A Lesson from My Little Ones

Another week has come to an end, but what a week it's been. One full of stretching and blessings and my eyes being open, thanks be to God!!

Teaching is going well; my students started on their other subjects, which I think they are somewhat excited to have a break from an entire day of English, but on the bright side, they are speaking English more=) Though, they picked up saying "I water" when they want water, and when I told them what they are really saying, they thought it was the most funny thing ever! They are a joy to teach. Everyday at lunch time, they all pull up their chairs around my desk in order to eat with me...simple things like that just endear them to me even more (don't worry, now we eat a a larger table that gives a bit more room) As for teaching the teens and some adults, they told me last Saturday that they have fun learning English, whether they are learning anything or not is still to be determined...lol. But in all seriousness, it is a lot of fun teaching them as they teach me even more Spanish, which I am extremely thankful for!

Last night, I went on visitation again. I must say, I have become a better listener, since I have to always be attentive to follow conversations and make sure I understand what's going on, but it's always good to be a good listener, so I am honing my listening skills=) But last night went really well. I would ask y'all to pray for a guy named Jaime as well as for a woman named Martha. They don't know the Lord, and as Hermano Edgar shared the Gospel with Jaime, Jaime wasn't interested. It broke my heart knowing that he turned away from the most important decision in life, but I know that the Holy Spirit is powerful, and God loves Jaime and is hurting over his decision. Please pray on behalf of these two people that the Lord will continue to work in their lives and that they will accept Him as their Savior. Also last night, Hermano Edgar and his wife and the other teens made me invite everyone to come on Saturday night because the youth group is going to a park to do an evangelistic outreach. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous the four times I had to say it...I know, lame; however, it's just one of the ways the Lord works. I have been trying to be more extroverted and speak Spanish more, and God knows how hard it is for me, so He brings people in my life to push me and make me speak Spanish, which is really a good thing.

Another exciting thing that happened this week is this past Tuesday, I gave a little devotional to the girls on 33-6 (a dorm at Liberty). My old RA partner, whom I had the amazing privilege of serving with on the same hall, asked me to speak during hall meeting because it was Missions Emphasis Week and that hall has adopted me to pray for me this year. So, I was able to share how the Lord brought me to Mexico and how He's been teaching about being truly surrendered to Him and not worry about the things of this world and how I have been struggling between cultures, but we don't belong in this world, so we shouldn't be comfortable in this world but should be striving to serve the Lord and bringing glory to Him, wherever He leads us, doing whatever it is He has called us to do! I was so blessed to share that with them because I have missed teaching like that, and I also was able to talk to one of my girls, which was so encouraging!

As you are reading this, you are probably thinking, "Rhonda, when are you going to get to the meaning behind your title?" Well, I'm here=) I have been really struggling with what my ministry is and how I can really pour into my students. And the Holy Spirit has been showing me that I need to really love my kids with the love of Christ. So, I was thinking through 1 Corinthians 13, and the one thing that was really convicting was love is patient. There are times when my kids will ask me what they are suppose to do for the third, fourth, fifth time. And I just want to respond, "Why weren't you listening? How do you not understand?" But the Holy Spirit has really been convicting me about my attitude toward them and pressing upon me the importance of responding with patience, which is not only a fruit of the Spirit but also of love. So, everyday, as I ask the Lord to use me how He wants to, part of it is having patience. So now, when my kids ask me repeatedly the same question, I am reminded that I am to shine the light of God, and one way of doing that is through loving them and seeing them as He does, so instead of getting frustrated over what actually is a really little thing is to respond positively with patience, showing them the love of God. So, as i am suppose to be teaching them, the Holy Spirit is using them to teach and stretch me...praise be to the Lord, God Almighty!
Because of Christ,
Rhonda