but I cleaned up a bit of puke and spent the better part of the day with a very sick girl. We went to immigration that afternoon (with the still sick Emma) and made NO progress. We found out we were all going to have to start from scratch on our residency process. The Hosier's file had been lost and I did not have the proper paper work. The next day we did school again and felt the strain of being cooped up together all day. Again, we got nothing done at immigration, but we did go out to the mall that evening and I got a bit of Christmas shopping done and ate some good Honduran food. Wednesday, we awoke bright and early to come back home and get ready for Thanksgiving and would you believe that the car wouldn't start? Well, it was pretty unbelievable to me also. We couldn't even get it to start with jumping it so we ended up having to buy a brand new battery and get it installed. We got home much later than anticipated.

So much foooood!

Happy Thanksgiving card!!

Lots of work went into these potatoes!

Thursday was Thanksgiving! I am so thankful to God that I have good friends and family to spend this holiday with while I am so far away from mine.

We had another family over for lunch that day and spend the morning cooking and the afternoon eating, having fun and good conversation with friends. That evening we went to our pastor's house and it was another time of good conversation with good friends. There were SO many people there and lots more food. Our pastors are extremely hospitable and they genuinely enjoy having people over.

I made that hat :D 

The new mom getting read to open gifts!

I was not feeling my best over the weekend, but I did go to a baby shower for a newly adopted baby in our church. I made a little hat for her and there was much laughter and holding of a very adorable baby :D

This is baby Grace!

 I made more chai and generally enjoyed my Sunday morning. I did spend a while writing out the words to La Primera Navidad (The First Noel).  We are using it in the kid's Christmas program at my church and we couldn't find the lyrics online (it was a different version than the one we DID find online). So I listened to it over and over until I had all the words down. Tough work - but now I have the song memorized!! La Primera Navidad el cielo lleno de angeles cantando....Yeah I'll stop now :D Igelsia was pretty good too. Our pastor spoke on the desperately important truth that Jesus is not JUST the son of God. He is fully God. It made me think a lot about Camp Pattersonville because Director Dan teaches that truth every week to our campers. We'll be spending the entire coming year looking at what Jesus said and did throughout his life so we can better understand what Jesus would have us, as Christians, do here on the earth. I also translated the entire service for the woman who does the sign language translation for the people who are deaf that attend our church. It was again really good practice. I think I got like 95% of it and I enjoy doing it, but it makes me mentally exhausted!!

Emma dancing with the cat...

Moving on to Monday! In the afternoon we got a fire going in the hearth - boy it was chilly! I know, you think I'm crazy, but our house has NO insulation and air flows freely into our home...so if it's 60 outside it's 60 inside and I KNOW most of you keep your house closer to 65 or 70 in the winter... so we were honestly a bit chilled! It was even colder today - I'm talking scarf and coat while indoors! Okay back to the Monday festivities.

Color accent setting on my camera

One of the children suggested we put up the tree and we all instantly agreed this was a great idea. They have a good sized artificial tree and an abundant supply of ornaments. Emma and I also risked life and finger to string popcorn to decorate the tree. We also hung our stockings over the fireplace- Sheila bought me one :D - I'm so thankful! There was one moment of sheer hilarity when Paul and I nearly knocked down the tree trying to attach it more securely to the base. Today we worked diligently at our schooling, I got some laundry done and we did some craft projects. I went out for really good baleadas for dinner with a friend. YUM!! No hay nada mejor en todo el mundo.

The tree is looking good!

So in conclusion to the residency things....The Hosier's have a friend who is working on getting it for me and I might not even have to go back to Tegus. Please pray that this will work!! Please also be praying for my abilities to teach these kids Spanish. It is the thing I think I'm having the most trouble with. I love and miss you all. Thanks again for reading. I know this is a long one. At least I added pictures this time!!

Happiness...

'My hope is in You, Lord, all the day long. I won't be shaken by drought or storm. A peace that passes understanding is my song. My hope is in You, Lord."  My Hope is in You, by Aaron Shust. See link for song :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RRZgr7wNDs

This is a little bit of a P.S.: I wrote this a week ago...so minor updates: School went very smoothly this week and each child had some major accomplishment. Quentin can now do multiplication! Morgan got a very good grade on a Language test and Emma ACED a math test. They're doing so well!! I thoroughly enjoyed Bible study Wednesday night.  I taught some friends to make Chai Thursday evening. Good fun! I played Frisbee with a whole bunch of friends and got baleadas for dinner AGAIN on Friday night. Very good week. Did I mention I have yet to pay for these amazing Dona Norberta's Baleadas....people are super nice to me and I love them for it.

Do all to the glory of God...

Are you ready for my shortest post ever? I've been having trouble sleeping this week and I'm exhausted but obviously not sleeping yet... Also I'm not adding any pictures to this post - but they're all on my Facebook page!

OK - Here goes! David was here this last week. We all went to San Pedro to pick him up (about a 2 hours drive). We also got some shopping done while there. I bought everything I needed to make my own Chai concentrate. More on that later! Since I was still doing school with the kids while David was here, we couldn't take off for a few days and just hit the beach - which would have been lovely ,but I think we still had a good time :D. Over the weekend we went to a nearby barrio - Balibrea- and helped a missions team hand out stoves (I mentioned this in my last post). We had a good time walking through the barrios and made some new friends. Sunday was church, of course, and I had fun introducing David to all my friends there. I translated the service for him which was challenging, but really good practice! We took Tuesday off  to go hiking and bird watching at a nearby national park. On Wednesday afternoon we went downtown and spent some time wandering around and shopping with some of my friends. I love just spending time in cities around people. We went out for baleadas (delicious honduran food) and then went to Bible study. It was pretty low key, but I enjoyed just getting a chance to share what my life is like down here with David.

I did some ambitious crafty things in the last week and a half. I made some vases out of light bulbs. I thought it would fail miserably, but it worked fantastically! I also made my own Chai concentrate, which is black tea boiled with lots of spices. The reviews were good :D- everyone loved it. I definitely plan on making more in the near future :D.

Yesterday, I got to play Ultimate Frisbee. This made me deliriously happy. I love playing and I hadn't played since August. As we were walking down the dusty street after the game, I took a deep breath and with a huge smile said "This is just how life should be!" AND we went out to dinner afterwards - baleadas again :D. The group I played with (mostly N.American teachers and our pastor's family) is thinking of trying to get a game together each week. That would be AWESOME. The weather down here is absolutely perfect for it. I'm sorry to those of you in the USA who got snow this week...

Today was a make-up school day so we did school all morning, then I got a wonderful call. "Christine, we're headed to the pupusa party -did you want a ride?" YES OF COURSE I DID!! Pupusas are made by making dough out of corn flour, filling it with Honduran cheese, flattening it out and cooking it. They are SO yummy. I love Honduran food in general.

Lastly, in the last couple weeks Emma and I started playing Family Feud on Facebook. While I am embarrassed to admit this....it's been a good bonding experience :D Also we made up some hilarious jokes this week that I cannot possibly explain. You'd have to live here :P. AND today the kids and I read/translated part of a Spanish comic book about Hercules....good times!

I've been feeling a little restless and homesick this week, but otherwise things are going really well! Thanks for reading. Love you all!!

1 Corinthians 10:31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"

Autumn Comes Unnoticed

Hello my people! Can I just say thanks for reading my blog. Sometimes when I’m writing, I’m thinking “Do people really want to read this?” Thankfully I always get emails from my Mom, Laurie, Emma, Pop-Pop, Uncle Bob, Aunt Jo and my Dad saying that they read my blog and are praying for me. Thank you Lord for a family that loves me and faithfully prays for me :D. Also I have numerous friends who I manage to talk to each week (or everyday –  Sheri…) and they assure me that they like to read my blog and see my pics…stay tuned for new kitty pictures :D

I will take over your blog with
 my cuteness...In my sleep!

OK I know it’s been two weeks since I’ve written. We were busy with various crafts last Sunday so I did not have time to sit down and write it. I have found myself with some free time whilst the others are watching TV so I made myself sit down and get my thoughts on…paper.

Ok what is new? Well we’ve had a few women’s bible studies and I am loving them. The book we’re doing is great and it really makes you take an honest look at your life. Always a good thing. I appreciate that most of the women are a bit older than me and have lots of great insights.

Original Christine, Emma, Morgan
 and Quentin Creations!

I’ve been helping with the children’s program in our church and things seem to be going well. They’re going to do a play for Christmas. Actually a musical I think. I’ll be helping with that. Making the costumes in fact. There are some middle school girls who still come down for children’s church and they take what we’re learning seriously and seem to enjoy it.  Celebramos el aniversario de nuestra iglesia este Domingo. We celebrated our church’s one year anniversary this Sunday. Arroz con pollo and cupcakes! YUM. 

The kids and I made about 70 cupcakes and decorated them. It’s so humid here that the icing kind of slid all over the place…We discussed more about the purpose of the church and things that we could personally change about the church. It was a really good time.

Feel my wrath!!

I’ve been learning a lot about myself while I’m down here. I think this happens to most people when they’re in new situations. Or maybe I’ve just been more introspective with less people to talk to and bounce my ideas off of. In the past, I have always surrounded myself with lots of noise and lots of people so in some ways, I don’t know who I am. I’m learning about my limits, my abilities, how to deal with struggles, how to be more joyful. The hardest lesson I’m learning is humility. Now if I went into detail here, I’d be undoing all my lessons learned. One thought though. Do you know how hard it is to go from having your own car for 6 years to depending on other people for rides?  Enough said I’m sure.  Trust me that I still have a lot to learn when it comes to being humble.

Oh no...I fell asleep mid-jump again!

I promise to be good...
(He's crossing his toes!)

I got to Skype with David, Ashley, Sheri, Dad and Laurie this last weekend. (And Ashley again today!) I loved it! Just seeing their faces was fantastic. Right now I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of David (my oldest brother). I wish my whole family could come down, but I haven’t seen him since January and that is too long. Just a few days now! We will take lots of pictures and I’m sure the next blog post will be all about our adventures. We Rankin siblings are the adventurous types – especially when we’re together :D.

OH – I never did mention what the crafts were that we did on Sunday. We made paper mache pumpkins. Not to celebrate Halloween – just to get the house looking more like fall. I admit that I forget it is November with frequency. No leaves changing, no cold temperatures, no snow. I have plans for a Thanksgiving craft too. We’ll call it the kid’s art component…A.K.A…. making cornucopias.

  We also dyed some string and made friendship bracelets AND I tried out this really cool way of painting your nails. You float several colors of nail polish on the surface of water, swirl it into cool patterns and then dip your nails in it. Check out the picture. Worked way better than I thought it would!

Two last things. I was introduced to www.Pinterest.com this week. I’m a little addicted. If you’ve never checked out the site, it’s basically people posting pictures of everything from home décor ideas, to ideas for a classroom, to favorite movies and books, to easy DIY projects. Anything you can think of –you’ll find awesome ideas for on this website! Finally, this week some time I should be able to go with a visiting team from Canada to give out these low smoke stoves. They take less wood (cheaper), burn hotter (better cooking), are cool to the touch on the outside (safe for kids!), relatively light (in case you want to cook outside), and almost smokeless (much better for your health!). It’s one of the ministries of a couple that attend my church. Typically the families would have to pay what they can for the stove, but this team that came down raised money especially so they could buy and give away stoves. There is an educational session that the families who are receiving a stove will attend. Should be a great experience! Pictures and more details in my next post if I do indeed get to join them this week!

Just waiting until you're not looking then
 I'll jump on the table and steal your food!

 I love you all and thank you so much for reading my blog. Miss you all a lot too! <3

“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me”

- 2 Corinthians 12:9

Friends, Food, Freezing...

Hey all! Let me start with saying that I am extremely tired right now. So I might read this tomorrow and think I sound incoherent and ridiculous. Last week we took a trip to San Pedro. It's one of Honduras' largest cities. We went out to lunch, checked out the mall, did some grocery shopping and went out to dinner before going home. I bought a much needed Santa Biblia and some delicious snacks that I don't have to share with anyone! I admit that I'm feeling a little selfish with my food stuffs lately. I've spent the better part of the last 5 years buying and making my own food, so I'm not used to sharing my food or stuff disappearing so quickly. Like I said - pure selfishness.

On Wednesday afternoon I got to 5-way chat with Ashley, Carolyn, Erin and Sheri. We spent so much time laughing :D It got so hard to hear each other that we had to pass a virtual conch around (Lord of the Flies reference in case you missed it). We considered emailing a picture of a conch to each other, but refrained from getting that serious about it. It was so fantastic to talk to all of them. I haven't laughed that much in a long time. It made me really homesick for a little while, but it's OK.

The rest of our week was fairly normal. All the children are progressing well with their studies. We had a parent-teacher conference this week. It was really good for me to sit down, look at their grades and decide how well they're progressing in each subject and things I need to be working on with them. I noticed myself avoiding some difficult things. I hate conflict, so I've been hesitating to do things or change things I think the children might fight me on. For the sake of their education though I need to do them. Like planning projects and writing assignments. Children don't like you when you give them extra work. Please pray that I can creatively plan these so that the children won't hate them, but will enjoy them.

I have been SO TIRED the last few days, but it's for good reason! I had two girls nights this weekend. Friday night I spent with some Canadian teachers and one Honduran girl who goes to our church (all super cool :D) and we had dinner, watched Tangled, ate lots of sweets (I made lemon bars) and talked until 2am. LOVED IT!  It made me miss being at college, where that happened weekly! Saturday night there was a clothes swap and girls night at the house of one of the woman who goes to my church. There were just over 20 of us there! It was great fun and I got a new shirt and French manicure set out of the deal. I've been getting to know a number of people here better and it is so good for my soul! I miss my friends and family at home a bit and it's nice to have people to talk to and laugh with here!

 It got cold here this week. And by cold I mean that I have been ruined by Honduran weather and 60 feels FREEZING to me. It's so pathetic I know, but it happened so suddenly and I haven't seen the sun in almost a week. *Pout*

Service today was great. We were talking about Jesus spending time with outcasts and all the stories He told about celebrating when what was lost is found, just as there is celebrating in heaven when one person gives their life to the Lord. (Oveja Perdida, Moneda Perdida, Hijo Perdido). I sit with my deaf friends now so I can learn how to sign the songs (my friend Glenda signs) and watch the service translated into sign (by my friend Alan). My brain works overtime the whole time. If I space out for just a second I miss so much. I'm so mentally drained right now!! Que sueño! No picture this week sorry! When my brother comes down in about 2 1/2 weeks there will be many pictures I promise!!
<3

Listen

At this specific moment my blog isn’t letting me load a new post. So I am typing this in Word until it decides to stop hating me. There has been a lot of technology hate directed at me lately. I can never find the document I’m looking for on a computer, my alarm clock goes off every morning, I get about 5 spam texts a day, our internet is horribly unreliable, my ipod’s battery died mid car ride today. The list could go on for days. That’s normal for me though. It’s not worse in Honduras.

OK what happened this last week? Coolest thing that happened was Jenny getting her hearing aids! This has been and will continue to be a serious transition for this family. Imagine hearing for the first time. We have all spent a life time distinguishing sounds, so we know that the sound of someone talking is different than the sound of a motorcycle going passed. Jenny needs to learn to distinguish between sounds. Also, now that she can hear, she can learn to speak. We’re doing our best to help her, which currently is speaking and signing to her at the same time so she will associate those sound patterns with the correct words. She needs speech therapy though, which she will hopefully receive in the future. Also, we want learn some techniques we can use with her daily to help her develop her speech.

This week I also spent some alone time with Jenny, the rest of the family was out taking care of renewing passports (which is all done – praise the Lord!). Did you know I talk a lot? It’s not hard for me to listen, but I like to interact and talk with people and have conversations. Jenny and I had a great time and I didn’t say a word, except while I was talking to myself. This was totally new for me. I mean, I’m a girl and I have the art of wordless communication down to a science, but actually not having the option of using spoken words –totally new. It helped me become more confident in my signing that’s for sure! Jenny is a fun girl :D. Lately, I hear these phrases a lot: “Christine, what’s the sing for________(insert any random word)?” and “Christine, what is Jenny saying??”  Sometimes I know and sometimes I just guess :P. I am flattered and surprised every time this happens because, let’s be honest, I don’t know that much sign….do I? This weekend I learned the signs for almost every kind of clothing you can think of AND every major city in Honduras. That’s right: I know the sign for “Islas de Bahia” and “Comayagua”. I bet you don’t.  Now you’re thinking: WOW that’s useless. Well, I disagree. Wouldn’t you want to know the sign for the city you lived in?

This week and last week I could tell little things were getting on my nerves and I didn’t like it. The kids mannerism or things they would  say just rubbed me the wrong way. “Deep breaths, let it go, don’t let it bother you…” These words kept running through my head. Then I changed my tune. “Lord, help me to actually not care about these things. Help me to accept these children as they are and love them as You would. AMEN.” My attitude changed quickly after I recognized the source of my frustration. I just wasn’t walking in love.  

One of the reasons I love teaching is that I love to watch learning. If you’ve never had the experience of seeing someone grasp a concept for the first time – go teach someone something – it’s amazing. I mean truly amazing. I never tire of seeing Emma grasp a new math concept or explain what she’s learning about God in her Bible class. I love to hear Morgan say – Christine – did you know cats have this thing called “eye shine” that helps them see in the dark? Do you think dogs have that too?” I especially enjoy watching Quentin’s face light up when he tells his mom “I got all my spelling words right today!” or “Reading is getting easier – I read really fast today didn’t I, Christine?”  It honestly makes me cry happy tears just thinking about it. 

The longer I’m here, the less NY feels like home. I tried to explain this to one of the children this week. I said – well I’m kind of homeless right now. His response was: “Um you live here.”  Yes, I do in fact live here. I know God is working in my heart though. At some point I’ll be living on my own and it might not be in NY. Who knows what crazy adventure will be after this one in Honduras? I don’t want to get too deep into this right now b/c I’ve already spent some time pouring my heart and soul out to some friends (Thanks, Sheri and Ashley), but I feel like God is trying to get my attention and tell me something and I need to spend time with Him and LISTEN. Then, here’s the key, I need to follow what He says – even if it seems crazy or difficult or BOTH! We talked about how radical the call to follow Jesus is this week in Bible study and I recently finished one of the best fiction novels I have read in a long time. Between to covers of an unassuming novel titled “Quaker Summer”, I found a captivating and realistic story about a women who realizes she’s slipped into mediocre Christianity. The book follows her fight to truly follow God’s commands, and shows how her journey profoundly affects her friends and family. Challenging and inspiring.  I’ll let you know where all this takes me, but from experience, similar themes don’t just appear in your life for no reason. God knows we’re thickheaded and when He wants to make a point – He goes all out!

I know this post is long and a little more introspective than other posts. I’ve been just trying to keep up and get my footing here and now that I’m more settled I have more energy and brain space for this kind of thing. Who knew it could take 6 weeks to do that? It will probably take even longer.

 More happy news! My oldest brother, David, (whom many of you know and love) is coming to visit me in November – such a good brother! I love and miss you all! If anyone wants to post some pictures of beautiful fall scenery, that would be much appreciated. I’m missing my favorite season A LOT!

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it" – Isaiah 30:21

Here are a couple recent photos:

Feliz Cumpleanos Jenssy!!! He is a nursing student here in Siguat and comes over on weekends :D 

Yummy cake!!

This is a little blurry, but there was much joy, excitement , and homemade pizza!

Kitten Ambushes and Dutch Blitz

Well, look at me! Posting less than a week after my last one! So on top of things. Today is Sunday and it's 11:30 my time. Now you're thinking "Christine, shouldn't you be in church?"  Every single church I have ever attended  held it's services in the morning. This church, "Celebracion", holds it's services in the evening - usually starting at least an hour after the posted start time. For my first few days here, I operated under the assumption that posted times meant something. I was fooled, things don't start on time here in Honduras. That is not a sweeping generalization that unfairly accuses an entire culture of lateness. It's pure truth. The reason is that Hondurenos, and Latin Americans in general, view time differently than North Americans do. They put everything they have into what they are doing at the moment, even if that means they will be late to their next commitment. They also value relationships and family above most everything else. So hanging around and chatting for an hour before church starts is extremely important. About an hour late is a typical time for things to start. As someone who remembers 100 things I need to do as I'm trying to walk out the door, that kind of flexibility is GREAT for me, but it frustrates people who try to keep to strict schedules. ANYWAY! It has taken some adjusting, but I enjoy having services in the afternoon/evening and when it comes down to it, la gente y la comunidad de la iglesia are more important that the start time!

In other news, I started teaching Spanish this week for real. At the end of every school day I have a decision to make: Torture the children with more learning or give up and let them play for the rest of the day. Most days I think to my self  "Just let them play...we can do that another day." Four out of 5 days I recognize this as laziness on my part and I give it my best with mixed results. Everything I do is serious trial and error. I fail pretty often. It's easy to tell if I'm failing because there is much complaining and misbehaving among the students.

We obtained a basketball and a kickball this week too. This has seriously increased our quality of play. Now our game options are nearly unlimited. Basketball, dodge ball, kickball, 4 square and "futbol" are just a few of the games now in our daily routine. Last night most of the family played HORSE and this morning, all 7 of us were outside riding the scooters and Rip-sticks. Good fun! We also got a card game called Pictureka! that involves lots of pictures and random words on cards. We tried one of the ways to play it last night and it was fun. Most exciting news on the game front is that I taught the children how to play Dutch Blitz. They.love.it.a.lot.

As I type, our unbelievably adorable kitty has sneaked into my room and it currently stalking my hands as I type. He just jumped on my keyboard. Bad kitty. When he appeared in the doorway I looked at him and he froze, then laid down and started licking his fur, like he wasn't planning an ambush :D. One of his favorite things to do is lick and bite your face while you are holding him. That's right - I said "lick and BITE your face". He acts just like a dog. He can actually sit up and beg at the table.

I didn't actually take any new photos this week, so I won't be posting any this time around - sorry!

Now about about sign class. I know I talk a lot about this, but I am enjoying it so much. I got to go to the longer sign class on Saturday morning again. I learned so much! The best part about what I'm learning is that I get to practice all the time with Jenni. My goal before I leave Honduras is to be as close to fluent as possible in Honduran Sign Language.

I've been reading in Luke recently (I actually just finished the book today) and these verses struck me:
"But they [the women] found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them. 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!..." Luke 24: 2-6
The most striking thing about it was how often I "look among the dead for the living". Christ is risen! Rejoice! He is powerful. He is not a dead god that doesn't care or hear me. He is alive, He loves me and cares for me, He can do things in my life and in the lives of those around me, if only I will call on Him for strength and guidance. Let is be so in my life and yours!

Time flies...

Sorry that it’s been more than a week since I have written! Our internet has not been working at all since Wednesday. It’s the end of rainy season and it’s going out with a BANG! We’ve had heavy rain every day for the last week and una tormenta that knocked down several trees and caused some leaks in our house.  I can get our neighbors internet from my room (don’t worry they know!) and that is how I’m posting this.

In other news – I started running again. First you must know that I don’t breathe well at high altitudes. That is why I waited a full 3 weeks before even thinking about running. That first day casi morí . I made it 10 minutes before I had to quit. I.am.pathetic. But I kept it up and I am definitely doing better! Except that the family dogs sometimes forget who I am and bark ferociously at me.

More importantly, it’s been a busy week here! We had some car trouble that threw a wrench in a number of our plans. We did NOT make it to Tegucigalpa this week, which was a bummer for a number of reasons. I did make it to “Ladies’ Bible study”, which is such a blessing to me! We did not manage to go out to dinner for my birthday (that’s right - I’m 22 now!!), but we did make it to sign class and bible study – both good things! Also Paul bought me a cake, the family sang to me and all the kids made me cards :D.

 This weekend there was a Missionary conference here in Siguatepeque. I met A LOT of people! I know most of you recognize that I am very outgoing, but it is a little terrifying to me to introduce myself to people and be in a room full of people I don’t know. I did manage to get over my fears a bit and got to know some really cool people. I finally met the pastor of my church here! The family just got home from furlough last week. They seem like a really great family and Pastor Tim really has a heart for the Lord and for the people here in Honduras.  The speaker this weekend was Dave Howard. He is the brother –in-law of the late Jim Elliot, who was one of the 5 missionaries killed in Ecuador in the 1950s (book – Through Gates of Splendor – one of the best books I’ve ever read). He spoke the whole weekend about Peter and the example of his life and how it pertains especially to missionaries. He talked about the costs of being a missionary and following God’s call on your life and about mistakes, doubts, and things (like pride and self-sufficiency) that can ruin your ministry. I heard from God in a lot of ways over the weekend. I’m very glad I had the opportunity to go!

I also got to go to a different sign class – with pretty much all Hondureños. There are about 6 deaf people and maybe 15 hearing people and they’re all learning sign together. Until about 3 years ago, no one in this city knew sign language. There is definitely a deaf community here, but they had no one to teach them to sign. Deaf people don’t just KNOW sign, they need to be taught! Schools for students with special needs and ready information and resources for parents with children with disabilities are things we take for granted in the US. Can you even fathom being deaf and not knowing sign language? I hadn’t even considered it as a possibility until recently. I have met some incredibly intelligent and dedicated deaf people who in just a short time were able to learn how to sign and effectively communicate with others and finally show to those around them that they are people and they are worth something. They are teachers, painters, students and fellow members of the body of Christ. I praise God that I am learning sign and have the opportunity to get to know them. I am especially glad that I have already been able to communicate better with Jenni. She has a great sense of humor and I know that God is using this to teach both of us something.

Church yesterday was great. We talked about the true purpose of a church and even spent some time in groups brainstorming answers to these questions: “What comes to mind when you hear the word church? What is the purpose of a church? What does a church need to accomplish its purpose?” Unfortunately for my group, I was the scribe. My group was trilingual (Sign, English, Spanish) and it was hard for me to keep up with everyone. I learned some new words though. ‘Sabiduría’ means ‘wisdom’ and ‘liderazgo’ means ‘strong leader’.

Wow! I almost ended this blog post without talking about school! We only had three normal days last week, so not much happened. All of the kids are progressing well! The current hiccup for the older two is grammar. Their textbooks don’t always give the clearest explanation of some concepts and then we’re all in the dark! Math is a strength for all of them. They all think quickly and logically. I am working on reading skills most intensively with the youngest and I can already see some progress. He got a 100% on his spelling test this morning! Sometimes I wonder if having a class of 20 children of the same grade would be easier that trying to teach 3 grades at the same time.  I am responsible for helping my students with 20 different subjects.  That’s not even counting Spanish and Sign Language. It’s overwhelming sometimes!

ALSO this weekend we went to some really beautiful caves nearby. Please enjoy the following photos :D

My last thoughts for this post are about appreciation. I know you have all done things or had jobs that are completely thankless and TRUST ME, I have been there too. You don’t serve God expecting that you are going to be recognized or even thanked. The couple I work for though does fantastic job of thanking me and frequently tells people what a blessing I am to them and their family. I appreciate this and I will take the time to tell you they are all a blessing to me in different ways and this first month has FLOWN by! 

Learning and Teaching

I have officially spend a little over two weeks in Honduras. If we have a normal day of school tomorrow, it will be the end of our first full week. The last week or so was crazy busy!

 Last Wednesday, there was a "desfile" (parade) in town that all the private schools participated in. I had never really experienced a parade before. I come from a variety of small towns - what chance or reason did I ever have to go to a parade? None. It was very interesting. Each school has it's own theme, dance, marching formations, or music that they were performing . There were definitely good and bad things about each school. Desfiles are important to many schools, so I was glad for the experience that helped me understand the culture a little bit more.

The least helpful map of all time

      On Thursday, Friday and Saturday the family I'm working with (the Hosier's) had company. Three adults (all teachers from Tegucigalpa) and two children (about the ages of the children I nanny/teach). 12 people in one house! It was insane! We went hiking in Panacom (nearby forest reserve/ resort). We barely made it to our goal, which was an elusive waterfall "45 minutos" away- (see picture of sign). Minutes? Really?? No distances or levels of difficulty were listed. I was skeptical, to say the least. We soon discovered that this hike was NOT going to be easy. The path was treacherous in most places and I found myself saving a 10-year-old girl's life more than once.

Great view. This is about half of Honduras :D 

 We also encountered a broken water main that was spewing out massive amounts of water, creating a waterfall so intense you could not avoid it if you wanted to continue the hike. Bring it on Honduran jungle!! Still not sure how my camera (or my 10-year-old friend) survived the hike. On one particularly steep switchback, I declared, "The next moving water we come to is our waterfall!!! I don't care what it is!!" Luckily for my companions, the next water we came to was, in fact, the waterfall. It was about 60feet high and Emma, Morgan and I greatly enjoyed standing under it and taking a powerful beating. That water felt fantastic after all the pain we'd been through. On the hike back that same 10-year-old girl said several times that this was "the worst day ever and the waterfall was definitely NOT worth the hike"....Uh...how do you respond to that? I told her she'd feel differently the next day. She did - fear not - hikes with Christine are always fun :D.


The rest of the weekend was spent doing restful things: visiting the city some, lots of cooking, buying a cheap CELL PHONE. I tried to avoid it, but as a caretaker of children - it is much safer if I have a cell, especially since there is no land line in their home. We also visited a local children's home and school for extremely poor children. Great experience - one of the teachers has a dream of opening a children's home and school similar to the one we visited and I told her, in all seriousness, if she got it started in the next couple years I would be willing to come back down and teach at it.

Sunday was church! I really like this church. I've been WAY more outgoing with strangers here than I ever have been en los Estados. I want friends! And I am slowly making friends with a variety of people. I love being greeted at church with hugs and kisses :D. (Greeting people and spending time to get to know fellow Christians so we can share one another's burdens was the topic of the sermon.)
This week of school has proved to me that I have A LOT to learn about teaching. Every time I encounter some thing in a 5th grade textbook that I don't have a clue about, I am humbled. 'I passed 5th grade with flying colors,' I grumble to myself and then I get serious about learning it so I can teach it back to my student. My 3rd grade level boy struggles with doing work with out guidance and I am learning how to help someone believe in their own abilities and work independently. Hard lessons to learn and teach. Algebra is my current nemesis with my 8th grade level girl. Can I admit something? I'm not good at teaching math. I understand it fine, but I open my mouth to explain things and sounds like

"Uhhhh....hmmm....grrrr" come out. Helpful? NO. We're working through it together though. My biggest learning/ teaching obstacles are Spanish and Honduran Sign Language. I haven't even really jumped in with them yet because I am so intimidated (and was really sick Tuesday and recovering Wednesday). I've learned a lot of sign this week though, and I've been assessing the children's knowledge of Spanish so I'm going to dive in head first tomorrow afternoon!

Splatter painting fun :D 

I am amazed at how quickly this family has accepted me into their own. I know things won't be perfect, but I am praying that God continues to bless both of our ministries and gives us unity as we work for Him. I'd also like to ask prayer for creativity. I only have so many cool ideas stored up from camp and student teaching. And that I continue to serve God and those around me humbly, without expecting anything in return.

OK thanks for reading a LONG post. I've had more time to process life down here and had a lot to say!! Love and miss you all :D

Landing on my feet

OK! I have officially arrived in Honduras. Well, I got here on Thursday of last week. It has taken me this long to get the energy to sit down and WANT to write this blog. Writing is a bit of a chore for me, but I want to share my experiences with you all and I made promises...unfortunately. That's enough negativity for one post, the rest will be really upbeat! After forgetting my passport and having to leave a day later than planned (yes I have officially had the worst travelling experience EVER) I did make it here. I panicked for about 5 mins in the airport because my flight got in early and the family who I am working for was no where to be seen. I had no plan B. Stupid - I know. Luckily Americans are easy to find and inside the airport I was very safe. I did finally find them and they fed me lunch and the "getting-to-know-each other" phase began.
There are 3 children in the family I am working for (3rd, 5th and 8th grade). They are high-energy and very fun. I am getting along with them and their parents very well so far! Today was day 2 of school for me and I help, teach and guide for 3-4 hours in the morning, then we eat lunch like we haven't seen food in days - learning is hard work! Afternoons are for chores, playing and secret learning (when Christine tries to sneak learning into everyday activities). I am also developing a learning schedule for Spanish and Honduran sign language. Phew! My brain hurts just thinking about it!
Over the weekend I got to visit the town and learn more about Honduras and the specific town we live in, Siguatepeque. It is a good sized town half-way between the two major cities in Honduras. The most important thing I learned was that, even though we're really safe in our home (which is beautiful - more on that later) I have to be aware that when I step through the gate, I am in danger. Crime (drugs, stealing, killings) is just a part of life in this city and as an American female I need to be aware of the dangers all the time. Essentially, I stay out of the bad parts of town, I don't go places alone and I don't get in taxis. (Sorry Mom, Dad and Laurie...I know this is scaring you - God is keeping me safe!!) On Sunday I went to church with my family. It is a small North American style church that has services in English, Spanish and Honduran Sign language. I met about a million people on Sunday! There are also Wednesday night services. I think I am going to enjoy being a part of this church. I will be helping with children's church occasionally too!
Another thing I will hopefully have the chance to do is volunteer at the VERY SMALL public school nearby. Many of their teachers are untrained and Paul, the dad in the family, I am working with, said they would love to have me help out there. Also Paul works with a children's home that has many special needs children and they are struggling with education for them because they aren't sure what learning disabilities the children have. He asked if I could help test them and talk with the teachers there about specific way to teach children with learning disabilities. Do you know how exciting and terrifying both of those things are. I am so young and so inexperienced, but with the little experience I do have and with God on my side, I know I am qualified to help in some way!
Can I tell you the craziest thing? These kids think I'm cool. I know some of you are thinking - man I wish I could tell them some stories about how weird Christine really is. But they love my weirdness, they think I know cool games, they love crafts and playing outside. They also love to ask questions. I told them I am seriously considering making a list of the questions that they ask me everyday and posting the answers as well so I can say "Refer to questions #7 on the list on questions you ask everyday". Question #1 is: Do you like the cat? We adopted a gatito on the way home from the airport on Thursday. He is SO ugly, but has the best personality of any cat I've ever met. He is going to be cute some day (when all his hair grows in and you can't count every rib...) and he will be irresistible then. Already, it has conned me into sharing ice cream with it twice, in 5 days- I'm a sucker!
This house is I'm living in is nice! Lots of plants indoors, room  to play outside and I don't have to share a bedroom!
This is getting really long.
I will leave you with this thought. We talked about how truly great Christians are the ones who serve others, put others ahead of themselves, and bear one another's burdens. It left me thinking, because by virtue of my job right now I am a servant. I chose to come here and volunteer for a school year to help this missionary family. BUT, that doesn't mean I have a true attitude of service or selflessness. It is something I know I am moving toward and need to work on everyday.
If you are reading this and you are my friend or family - I love and miss you!!!

Getting Ready

Everyday I do something else to get myself ready to go to Honduras. Some days I just spend time with people I love. I am going to miss my friends and family immensely! Yesterday I bought 2 shirts and a pile of booksfrom Salvation Army - I can't resist 50 cent books. Who can? Today I'm going to pick out pictures of friends and family to get printed so I can have a beautiful collage of my favorite faces on my wall in Honduras. 


For those of you who are really confused by now...I am working as a nanny/home-school teacher for a missionary family in Siguatepeque, Honduras for the 2011-12 school year. To put this mildly - I'm really excited about this opportunity God has given me. 


I was about to write a list of things I'm worried about but I'm not going to give into that temptation. There are a lot of unknowns but I am not going to let them scare or discourage me! I make no promises about how often I will write but I promise to keep everyone updated on the many adventures I am sure to have. 


Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."  

Siguatepeque, Honduras - I'll post pictures for real when I get down there!