Life Group

At school this year, an opportunity arose for me to lead a small group Bible study called a Life Group. While I was worried about over-committing myself to too many activities, I could think of no better use of my time than building into the lives of the young women at my school. In praying about which grade I should lead, God kept showing me what a blessing it could be to lead the 12th grade girls Life Group. I teach many of these ladies every day, but I have not had the opportunity to connect with a lot of them on a deeper level yet.

Some of the goals/vision I have are that this group would be:

• A place where everyone feels welcome. It is not an exclusive group, but rather an open invitation for people to live life together.
• A place to learn about God's Word and how it applies to our lives today.
• A place to be honest and open about what God is doing in our lives, our praises, and our struggles.
• A place of prayer and encouragement to those in the group and those outside of the group.

I am so excited to see how God will show up in our group each week. We meet on Thursday afternoons from 5-7pm Eastern time (until you guys in the States change your clocks back). If you ever think to pray for us throughout the week or during that time, we would really appreciate it!

Last week we had our first meeting and I was encouraged by the 4 seniors girls who attended. They were full of questions and stories and the 2 hours flew by. I can tell they are eager to learn how to deal with the difficult situations they face and to be a part of a community of women who can support and encourage them in their walk with the Lord. This week we will be starting our study of the Book of Ruth. I am so excited for these girls to study the characters of the book and to learn from Ruth's example of incredible faith and redemption. In preparation, I have been listening to Mark Driscoll's sermon series called Redeeming Ruth, and there is SO MUCH GOODNESS packed into each message. I urge you to check out the first installment and watch the Book of Ruth come alive with analysis, context, and theology.

Here is the first part of the series:

Praises:

• Praise God for this opportunity to minister to the lives of the seniors girls through this Bible study.
• Praise God that 4 girls showed up last week eager for community and truth.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that God would bring the girls to this Life Group that He wants to be there.
• Pray that God would use this group to be an encouragement and a challenge to each girl.
• Pray that God would give me wisdom to lead and guide these women.

Thank you for your partnership in prayer. I know that I could not serve and do ministry without your prayers and God's strength and grace.

On the Eve of the First Day of School...

What a day! After being involved in 7th grade orientation last year, I had some idea what to expect. However, last year, by the time orientation rolled around, I was finished with all the other preparations to start the school year. This time, not so much. I moved to new office, which is a little bigger and gives the students more access to visit me. However, the back half of the room is being used for storage and was just filled up this morning. That means I can finally start to organize my half of the room and make it more inviting and comfortable. The question is whether or not I can start and finish that by tomorrow morning. It's a race against the clock at this point!

Seventh grade orientation went well, overall. It's fun to see all of the little students with wide eyes and on their best behavior because their parents are with them. We bombard them with lots of information in hopes that they will have a better idea of what high school is like. I talked about 10 Keys to Successful Studying in 5 mini-sessions. Being in front of a "class" was a good warm-up for starting to teach tomorrow, but a strain on the voice. Last year I had at least a half dozen coughing fits at the beginning of the year as my throat just couldn't handle talking that much at a volume the whole class could hear. I'm prepared with cough drops and alternative activities this year just in case :)

If I'm being honest, I haven't been that excited to start school. It feels so strange because I loved teaching so much last year. Why wouldn't I be eager to do it again? I was excited at the end of last year and over the summer, so much that I couldn't sleep sometimes. For whatever reason, I haven't felt that excitement since I've been in Honduras. Until today. After all the 7th graders and their parents left, there was a group of seniors decorating the school for their senior entrance tomorrow (a big celebration before school declaring their status as seniors). I was greeted with hugs, good conversations, and genuine excitement about the upcoming year. How could I not be excited after that? Last year was great, but I was starting from scratch with the students on the first day. I already have relationships with several students in the school, and I can't wait to see how God will use those relationships for His glory this year. Today I was reminded what a privilege it is to spend time with these teenagers every day, and I can genuinely say that I am excited to get started tomorrow even though I feel unprepared and life is a little chaotic. In a situation that would have completely stressed me out even a year ago, it is encouraging to see how God is changing my heart and my attitude from one of anxiety to one of peace that surpasses understanding.

Prayer requests:
-Staying healthy. I can already feel myself getting a little sick, and that's not a good way to start off the year!
-Vocal stamina. Haha. But seriously. Teacher's can't be losing their voices on the first couple of days.
-Relationships with students where they trust me enough to let me into their lives
-That I will learn the college application process quickly and the students will have grace when I don't have all the answers (which is hard for a person who likes to have all the answers)

To Know and Be Known

It is one of the deepest desires of the human heart to know and to be known. For this reason, we seek out relationships with other people. We spend our energy and time getting to know other people and helping them know us. In many relationships, this desire is abused. A person will share parts of his/her life that he/she has never shared. He/She will feel a deep connection with his/her partner, the kind of connection that can never be broken. But then it breaks. Then it's over, and he/she is left feeling exposed. The truth is, no human relationship will ever be perfect. There will always be disappointment because humans are not capable of loving perfectly. For this reason, we must completely invest in a relationship with the only One who can know us completely and intimately. The amazing thing is that He still loves us perfectly despite knowing all of our imperfections and shortcomings. He knows how we struggle and how we screw up, but He never stops loving us and never disappoints.

There are so many wonderful words packed into Psalm 139. Here are verses 1-16 and 23-24:

1You have searched me, Lord,and you know me.2You know when I sit and when I rise;you perceive my thoughts from afar.3You discern my going out and my lying down;you are familiar with all my ways.4Before a word is on my tongueyou, Lord, know it completely.5You hem me in behind and before,and you lay your hand upon me.6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,too lofty for me to attain. 7Where can I go from your Spirit?Where can I flee from your presence?8If I go up to the heavens, you are there;if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.9If I rise on the wings of the dawn,if I settle on the far side of the sea,10even there your hand will guide me,your right hand will hold me fast.11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide meand the light become night around me,”12even the darkness will not be dark to you;the night will shine like the day,for darkness is as light to you. 13For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb.14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,I know that full well.15My frame was not hidden from youwhen I was made in the secret place,when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.16Your eyes saw my unformed body;all the days ordained for me were written in your bookbefore one of them came to be.
23Search me, God, and know my heart;test me and know my anxious thoughts.24See if there is any offensive way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting.

The beginning of the Psalm describes what it means to be intimately known. Verses 1-6 explain that God knows every action (sitting, rising, etc.). He also knows every thought and word we will speak before they are even formed in our minds and mouths. Can you imagine someone knowing you that well? At some point you might have had a friend who could finish your sentences, but this is knowing exactly what you will do and say ALL THE TIME. This is a picture of what it means to be fully known.

Although it is our desire to be known, how do we usually react when someone gets close enough to do that? We run away. It's scary to have someone know you that well because it means they know all of your flaws and mistakes. We are filled with shame, guilt, and self-consciousness. In verses 7-12, the psalmist recognizes that it is impossible to hide from God. No matter where he goes, God's presence is there. By the end of the section, he seems to shift from wanting to get away from God ("Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?") to being comforted by the thought of God's omnipresence ("Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast")(Carson, 1998). Because of our human experiences, it is scary to be known. We become too much to handle and relationships get messy. But, God is the definition of perfect love, and He does it unconditionally. His love is not dependent on your actions, your thoughts, your past, or your good deeds. Where God is concerned, we do not have to fear being known because it is accompanied by perfect love.

The third section (verses 13-16) goes even further to say not only does God know us, but He created us. The word choice of "knit" and "woven" give us a visual of God putting together the very fibers of our being, right down to the last detail. Who could know you better? Each one of us is "fearfully and wonderfully made" (v. 14). We were created uniquely and exactly as God wanted us to be. We are His masterpiece or "workmanship" (Ephesians 2:10), and He takes pride in His creation. The psalmist puts it this way: "Your works are wonderful" (v. 14). To criticize your body or to be consumed by insecurities is to say to God, "I think you made a mistake. Didn't you mean for me to be skinnier/taller/smarter/faster/fill-in-the-blank?" But how can our perfect God make a mistake? The end of the section wraps up how God knows us before we are even born. How cool is it that God knows about every single day of your life before you are born (v. 16)?

The majority of the psalm focuses on the recognition that God knows everything about our lives. However, the last two verses of the psalm seem to shift into the author showing his desire to be known. He pleas for God to "search [him] and know [his] heart...and know [his] anxious thoughts" (v. 23). We should not only acknowledge that God already knows everything about our lives, but God wants to be invited into our lives, into our thoughts, and into our selves. Only through asking Him to search us, convict us of sin, and lead us in our lives can we experience the freedom that comes with being fully known. We were created to know God and to be known by God. Let's seek to move past being ashamed and experience true intimacy with our Creator.

Work Cited

Carson, D. A. (1998). For the love of God: A daily companion for discovering the riches of God's word. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books.

Common Questions/Misconceptions About My Life in Honduras - Part 1

Question: Do you teach in Spanish?

My school is bilingual, which means we want students to know Spanish and English when they graduate. They have many opportunities to speak Spanish in their daily lives, but school is one of the only places where many students speak English. Other than a few classes that are taught in Spanish (Literature, History of Honduras, Language, Civics, etc.), most other things at the school are in English. We require students to speak English in all non-Spanish classes.

Don't get me wrong. It is a huge advantage to be able to understand and speak Spanish. While I teach and interact with my students in English, there are times when Spanish is beneficial in my job. Here are some general examples:

As a counselor, I interact with many parents who do not speak English. They are relieved to find out they can express themselves in Spanish rather than broken English or with a translator. In this way, they feel understood and are not forced to divulge their problems to an additional person. Understanding Spanish is also beneficial when counseling students. When students are distressed, they naturally revert to their native language to express themselves. If a student is really upset, it is much easier for them to tell me what's wrong in Spanish than in English. We can then move forward to working toward a solution.

As a teacher, Spanish helps me stay on top of what's going on in my classroom. Teenagers are tricky and always testing their teachers to see boundaries and what they can get away with. If they can communicate in any way without the teacher understanding or being aware (passing notes, gestures, other languages, etc.), you better believe they will. They still get away with some things in my classroom that I wish they didn't, but at least they aren't talking about it right in front of me :)

Doing Good and Helping the Poor

Reflections from church this morning:

• "In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor" [Acts 9:36]. 
• What is your reputation? Are you known as one who does good and helps the poor? 
• What does it mean to help the poor? Does that only refer to meeting people's physical needs? Sure, providing for physical needs (food, clothes, and shelter) is absolutely "helping the poor," but what about those who are poor in spirit?
• When I initially thought about teaching in Honduras, I thought I would be working with children who are poor. God has been shifting my paradigm and redefining poverty. I am working with students who are poor, but not in the way I understood poverty before. They have almost everything they could ever need or want in terms of material things, but they lack so much when it comes to spiritual and emotional needs. In a third world country, they seem to have everything; yet, they are merely covering up their spiritual and emotional poverty with material things that will never satisfy them.  While I can rarely provide material things (they have more money than I do!), I believe God has called me to "help the poor" by providing spiritual truth and emotional support to these students.
• When Tabitha died, people mourned because their lives and their town would not be the same without her. Would people feel the same way about you or your ministry if it all ended today?