You Can't Run If You're Holding Suitcases: April 2012

These past few weeks have been interesting. I've been on a constant pendulum between focusing on my own issues and on the serious issues of my friends and family. I might be worrying too much, but life is serious. I just read my friend Colleen's blog and she said that you cannot experience true joy without also experiencing deep sorrow. Joy does not mean as much is we have not lived in the other camp: sorrow. I'm not trying to say my life has been full of sorrow lately. It hasn't. I simply feel like I've been living on the more serious side of life lately. It's a strange place for me to be, but not a bad place. Many times recently I've gotten an email that drove me to my knees. Sickness, loss, pain, confusion. Life is filled with these things. I don't understand them. The only thing I can do for friends near and close is offer words of comfort and pray. Pray like lives depend on it, because they do. When I consider my own problems, I get discouraged. I miss my friends and family, I get frustrated, I get angry, I get exhausted. These are usually very temporary moods. In the words of my pastor "I might have had a bad week, but I did not almost die." (paraphrase). There are always blessings to count, even in the hard times. I've been reminded recently that Christ died for me and I belong to God. It's not a complicated revelation, but when you live each day in the light of both of these truths, it changes you. Jesus Christ gave His life for me. I am the beloved daughter of God. Wow. What did I do to deserve that? Nothing. God loves me with all my craziness and faults. Christ died for me because He loved me before I was born.

OK, I guess I should tell you what I've been up to! I only have 7 weeks left here in Honduras and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I'm looking forward to seeing as many friends and family as I can this summer, but part of me never wants to leave this country. Good thing I'm coming back!! Lately, I do a lot of flipping through school books, making sure the kids are on track to finish up this school year before I leave. My goal today is to look through their school books for next year and make sure they've mastered all the skills they need to start next year in good shape. There will be a lot of review over the coming weeks.

Fun things I've been doing (see pics at the end!): Church sport tournament! (I posted lots of pics of this on Facebook.). I played volleyball and soccer, and "coached" basketball. The women lost every single game, but we still had a GREAT time playing. The men did quite a bit better and came in second in both volleyball and basketball. I had so much fun cheering and making new friends. Sawdust carpets in Comayagua! There is this longstanding tradition of people making beautiful "carpets" out of colored on the street of Comayagua (a nearby town) on Good Friday. I went with a few friends and it was fabulous. Mandy came to visit! My friend Mandy from camp came to visit me this week. The family was out of town on a retreat with their mission organization, so I had Mandy all to my self. We visited the school I'll be working at next year, Destino del Reino. We went out for baleadas, went to a couple Bible studies, she met most of my friends, we took a bus to Lake Yajoa and had delicious fish for lunch. We wandered around town and got delicious ice cream. It was really fun and relaxing. I LOVED having her here!! Last, but not least: Swimming in the river! I love swimming and hiking. I also love spending the day with my friends and the Colbath children.

I hope you are all doing well. OH! The other important thing I did in the last couple weeks was write my support letter for next year. It tells about what I'll be doing next year and explains why I need to raise money in order to work at Destino. I haven't begun sending them out yet, but please send me an email with your address (christine.rankin10@houghton.edu) and let me know if you would like one! If you send me an email, update me on your life too!!

This is from a short book I'm reading called "19 Mercies" by Brennan Manning:
"Lord Jesus, be for me the way to Abba, Father. Be for me all my truth and all my life. Lead me into the crucified life, which is real life, and eternal. Lead me away from every lesser thing. by Your love, renew my inner being so that I can receive Your love, and know it truly, and be Your love to others. Amen."