So, I started writing this post Tuesday and I wrote something to the effect of “I like the children's home, but I don't really like the country that much.” Wednesday night we had “community group,” a group of believers in the area, most of whom are Americans. During this time I felt very admonished. It was shared that it's impossible to love the people and not the country. Then during worship we sang the song that says “There's no place I'd rather be than here in Your love.” I realized that no matter how many reasons I have to not like the culture or the country, I have one reason to love it that outweighs them all. Without a shadow of a doubt I know the Lord has me here, and there's no place I'd rather be.
I know I gave an idea of our schedule in an earlier post, but here's a more detailed rundown of what life looks like here, now that I've been here almost a month.
In the morning, Erin and I get to greet all the children before they go off to school. We serve them lunch which they take to school, and we “sell” them school supplies (they have “bank accounts” kept in a notebook in which they can earn money by doing extra chores and to teach them responsibility they have to pay for their own school supplies). When they leave for school, Erin and I use my french press (a very well-used birthday present, thanks Mom and Dad!) to make coffee. Our mornings are very chill. We can make scrambled eggs or toast for breakfast and we usually have some fruit we bought from the market. I really enjoy our free time while the kids are at school. I have gotten a lot of time to spend with the Lord, and the prayer garden has become my favorite place at the home.
Two afternoons a week I go and spend a couple of hours sitting in the house of a family who works with the home while their two little boys nap. Then around four all the kids are back from school and done with the little chores they do when they get home. I usually watch the kids play on the playground from four to five. This is such a fun time to just run around and be silly with the little kids.
From five to seven is tuitions time. During this time I have three second-graders, and I work with them, reviewing and reteaching the things they learn at school as well as working on basic math and reading skills. I have to brag on them for a second. I took over tuitions 3 weeks ago, and they were doing five minute 100- problem addition drill sheets in more than 15 minutes. On July 26 one got 23 minutes and another got 16 minutes. Now all three can do it in 7 or 8 minutes and one of them is down to 5 minutes . I am so proud of those girls. We have been doing addition flashcards every single day, and it is paying off. These three girls are so sweet, and I really enjoy spending two hours with them every day.
On Monday nights I lead a devotion/ prayer time with 7th through 9th grade girls, and on Thursday nights I lead a devotion time with the elementary school kids. I could really use prayer for this area. This is the one duty I am least comfortable with, which means the Lord can use it to grow me the most. So far I haven't picked a book or a theme to study, I've just been asking the Lord each week what He wants me to say to the kids, and it's going okay. I have felt led to admonish the 7th through 9th grade girls in how they treat one another. We talked this week about when Jesus said that others would know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another. We talked about what love is and about laying down our lives for one another. I feel so inadequate to speak on these things, but all I can do is ask the Lord to use my words to convict them and change them. Please pray that the Lord would increase my boldness to speak what He puts on my heart to speak to these kids. Pray that the Lord would give me direction in what to speak on. And pray that He would work in these kids and give them new and further revelations of Jesus Christ.
After devotion I have dinner in one of the girls' houses, and I hang out with them until 8:30ish. Then I'm usually exhausted and in bed by 9:30.
As I try to emphasize doing all things for Jesus with my tuitions girls, the Lord is teaching me to practice what I preach. It makes me smile when I hear an eight-year-old say, “You know how I did that math sheet in seven minutes? I prayed before and God helped me.” Though I have a lot of free time to be alone with the Lord, I have duties I'm expected to do, and I don't want to have a “secular vs. sacred” divide. I want to be a woman who does all things for God's glory, whether it's how I use my free time, playing on the playground, leading a devotion, or helping 5-year-olds on the computers.
Weekends are busier because the kids are home from school, and I try to be around all day to watch them and hang out with them. Besides my times alone with the Lord, my favorite times are campfire worship nights (most Saturday nights) and fasting prayer nights (most Sunday nights). These are times of such close communion with the Lord, and I am blessed just to be a part of them. This past Sunday we had a time of fasting, worship, and the kids shared testimonies of what the Lord has done in their lives this month. So awesome! How cool to hear teenagers being real about how the Lord is real to them.
Thank you to all of you who are praying. I know that the Lord is answering your prayers. He is beginning many things in me. He is becoming my closest friend. He is teaching me to do all things to His glory. He is promising to make me a woman of boldness and to remove fear and timidity from me. He has sheltered me from the sickness that was going around last week. He has been my comfort when I get homesick. So, thank you all!
