Welcome to the first day of October!! Here in Mexico, God gave me a little taste of home by providing fallish temperatures these past couple of days, which I have absolutely loved. However, several people here got sick because of the change of weather, so that's not great, but I can't lie, I have enjoyed it so much! It's fun to see the students come in winter coats, and I couldn't help but be amused when one of the little boys told me it was so cold it could snow. I had to sadly inform him that it actually had to be a lot colder for it to snow, but it was so cute!
Classes have been going pretty well. My boys were a little rowdy today, but all in all, they are getting into used the schedule, and they are learning so much. My kids are so cute and fun. They are beginning to speak more Spanglish, which I think is a good sign. For example, they were making an ocean, using a shoebox because I taught them animals under the sea, and one of my boys lost his octopus, so he said, "Maestra, falta mi octopus!" And if they really want something, for example to go get water, I think they believe if they speak English, I am going to give in, so they say, "Teacher, puedo tomar water, please?" It's so amusing. If they get desperate, Maestra turns into Teacher...I am enjoying it more each day, even through the frustrating times when they don't want to listen or when they call each other names. It's endearing when they all want to eat around my desk, so I moved all of us to a table, so they can all eat with me. It's encouraging when they remember their verse or the Bible story we talked about, or the eagerly show me their work, so proud they understood...especially the English. God is so good!
My Saturday class is so much fun as well. They are amazing people, and I really enjoy the relationships I'm making with them. Visitation went well yesterday. They are now making a rule that no one can speak English to me while we go on visitation, unless they want to learn an English word...so I guess that's a good thing, though I must say, it's somewhat of a challenge...=) The youth pastor, Hermano Edgar, is such an example of the Lord. He is so full of knowledge and wisdom. It's challenging because he knows so many different passages and references. It reminds me of how much more disciplined I need to be in learning the word, and as 1 Peter 3:15 commands, we, as Christians, need to be ready every moment to give a reason for the hope that is within us. We might not always have a Bible with us or one with a concordance in the back, or in my case, I have to use a Spanish Bible, so I need to know the references to show people and encourage people using the Word.
One thing the Holy Spirit is showing me is a glimpse of how He feels when His children sin, including me, and it's really eye-opening as well as humbling. My students, especially among the boys, have a real problem with name calling and hitting each other. And it breaks my heart. There are days when it seems endless, and they are being so mean to each other, and it makes me want to cry. And I was praying about it earlier this week, asking the Holy Spirit to show me ways to teach them and show them how to show love toward each other instead of hate and anger. And while I was praying and thinking about it, the Holy Spirit just "hit" me, helping me realize that this is just a glimpse of how He feels when we sin. When we sin, it hurts and saddens Him. Ephesians 4:30 clearly commands us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. I love my students, and when they are mean to each other, it makes me so sad, yet when we sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit, which is much more than simply making Him sad, which is worse enough. And thinking about how I feel toward my students, I am able to catch just a small glimpse of how my sin affects my loving Father, my Abba, who sent His Son to die in order to give me life. It's been such a humbling lesson, yet one I will never forget. It has made me hate sin even more, not merely because of the consequence but now much more because what it does to my precious Father. Thank the Lord for the lessons He teaches us to bring us into a more intimate relationship with Him!
Because of Christ,
Rhonda
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