Friday, November 26, 2010

In Everything...


Well, I officially spent my first “real” holiday in a different country…and since it was Thanksgiving, this blog is going to be all about giving thanks to my faithful friend, comforter, Savior, and Lord. Oh, and don’t worry, I still had a very American Thanksgiving, other than the fact of working and being away with family. I taught all my kids about the history of Thanksgiving, introduced them to pumpkin pie, and Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving, and we even made a turkey, whose feathers were made up of all we were thankful for (that’s what the picture is) =)

First I want to say that I’m so thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness and strength. I know I’ve said this before in my blogs and probably/hopefully will continue to say it-God has taught me so much in my 3 ½ months I’ve been here in Mexico. And He is constantly giving me the strength to do things which on my own, I would never have done and been able to serve Him not of myself of Him.

Second, I want to thank the Lord for my amazing family, my second family here in Mexico (the Guzman’s-who provided a real Thanksgiving meal and invited me over to share it), my friends, both in the states and here -I can’t count the times where each one of them have offered me encouragement and prayers, which I’m indebted to (including y’all). As for my family, our skype dates and simple love even when we are not in the same country have been priceless, and I love every minute we can talk and catch up.

Third, I’m thankful for my rambunctious class-though at times they can be exasperating, I love them all so much. I can always count on them to make me smile and laugh-I love it! So though, it wasn’t easy not being able to spend Thanksgiving with my family and not really being able to talk to them yesterday, I’m blessed beyond measure, and I am content and just filled with thanksgiving-in everything, may I give thanks, which is the will of God in Christ Jesus (1 Thes. 5:18) What are y’all thankful for???

Because of Christ,
Rhonda

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Not About Me


I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday-I forgot about it until last night at 11, and by then I was really tired and knew I couldn't write anything that made sense-I know I'm only 23, but for those who know me can vouch when I say, I don't make a lot of sense late at night (11 is late for me) especially when I'm tired.

However, better late than never=) My kids are doing better-they still have their ups and downs, but they are fun to teach. I got to talk to one of my kids about salvation, and he accepted the Lord a couple weeks ago during chapel. It's so exciting and a relief to know that your students have accepted Christ as their Savior!! Also, yesterday, one of my students asked me for if he could play tag while waiting for his mom (but it's against the rules of the school), so I said no, but thanks for asking in English; I'm so proud. His response was: so, does that mean I can do it? I couldn't help but laugh a little because he was so cute with his reasoning if he asks something in English, I will be more likely to say yes...you have to love my kids!

Last Saturday I played my flute in a wedding. It was my first time ever playing for a wedding. Dr. Guzman asked me the Wednesday before, and at first, I though he was joking, but he wasn't, and since I can't say no, I played (I didn't even know the bride) It went pretty well, and it was cool to see a wedding in a different country-it was a lot different from ours in America...from lassos to gold coins to the never-ending bouquet toss (which I got a free mini wedding veil)...it was fun and interesting!

Today, I went to the juvenile detention home, where I gave my testimony-yes, in Spanish-and yes, I was asked to- and yes I was so nervous...now it may seem weird to some of y'all to think that I had no problem speaking to 50-70 girls every Tuesday when I was a Liberty no to mention the fact that I've given my testimony several times in my life...so what's the big deal? But all of that was in English; it's really nerve-wracking to give my testimony in Spanish. Though, thanks to Mrs. Guzman, it was understandable because she read over it and corrected my many errors. So hopefully the Lord used it to encourage some of the teens there-and they were really nice and patient with my accented Spanish=)

Between the wedding and the testimony and reading Acts 20:24, 26-27, the Holy Spirit convicted me again. I was so nervous playing my flute for the wedding and giving my testimony...to be honest, I wanted to back out of both of them. My testimony was two-fold, I was allowing Satan to put doubts in sharing my testimony by thinking, "I haven't faced anything like these guys in the detention home have by the grace of God; how could my testimony help at all?" as well as the fact that I was nervous speaking Spanish in front of like 20 people, just like I was nervous playing my flute. Then when I read Acts 20:24, 26-27, Paul didn't count his life as dear to him but was willing to do whatever for the furtherance of the Gospel and to help others in their faith-he took advantage of every opportunity, so that when he left Ephesus heading to Jerusalem, knowing he was going to die, he confidently said that he was innocent of any man's blood because he boldly shared the Word with everyone. And here I was being Moses making excuse after excuse why I couldn't do it, when the Holy Spirit told me, "Rhonda, since when is this about you? Since when do you belittle your testimony? Your testimony isn't even about you but about the grace you've received and how God has worked in your life. Playing your flute isn't about impressing people but about bringing glory to God Almighty. All of it is about God, so you need to be a willing vessel and stop thinking it's about you." And you know, that's exactly what I was doing...I was underestimating the power of the Holy Spirit and not being willing to be available to the opportunities God gave me...because I put the focus on me and not on whom it should be on...God-may God always be my focus and may I always remember it's not about me at all but about Him and His glory!

Because of Christ,
Rhonda

Friday, November 12, 2010

God Things


I can’t believe it’s Friday already, though I must confess, it’s nice to have a three day weekend (it’s a holiday on Monday-yes!) Today, my 4 and 5 year olds threw me a surprise party to say thank you for teaching them English (that is all of them in the picture) It was so sweet and encouraging. My 1st and 2nd graders have been somewhat of a challenge week, simply because they are just being so mean to each other. Please pray that they will just learn to show love to each other. God has really taught me a lot through teaching them though. Love is not an easy thing, and you hear all the time that love is a choice, and it takes work. Well, seeing how easy it is for me to respond without patience to my students when they don’t want to listen or to see them react to each other when someone calls them a name, it really just opens my eyes of what love truly is. I choose to respond in love with patience or I choose to be snappy with them and respond in impatience-it’s my choice, am I going to choose to love or not to-in your mind it sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But in reality, choosing to love is hard. And the more I see what love truly is and the work it takes, the more humbled I am at God’s love, and I am just in awe of Him and the love He demonstrated for me. I tell my kids that if God could love us, we should have no problem loving each other, which more and more, I’m seeing how true that is. I’ve been in church all my life and accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 4, but the older I am and seeing how challenging having patience can be or seeing my kids just not getting along, the more I see how amazing the love of God is and how much we have to love others!

Another God-thing in my life is how God really is our strength and comfort when we let Him. This past week, there have been ups and downs, but God has been so awesome. For example, on Sunday, I just felt really alone, and on Sunday night, no joke, the sermon was about when you are alone, you are not really alone because God is right there beside you-He is giving you strength, He is your constant, He is faithful. Then this week, with my kids acting up, I was getting pretty discouraged, and there are still times when I just wish I knew Spanish completely, yet once again through my devotions, talking to my amazing brother and friends, and reading the story of Amy Carmichael, God just encouraged me and strengthened me. He used these tools just to remind me that I am not alone in my struggles nor I am I alone in my blessings. It’s just so humbling that when we are willing to continue on, not because of ourselves (because He knows how weak I am) and we want to hear from Him, He is faithful-we just need to be still and know that He is God!!

Please continue to pray for me-I believe that God has sustained me through your prayers as well! Enjoy your weekend and next week!

Because of Christ,
Rhonda

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Three Months Later...Spanglish


I know that today is Sunday, but I decided to wait until today because I have as of today, been here for three months, so I wait until today and write. How fast these three months have flown by-at times, I wake up still not believing that I’m actually living in Mexico. Other days, I feel like I have been here forever (until I find myself not being able to say exactly what I want to say in Spanish…lol). These three months have been filled with so many blessings, lessons, and countless first.

As for the firsts (I’ll just cover this week or this blog will become a novel)-I got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time on Monday=) It was so warm, and I was able to see the sun start to set across the ocean. While I was there, I tried octopus for the first time; it was chewy but good; I also saw sharks (at least that is what those around me said) in the ocean. I experienced my first bonfire without s’mores (they don’t have graham crackers) on Monday as well-there was a bonfire/all-nighter with the youth group, which was a lot of fun. I also (for the first time) taught a couple of the girls from the youth group how to make crepes and chocolate chip cookies-soon, they want to learn how to make brownies-I think they think Americans only eat dessert, what can I say? But for those who know me, you’re probably shocked that they asked me to teach them how to cook-I was pretty speechless, but God works miracles, and so far, I haven’t ruined anything I’ve cooked!!

My kids are still doing well. I’m teaching them a couple of songs for the Christmas program coming up, and one of my kids asked me to teach them a Halloween song (remember, he is asking this on November 3rd), so unfortunately, I had to crush his desire by not only telling him Halloween is past but that we don’t have songs for Halloween-I think he’ll be okay. In seriousness, my kids are a blast and are slowly getting into the swing of things and starting to get along…though please continue to pray for them.

I find myself more and more speaking Spanglish; there are times where I’m talking to the Guzmans in English, and randomly, I say a word in Spanish instead of English. And there are times where I’m talking in Spanish and say a word in English (even when I know the Spanish equivalent)-I’m not sure if this is a good sign or a sign that I’m losing both language and soon won’t be able to converse at all…hopefully it’s the sign I’m slowly becoming bilingual. The youth pastor and the teens find it a blast to use the English they know, so yesterday, the five of us that went to the juvenile detention home spoke a mixture of Spanglish-it was pretty funny-and I think Spanglish should be an official language!

During my three months here, God has taught me so much and has really taught me how to be dependent on Him and to wait on Him. I don’t know what the future holds, but it’s okay. God calls us to live day by day, walking in His Spirit. I know He will lead me, and while He is being silent about the future, He is telling me to live today to the fullest, bringing Him the glory by serving Him with my whole heart day to day, leaning on His strength and not to be paralyzed by excuses but being confident in Him.

Lastly, I want to thank all y’all for y’all’s prayers-they have meant so much to me, and I ask y’all to continue to pray for me!

Because of Christ,
Rhonda