Getting back into the swing of things

Well it's been almost a couple weeks now since I left Richmond and landed in Tegucigalpa.  It was definitely a hard transition to make after such an enjoyable break, but it's good to be back and busy again.  The first few days after I arrived were not easy for me at all.  The only thing I could think about was home, my family and Jeremy and how much I wanted each of those things.  My heart was in a constant aching and I could not get it to stop.

As some of you know, my prayer has been that while I am here, I want to be "completely here".  I don't want to miss the opportunities that the Lord has placed in front of me solely because I am looking towards the future.  So I had been praying this prayer over and over, that the Lord would help me to "live in the moment" and to be filled with His Joy.  I really wasn't seeing a difference in the way I felt about being here, until last Sunday night.  I was reading through Daniel Chapter 1, and I realized that even though we may be going through tough times, it's our responsibility to choose joy each day.  And then after talking to my mom about it for a while, she told me that I am the one who controls my attitude, no matter what the situation.  I began thinking about all these truths that the Lord was throwing in my face.  I came to the conclusion that even though I was praying for Joy, I wasn't choosing to be joyful.  The Lord provides us with new mercies each morning, but if we don't choose to take them, then they kind of just go to waste.  That night I decided that I would choose Joy on Monday morning, and every morning for the week.  I cannot explain the difference it has made in my life.  Each day has not been perfect by any means.  But I have begun to enjoy being here again, enjoy teaching again, and enjoy my students again.  I am so thankful for those little bits of truth that the Lord shows us in so many different ways.

I've only taught 7 days of school so far, but I am starting to feel like I'm getting a better feeling for what I'm doing.  I've changed a few things in my classroom management and teaching style, and I think they have really helped.  I'm pretty sure one of my students hates me now, but I'm okay with that.  This same student told me once that she wanted to be like me, but now, since I had to take her cell phone and be much more strict with her, I'd guess she might think differently.  I realized at the end of last partial that I was not being strict enough with all of my rules in the classroom, so I've really tried to buckle down.  It really has helped, and I think my students are responding well. 

Yesterday was the second time for Parent-Teacher Conferences.  I teach around 100 students, and I had about 10 parents come.  So far I haven't had any irate parents.  They are all understanding when I tell them why their child is doing poorly. Which is usually one of two reasons: 1) They haven't done their homework, or 2) They talk and pay no attention to me during class.  I'd venture to guess that this is probably the universal reasons why students do poorly, not just in Honduras.

I went to see the Girl's Soccer Team play after school on Wednesday.  Several of my students play on the team and were really fun to watch.  Girls don't get quite the recognition here as boys do, so I was glad to be able to support them.  IST beat Discovery School 3-0.  The girls did really well (as far as I could tell.)  Also, Jess and I got to ride to the game with a couple of my students, which was really fun.  Alejandra and Vivian are sisters and I teach both of them.  They are really thinking about going to Liberty when the graduate (one is a junior and one is a sophomore)!  I'm really trying to talk them into it:) How cool would it be for them to live so close to me in VA? I could visit them all the time!

Last night several of us girls got together and watched "The Holiday"! Such a chick-flick.  It's funny how watching movies like that have changed for me.  I used to get super excited and get those little butterflies in my stomach whenever cute and romantic things would happen.  Now, those scenes just remind me of something that I have really experienced in real life (with Jeremy of course).  It makes me just as happy to think of that, if not even more happy to know that I have the real thing waiting for me back home.  I did however, enjoy watching the other girls react to all of the sweet scenes with "awww" and "He is just the perfect man!" comments:)

I look forward to the weekend every week.  It's a great perk of teaching to be able to sleep in two mornings out of seven. Starting on Thursday afternoon (because Thursdays are my really long and busy days) I get excited just thinking about the weekend.  So in essence, my weekend starts on Thursday nights and lasts until Sunday night.  I really don't mind Friday's because they are not very busy for me.  I usually am able to get a lot of planning and work done for the next week and so that my weekends are less busy with schoolwork.  Today I am actually going with the Crooks and spending the night at their house tonight!  I need a little "family time"! Have I mentioned I love the weekends?

Now to get a few things done and enjoy the rest of my weekend!