My two favorite things

What I've been creating: I brought two new art supplies to the DR with me this year.

1) Watercolor markers
2) A set of alphabet stamps

These two items are so much fun to use.  When I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed, or sad and bored, I know I can just use my creativity.  Here are some pictures of my creations.  I love making cards and blessing people in that way.

Cards for the Reyes Academy girls

Baby shower card

Birthday cards for the girl's home

Thanksgiving cards

Christmas cards - a mixture of my creations and Lyndi's creations

What have you been creating?

Con mucho amor.

What to do with 20 Rice Krispies...

What God has been doing: Every Thursday I go to a girl's home in Santiago with Amanda, Christin, and Heather.  It is always one of my favorite parts of the week.  This week Amanda was picking her parents up from the airport, Christin had a choir concert, and Heather had a meeting.

I was slightly anxious about going by myself because the girls can be a little crazy sometimes.  Normally if only one of us can go, we cancel it.  Next week is Thanksgiving so we won't be there; I did not want to cancel this Thursday with the girls.

I prepared all week, making a giant poster of the Grinch to use with pin the heart on the Grinch.  I made a little green hand/paint craft, and I made Grinch-colored Rice Krispies.

An hour before I was getting ready to leave, Christin realized her choir concert was cancelled.  Inwardly, I thanked God.  He wasn't sending me alone.

He began to send them out in pairs. - Mark 6:7

As 7pm rolled near, we packed up the materials and called the taxi.  We arrived at the girl's home and paid for the ride, and the driver left.  Then, I looked at the home.

It was all dark.

There were no lights on inside.  

I was angry.  I spent all this time preparing, all this money, and work, and no one even thought to tell us the girls were going to be gone this Thursday night.

Then, relief washed over me.  I had Christin right beside me.  I could be standing  here in the dark and rain and cold all by myself.  God didn't send me alone, He had this planned all along.

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.  - Proverbs 16:9 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. 

- Romans 8:28

Christin called a taxi.  As we waited, we planned our evening.  We would go to the supermarket and get ice cream.  We would relax and watch Netflix.  It sounded like the perfect way to spend the night.  But then I looked down in my hands.  I spent so much time preparing and making the Rice Krispies.  What was I supposed to do with them?

I decided to give them away as we made our way home.  We gave some to the taxi driver.  We stopped at the colmado (small store where we buy water, rice, and bananas) and gave some to the guys that work there.  We gave some to our watchie, Leoned.  When we arrived home, we had a couple left for us.  I felt like Santa, giving little Christmas gifts/blessings.  It is my sincere prayer that Avenida 9 is a place transformed by God.  I pray that God is using me to show His love to the people.

God is able to make every blessing of yours overflow for you, so that in every situation you will always have all you need for any good work. - 2 Corinthians 9:8

It made me think about how God knew everything that was going to happen.  He knew that I needed a friend with me when the girls weren't at the home.  I'm also confident He used the little treat to bless the lives of the people who ate them.  It makes me happy that I don't have to worry about the next step in my future.  God has it under control.  I have no idea where I am going to be working and living after June 2016.  Although I wonder daily when God will reveal His plans for my future, for next year, I know He knows what I need to know and when I need to know it.

I also got to share the story with the boys this morning.  They asked if they were going to be blessed by Rice Krispies also... I quickly reminded them they are blessed in many other ways.

It's amazing what God can do with 20 Rice Krispies... and our futures.

Con mucho amor.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - year 2

How we've been decorating:  It's no secret that Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  Here's my blog post from last year.  This year I wanted to get more creative in my decorating.  I was on Pinterest for awhile looking at different ideas.

I came across this adorable washi tape fireplace.  I combined it with this reindeer.  We added the red nose all on our own.  It is one of my favorite parts of the apartment.

Over half of the apartments in our complex have Christmas lights.  We like to think we inadvertently started the trend with our Halloween lights because at the end of October everyone else had their Christmas lights up.  We strung my long chord of lights on our porch and wrapped it around the curtain.

We used this cute example to create our own Christmas garland above the couch.  We didn't have super pretty ribbon, like their example, but we used gray and green yarn.  My mom and Christin's mom both thought the garland looked like sugar cookies.  I layered and combined it with a chalkboard banner that my mom sent.  

We found some fun window clings that we put in Christin's classroom/our kitchen.  

My bedroom is still a work in progress.  I loved my desk from last year because it looked so nice.  This year I have four cork board squares to work with.  I tried using the same "Joy to the World" signs I made from last year.  I'm not loving the result, though.  Any ideas or tips?

I'm trying to decorate my classroom for next to nothing.  It's one of the rooms I spent the most time in during the day.  I want it to be festive and fun.  I hung another garland, and I added some snowflakes to the chalkboard wall.

I didn't have any green and red construction paper, and I can't really afford to buy more, so I watercolored white paper to make a countdown chain.  Each morning the boys chop off a rung.  Only 18 school days left!

I love making snowflakes.  My friend Lyndi is a professional snowflake maker.  We made some at a Christmas party last week, and we placed those on the doors.  We had thought about wrapping our bedroom doors to look like presents, but I don't have the money to buy all that wrapping paper.  This week I taught the boys how to make them.  They make the chalkboard wall look much more festive.

Here are some other glimpses of Christmas around the apartment.  The weather has been cooler, so it really has felt like fall/winter here in Santiago.  Last night it was in the low 70s and there was a huge thunderstorm.  Not quite sure how I am going to survive the 30s when I am back in Oregon for two weeks.  Only one month left until I head to the US for the holiday.  Not that I'm counting the days... :)

Con mucho amor.      

Currently Reading

What I've been watching and reading: I have been helping out with the youth group at one of the churches I go to.  Last Saturday we had a special day where we watched the most amazing movie.  It is called Faith like Potatoes.  It is about a Scottish gentleman and his family farming in Africa.  At the beginning of the movie he starts out a rough, mean, angry guy.  God transforms his heart and life and uses him in big ways in Africa.

The condition for a miracle is difficulty, however the condition for a great miracle is impossibility. 

We need faith like potatoes.  Plain, simple, real faith that will sustain us in our everyday lives. 

It is based on a true story, and there is also a book.  I am going to buy it on Kindle and maybe use it with the boys for Bible class in the spring.

We are currently reading Peace Child for our Bible class.  It is the most fascinating book about missionaries in New Guinea in the 1960s.  They are trying to connect to a culture based on treachery and cannibalism.  Every day when I stop reading the boys beg me for another chapter.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza was a book I found on this list of books to read before you die.  I splurged and purchased it from Barnes and Noble this summer, but didn't get a chance to read it until I got back here.  It is the story of a woman during the Rwandan genocide.  It is a heroic tale of survival and forgiveness.  

It is impossible for a person to harbor anger and hatred when their hearts are bursting with love. pg 223

One book that I fell in love with this fall is called One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  One of my bosses suggested it for a book to read as a class.  It is too poetic and wordy for the boys, but I loved it.  The main message is to be thankful.  We overlook all the little blessings God showers over our lives.  We get too wrapped up in ourselves.  Ann Voskamp challenges readers to make a list of 1,000 gifts or blessings in their lives.  

...live selfishly, skip prayer, complain, go to bed late, neglect cleaning the toilets.  I live tired.  Afraid.  Anxious.  Weary.  pg 27

The hurry makes us hurt. pg 66

The real problem of life is never a lack of time.  The real problem of life - in my life is lack of thanksgiving. pg 72

Thanksgiving is what multiplies the joy and makes any life large, and I hunger for it.  pg 48

A few weekends ago I went to the mountains of Constanza.  It was a wonderful time for me to simply rest, relax, and read.  In a meeting recently and someone mentioned the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan.  I purchased the book over the summer for the boys to read.  Many years ago when I was in middle school I remember reading it, but I hadn't opened it since then.  I gobbled it down over the weekend in Constanza.  I could relate and understand so much more now.  There is Spanish mixed in with the English text, just like how Julia Alvarez (one of my favorite authors) writes.

I often use websites that send me an e-mail with cheap or free Kindle books for the day.  Last year around this time I downloaded Sugerplum Homecoming.  I loved the Christmas love story.  This year I am looking for another Christmas-y story.  Any suggestions?

In high school I loved reading realistic fiction.  It was my go-to genre.  Since moving to the DR, I love reading Christian books and books about missionaries.  It is fascinating to read stories about how God is moving and working all over the world.  I also love reading multicultural books, or books that weave in Spanish.  I have been using Thrift Books to purchase novels.  When I spent $50 I get a $5 coupon for my next order.  I also have been buying books on the Kindle app, but I love actually holding books.  It is just challenging to do that here in the DR because there aren't many any bookstores.

My TO READ NEXT list:

• Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose: This book is also a true story about a woman in a prison camp during WWII.  The girls in the Reyes Academy are reading it at the moment, and this woman had incredible faith to endure the camp.  
• Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis: This is the story of Katie, a missionary who left her whole life behind in the US to move to Uganda.  She is only 22 years old and has set up a child sponsorship program with over 400 kids getting food, schooling, and the love of Jesus.  
• Faith like Potatoes by Angus Buchan: The book I talked about above. 
• A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah: One of the books I purchased for the boys this summer.  It is about kid soldiers in Sierra Leone.
• Fervent by Priscilla Shirer: The non fiction book that accompanies her movie, War Room.  It is a book about prayer strategy.  

What are you reading?  What is on your book list?  

Con mucho amor. 

When ART and SCIENCE collide

What we're creating: I found this blog on Pinterest showing how to create watercolor rocks.  I loved the idea and knew it would be the perfect way to end our rock and mineral unit.  We watched this short video on geodes, and we looked at various pictures for examples.  It was so fun to watch the boys create these pieces of art.  They especially loved using salt and watercolors together.  I would have loved to have real examples of geodes, or have a geode that we could bust open together.

Here are the examples I made.  I kind of want to get cheap frames for them in the US when I am back in December.  They would be cute to hang.  Maybe I will bring them back with me to Oregon and put them above my dresser in my bedroom there.

Here are the boy's paintings.

At the end of the year I want to do a mini Reyes Academy art show.  We learned about an artist statement, and they wrote one for the "Scream" painting they did on Halloween.  They will also write one for these watercolors.  It is a great way to combine art, science, and writing.

Con mucho amor.

The unexpectable, the inexplainable

Sunday night I sat in a rocking chair in the mountains of Constanza.  It had been a rainy and dreary weekend, and I filled with sadness that it wasn't going to be a pretty sunset.  See, I love sunsets.  And sunrises.  I had zero expectations for what God had up His mighty sleeves.  He painted me this.  It was even prettier in person. 

He can do so much more than we ever think.  This was my prayer as I sat there watching the sky dance with colors. 

God, You amaze me.  

I love the sky.  It is bursting with colors right now.  The purple mountains silhouetted against the blue goldish sky.  You really are the God of wonders.  The fire tipped clouds perch on the end of the world.  

You are a BIG God in BIG moments.  But You also fill me with wonder at the little things.  It's crazy how sunsets can be so ordinary, yet so extraordinary at the same time.  

I love being filled with peace here God.  Help me to bring the peace and quiet and contentness back to Santiago with me. 

Oh God, the colors are changing just like how life changes.  Slowly.  Then all at once.  You are a God of wonders beyond our galaxy.  You are holy, God. 

Holy. 

Full of grace and compassion for Your children. 

You amaze me, God.  

Bring me closer to You.  Tuck me under Your arm.  Keep me safe  Guide my life and turn it into a masterpiece that only proclaims You, my Master.  My artist. 

Amen. 

God is working

What I've been thinking about:  Life is certainly a roller coaster here in the Dominican Republic.  Week #10 was a challenging week.  The boys hadn't studied, they kept making strange noises that were driving me crazy, and we had a whole conversation about responsibility.  Unfortunately they did not let my words about their habits and futures soak in.  I hit Friday, October 23rd feeling defeated and exhausted.

Last Monday rolled around.  I was anxious for the week.  Thursday we had planned to go to the Haitian school, and end the week with a Halloween scavenger hunt around Santiago.  I was stressed.  Tired.  Ready for the weekend.  And it was only Monday...

I noticed someone's Facebook status as I was scrolling on Monday afternoon.  She is a teacher at a Dominican school here in Santiago.  She was asking for help judging a debate in her English class.  I liked her status and thought to myself, "Wow, what a neat opportunity.  Too bad I teach all day."  A few minutes later, she sent me a Facebook messaging asking if my older students and I would like to come judge.  I hadn't even thought of bringing the kids along!

Monday night at Bible study I asked for prayer for the week.  That God would be working in the lives of the kids, and that He would help bring me peace and comfort amidst the chaos.  Boy did He pull through last week.  

"Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always." 

1 Chronicles 16:11

Tuesday afternoon we set out in the big van for Colegio Bautista de las Gracias.  Everyone was dressed up and ready.  The boys were going to just observe the debate, while Christin, the girls, and I were going to be official judges.  The whole car ride there the boys were making silly faces and goofing off.  I was worried about their behavior during the debate.  We had talked about listening quietly and not drawing attention to themselves.  

The girls did a really nice job judging.  The debate was about whether cars are good or bad.  The students were very passionate, and it was fun watching their arguments evolve and develop.  The boys sat quietly and respectfully for the whole debate.  I was so impressed.  

Before we left for Yves school on Thursday, we got together as a group to pray.  Two of the mother's of our students were with us.  Corinne, a missionary at New Hope and a friend from my hometown, also joined us.  We were all standing in a circle, holding hands.  Christin opened the prayer, and I said I would close the prayer.  Lately the boys haven't been praying when we are in a large group.  I wasn't sure what was going to happen.

I stood there in silence waiting for people to pray.  Pleading to God for them to open up.  And they did.  Every single person in the circle prayed.  I was brought to tears.  I had never felt God's presence more with my students than in that moment right there.  God is working.  He is touching their hearts.  Bringing them closer to Him. 

Then we went to Yve's school.  We worked with them last year teaching Spanish.  This was our first time going this year, and it went SO well.  The students at the school behaved perfectly.  They participated, they worked well, and they spoke in Spanish.  Our students worked just as hard.  They helped, they drew, they wrote, they encouraged.  I left Yve's school with a smile on my face and a happy heart.  Not because of anything I did, but all because of Him.

"The LORD's lovingkindness indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

After Yve's school we took the kids on a whirlwind scavenger hunt around Santiago.  It was full of candy, costumes, and some trick-or-treating.  We ended at Rosa's house with a pizza party.  It was so much work to put together the activity, but everyone had a good time.  What amazed me the most was that the boys said thank you.  THEY SAID THANK YOU.  Without being prompted, and before the girls said it.  I was amazed.  Normally it's like pulling teeth to get them to say those two simple words.  There have been countless times where I have poured my blood, sweat, and tears into projects or activities for them, and no one has said thank you.  The boys made my whole day when they said that.  It felt wonderful to see some fruit after a year and a half of tending the seed.

"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." Luke 8:15

Saturday was another big day for me because I shared the message with the girls at the youth group that night.  Sharing with high schoolers can be challenging and scary in English.  Sharing in Spanish pushed me way outside of my comfort zone.  I prepared, I fasted, I prayed.  I left it in God's hands.  I was totally at peace about it until Saturday morning rolled around.  Then I was a bundle of nerves.  There were only 3 girls and 3 leaders (including me) on Saturday night, but it went really well.  We had some great discussions about faith and taking God's path versus our own path.  I never would have thought that I would be doing all that I am here in this country.  Thank You, Jesus for using me.  

La fe es la confianza en que lo que Dios ha prometido o dicho, se cumplirá.

Today we had conferences with our student's moms.  It went really well.  It has been amazing to grow close to these people over the past year.  I can only imagine all that God has in store for the rest of our time together.  I'll have to look back on this post to remind myself when I am feeling discouraged because GOD IS WORKING IN SANTIAGO.  In my life, in the lives of my kids, in the lives of the girls I serve, in the lives of the families I work with, and in the lives of people reading this blog.  Wherever in the world you are.

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 1 Corinthians 5:7

Con mucho amor.

It's Finally Fall

**forgot to post from October**

...well at least in our apartment and at the grocery store.  We have all our fall decorations up, and we even found pumpkins in the store last week!  Of course I documented it with a picture.  I was too excited to see a pumpkin.

We decided not to get any pumpkins because they would just rot and melt in the Dominican heat.

Several weeks ago Christin, Jessica, and I traveled downtown to a store called El Encanto.  We spent around an hour wandering and looking at their decorations.  We found fall leaves and cute fall colored fake flowers.  I decided I had to get some.  Last year I did not decorate for fall or do anything for Halloween.  This year I decided to splurge.

Above the couch we have two nails where we string a pretty ribbon or yarn for different banners.  At the beginning of the year we had the word "HOPE" held up with clothes pins.  Next we had these circle yarn weavings of the kids hanging for awhile.  Then I had a readathon banner.  I did not have anything prepared for fall.  I was kind of bummed about having to make something or spend money to create that decoration.

That weekend after we bought fall decorations, I received a package from my mom.  I was so excited to look and discover what treasures she sent me.  I opened it up, and I saw the cutest candy corn banner that fits perfectly between the two nails.  God knew what I needed and so did my mom.

The following week Christin and I were talking about fall scented candles.  Ever since senior year of college I have loved yummy scented candles.  I have Christmas scented candles, I have lavender candles, I have fruity candles, but no fall candles.  The next day my friend Lyndi came over and gave me a house warming present.  She gave me the cutest towel for the kitchen and a mulled cider scented candle!! I was so excited.

Yesterday Christin and I ventured to the mall.  I needed a new cell phone charger because mine broke, and she needed a new phone case.  We walked past a store that seemed like a pharmacy/decoration store.  I saw the cutest pumpkin lights in the window.  They were less than $10 and I fell in love.  We hung them over our sliding glass doors in the living room.  I was so excited for darkness to fall last night.  We lit the cider candle and

Now that I got these cute Halloween lights, I will have to keep the fall decorations up until at least November 5th or 10th.  But after that, bring on the Christmas decorations... :)  My favorite time of the year.