Fall turning to Winter...

The weather over the last couple weeks has progressively gotten colder. I wake up every morning and peak out my window to see what the day may hold. Oh the joy to see the sunshine rising over the Mountains... even if it is surrounded by smog! :) We have had a couple of cold days here and there, but nothing to horrible. Everyone has informed me that the winter is supposed to be especially cold this year, but so far we haven't see that yet. I wouldn't mind if it held off for another six weeks. :p

This evening I will be participating in a little "camping" outing with some of the kids from the Elementary. While getting ready for school this morning, I received a phone call asking me if I would be willing to help chaperone a group of the 5-6th graders who will be spending the night here on campus. Apparently they are doing some sort of wilderness experience and are going to build a campfire and all. So this evening when they are all ready to crawl into their little sleeping bags I will join the girls in their tent. Hopefully the night isn't super cold, but I will be fully decked out in warm clothing, lots of blankets, and a hot water bottle!

Germ-X!!!

It's official... the swine flu is in Chile... Ahhhh!! Just when I thought the craze was dying out... The school administrator came around to each of the classrooms today with specific instructions that everyone is to wash their hands and use germ-x every day before they eat lunch. I'm not really worried about it however. The Lord is still in control.

This week has turned out to be extremely short. There are only class days due to a Chilean holiday on Thursday and an extra holiday given for Friday. My goal is to be diligent in the work I need to accomplish.

The semester and school year are quickly drawing to a close and I know that it will be over before in a flash. Many of the students as well as the administration are beginning to fret over what is going to happen for teachers next semester. There is still a need for at least 2 more teachers. Will you be in prayer with me for the school? I know the Lord is in control and His timing is perfect.

Spirit Week - Clash Day

Being a little over halfway through the second semester here at SCA provides great timing for Spirit week. The weather is turning dreary and getting ready to hit the rainy season.... so a little extra "Spirit" is in order.

The different classes in the Elementary and High School have been divided into 4 teams with 2 teachers on each team as well. So every morning this week, we will gather with our teams and do a predetermined activity as a group. This first day, Clash Day, each team came up with a team name and decorated their team poster. Miss Lori, the Kindergarden teacher, and myself are the offical leaders of the "Yello Jaket Jokers" (all words are intentionally misspelled).

As you can see... the Junior High girls did very well in their clashing abilitites. It promises to be an exciting week with more great days to follow.

Gone to a better place...

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Late Sunday evening I received news from home saying that my Aunt Lynne passed away. We weren't super close, but my immediate reaction was to leave for home as soon as possible. All I could think about was being with my family. I was very close to hopping on a plane and heading back to the States. However, after praying, talking, and thinking some more... I felt more at peace about staying than going.

I'm very thankful that I can rest in the fact that she trusted Christ as her personal Savior and that I will one day see her again in heaven. My Aunt had a great deal of health problems for a long time, and for her sake I am thankful that she is no longer in pain. I'm confident that the Lord's timing is perfect and he has it all worked out for His glory!

The Memorial service will be held today in Lincoln. My parents and sister were able to travel out for the service. I would definitely appreciate your prayers for them at this time. Please pray also for my Grandparents. They will have much to do over the next couple of months... please pray for their physical as well as emotional strength. Thank you!

How we got a chicken...

Off and on over the last couple of weeks, we as a Science class have been wanting to disect something. The purpose being, our topic of study has been cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals, their characteristics, and the way their organs work. Originally the idea was to get a frog. How hard can that be? The secretary here at the school, Kathy, did some checking for us and found out the it is illegal to disect frogs here... hmmm... not sure why that is.

A couple of the girls were not sad at all about not being able to be apart of a disection, but the majority were disappointed. However, after asking around some more, Kathy found out that we could disect a rabbit if we wanted. Unfortunately no one wanted to kill and skin a rabbit for us. Ugh! Back to square one.

Thankfully Kathy kept pursuing ideas for us and found a place where we could get a chicken. The chicken arrived here at the school this morning, and 20 minutes before Science class began Jose Louis (a guard) killed and plucked it. So, the disection commenced right on time. Many of the girls were enthusiastic and others tolerated it while making gagging noises in the background. All in all it was very informative to be able to see the different organs, and I'm sure the girls won't soon forget it. That's well worth smelling like a chicken for the rest of the day.

P.S. For some of you who may be less inclined to seeing the insides of a chicken, I decided against posting pictures... :)

Highlights of the last week or so...

~ Hiking with Troy and Jodie
~ Going to the B-day party of one of my students
~ Listening to and understanding a big portion of the Sunday service... Super Excited!
~ Garage sale here at the school
~ Hanging with the Kunnari's
~ Eating chicken and massive piles of potato salad at a church dinner
~ Getting ready for classes
~ Being encouraged through God's Word
~ Having to give demerits for unfinished assignments
~ Learning new Spanish words
~ Going to the feria
~ Making dinner with the other singles here
~ Long phone conversations
~ Correcting homework
~ Going for a morning run
~ Taking cold showers
~ Playing Dutch Blitz
~ Teaching new Algebra concepts

All of these things and more have taken place over the last week... many of them could be elaborated on, but I failed to post on the days they happened.
Over all, I am encouraged to watch the Lord work and blessed to be here! Thank you for your prayers!

A Day in Chimborango!

Hola! Saturday was a little out of the ordinary for me, but I absolutely loved it. Lori, one of my fellow teachers, invited me to join her on a trip to a small town outside of the city. The purpose was to go to a little craft show type of thing and also to visit a Chilean family that she's friends with.

I really enjoyed spending time with the family. I have been praying about and desiring more opportunities to be around Spanish and this was one opportunity that the Lord provided. We sat around and talked for quite a while, ate lunch with the family (about 3:30), and played some SkipBo with them before we left. They were so friendly! It was fun to try to talk with them.

Before I left, their little boy asked if there was any gift that he could give me. I just didn't know how to respond... especially in Spanish. Thankfully Lori helped me out! So they sent me away with a handful of roses from their garden.

I look forward to visiting with them again!