Life as I know it

If September was a slow moving snail, then October was the flash, I feel like last week we were just starting October and tomorrow is already Halloween. I just realized we have three weeks until Thanksgiving and then three more weeks after that until Christmas break, so for all those people who are burnt out, there is hope.

Life has been good here in the Dominican Republic and I realized I have learned a lot about myself and have grown in my time away from the "comforts of home."  I joined a Bible study this fall with other Americans down here and it has been a huge blessing to have a group of girls to cook dinner with once a week and do life together. Our Beth Moore bible study has inspired me and I enjoy getting up early in the morning and getting the chance to be a student again instead of the teacher.  

For school, my class and I are taking baby steps. This month is definitely improvement on last month. I don't come home every night exhausted and ready to cry, so either my class is getting better or I am more used to the drama, but I think the hardest days are behind me. My favorite story has been a girl who wasn't turning in her homework and getting D's and F's and writing on the board: "I am the worst person in the world." I had a conference with her and her mom and after that talk, her mom and her worked together to complete all her missing work. She now has all As and Bs and during an assignment on writing things we love, she listed more things than all the other students and she even included herself. So there are definitely moments where I feel I get to make a difference.

The biggest change this coming month will be Rovian moving to the capital to start med school. It will be hard not to see him every day, but I've come to realize that this his life's dream, so it's selfish to be sad when someone who has been waiting so long for something, gets the chance to actually do it. He has definitely been a huge comfort after hard days, so I think I'll be investing more in the ice cream industry with these upcoming months without him, so if anyone needs to find me, that's where I'll be.

I recently found out that  a church member has cancer and after the shock at this revelation, I went to type "that is so sad," but I never sent the words because my next thought was: he gets to go home. I don't want to sound callous and I will grieve for his family and for the absence of his presence at church, but after seeing the way he has lived his life over the past 20 years of mine, I cannot be sad for something that has been his life's dream: the chance to see God and be with Him. I love the following quote by C.S. Lewis and I will leave you with it. 

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

I hope you all have a blessed day and as we begin November, we remember to be thankful for the blessings in our lives.

From Snow Days to Hurricane Days

Hurricane Matthew has arrived just in time to ring in October with presents of rain and no school days.  I've had many questions about the weather conditions here in Jarabacoa and I wish I had more to offer. It has been extremely mild, with trickles of rain sprinkled throughout the day but mostly sunny. Jarabacoa is protected by the mountains around it and so receives little of the storms that plague other areas.

We've had school cancelled for the past couple days which has been nice, though after a five day break I know that I will be ready to return. You can only "buttprint" (sit on a couch all day) for so long before you begin going a little stir crazy.

Please continue to pray for areas of Haiti and the Dominican Republic which are being hit by fiercer weather and that strong shelters are provided for everyone there who needs them.