Teachers needed!

We need more teachers for next year!

Quick Praise!

I finally start language on Monday with my tutor! YAY!!!!

Thoughts about things...

Strange place
Strange smells
I am not at home
Peculiar people
1 in 28 million
Just a face in the crowd
I am nothing
A place rich in tradition
Foreigner


Stranger
And stranger still
Heaven bound
Set apart
Valued
Not just a face in the crowd
He is everything
He is above tradition
Foreigner


I think lately I have really begun to understand what it means to be a foreigner. In the states, I woke up and went about my life just blending in to the sea of faces. Here things are different. I stick out. People stare. They watch to see what say and how I act. In many ways that makes part of my life here easier. They already know that I am different. The difficulty comes in the “why”, that is “why am I different”. It’s not just because my skin is pale and my hair is light. Oh, there is so much more to my calling here. My heart is broken for these people who I can’t even really communicate with because my Spanish is horrible.

In the midst of my frustrations, this place is beginning to “fit” more and more. I don’t refer to it as home, because I am not home and I long to be there one day. (Phil 3:20-21). In the middle of this strange and fascinating culture, I find myself with a sense of peace that passes all understanding. What a joy to be right in the midst of His will. It’s amazing how things that should seem so odd, seem just fine. It’s only been a month and half, but I can tell that I have been changed. I’ve been wrecked, in a good way. My world has changed; my perception of life has changed. I can’t help but give glory to God. There is no possible way that I could be here and content with out Him first calling me. I couldn’t be anywhere else!

Some thoughts on singleness err maybe a short rant….

It’s funny to look back and see how I thought my life would look. I surely thought that I would be married by this time. As you know, I’m not, but I’m totally satisfied (wow, it’s taken me a long time to get to that point but it’s totally true!). Of course getting to this point did take much pleading and surrender. I can’t help but give thanks to God for how He has spared my heart from so much heartache. I know so many people in their twenties and early thirties who have hearts that have been trampled on and I am blessed to be free from that burden. Now don’t get me wrong, I still want to be married. It’s just that it isn’t my focus or my time. There is so much that I have yet to experience. Had I been quick to settle, I wouldn’t be here getting to live in this amazing city. Sometimes I feel as if my identity is based on my single status. Well Houston, that’s a HUGE negative. My identity is based on Christ! (gal. 2:20). So, for those readers who are singles out there, be encouraged! God can and will still use you. Don’t mope around in your single misery but rather embrace it “for such a time as this”. There is so much that we as singles to do. Be patient and trust in God’s timing! GO! And to you married folk, encourage those singles. Encourage them to seek His face! Don’t place their identity in the fact that they are single. All that to say, there is nothing wrong with being single! After all, Paul is a fan of the single life! (1st Cor. 7).

Ok, wow, I feel better; I’ve gotten all of that off my chest!

Xochimilco and Guadalajara

A few weekends ago, I had a chance to go to Xochimilco for Joel's (a fellow Tennesseean) birthday. Xochmilco reminds me kind of a gondola area, except for the fact that the boats are larger and more colorful! There are boats that contain things to buy such as souvenirs, food, and flowers.

This is a boating salesman! How fun is that! Check out those candy apples! yum!













This past weekend I had a chance to go to Guadalajara for a women's retreat. We left south east Mexico City at 10:30 am and didn't make it out of the city until about 1 pm. So, needless to say it was a long drive. I think we were in Guadalajara by about 7 pm. As a whole, the retreat was wonderul. It provided me with some time to get to know my teamates. (although, most of the van ride was talking about their husbands and stuff...). It was also very good to see a familiar face, Kay Smith. Kay was my "coach" at training in VA. She was the featured "speaker" and God really used her to challenge me on somethings. Good times!

In Mexico City, Valentines Day is referred to as "FELIZ DIA DE AMISTAD!", which translates into "Happy Day of Friendship". I think that I like this term much better. So, to all my friends and family, I wish you "feliz dia de amistad"! Know that I love you and miss you tons!

Spanish

A shot from downtown. People everywhere!



Man, do I wish I had taken some spanish in high school and in college. I want more than anything to be able to fully communicate with these people. grrr.... Please pray for me, that I once I begin language study next week, that it will "click" in my brain and stay there. Other than that, life is great. I really love this place. It grows on me each day! I have taken pics of my students and around my neighbordhood! They will be posted later because I don't have my usb-port cable.



Eph. 3:20-21

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."