We Survived Our First Weekend With the Girls :)

What a first week! For myself and Laura, these first couple of weeks before school starts are probably going to be the craziest we have all year. We are planning English classes for teacher training, as well as doing part of the teacher training ourselves in Spanish. I have joined in on a project that Laura was working on before I got here, redoing all of the score keys and making them more durable for the school year. We have had a lot of planning and homework so far, but it has been good too!

Throughout our year here at the Hacienda, Laura and I are going to alternate having weekends off with the girls' houseparents, Fabricio and Estela. We started that this past weekend, and so Fabricio and Estela went to Quito and we had the girls the whole weekend. It was a very good weekend and we had a lot of fun. Friday night we had all the boys and the replacement houseparents, Carlos and Maritza, come over and we all made pizza together. Saturday morning, we took 11 of the kids with Jerry and Pat to Otavalo, the market town, to get new house shoes for the kids for school. After finding what we needed, we stopped at a park, made sandwiches for lunch, and played on the playground there for a while (and yes, Laura and I played and climbed too :)). Saturday night we took all the kids up to the school and played volleyball and soccer for a few hours. It was so much fun! I have a few bruises on my arms from the volleyball, but I think we came out injury-free otherwise.

This week is more teacher training, although we are cutting down a little bit on the English part of it, because we still have so much to do before the school year starts. We finish up all of our workbooks for teacher training (which I have had to do in Spanish...eeek!) tomorrow and then will concentrate on getting everything physically ready for the first day of school next Monday.

As part of our English training, we have been reading and having a Bible study over Mark every morning. I have really enjoyed this time with the teachers and studying God's word with them. As I am reading Mark, I am seeing a lot of things that I have not noticed before, and am enjoying that very much. The power of Christ just shines through in this book, and it is very convicting as well. Praise God.

Now, off to do more studying in Spanish! I am using this opportunity to learn and improve my Spanish, so that I can form even better relationships with all of the wonderful people surrounding me here. I am praying that God blesses my studies and uses this time to form me, humble me, and help me in reaching out to others.

I love all of you. Thank you for your continued prayer, support, and love that has been showered over me. "By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life." Psalm 42:8

At the Hacienda!

Well, I made it safe and sound, with no flight problems at all, and with all of my luggage! My flight landed at 10:00 last night, so I got to the Hacienda at about midnight. I stayed the night at Jerry and Pat's house, then woke up this morning, toured the school, and wandered around the property a little. Pat brought me up here to my room in the girls' house, so I have just been getting settled, unpacking, and talking with the girls. It's so cloudy that I haven't gotten to see Mount Cayambe yet, but will have a fantastic view of it when it does clear!

So far, the only problem has been altitude sickness, which I expected. I am praying that I get over this quickly so that I won't be affected while trying to do everything I want and need to do. At the point that I was feeling particularly awful this afternoon, the girls came home and I suddenly had four girls hanging all over me, which made everything a little better :)

Tonight we are having a big party for Leonela's quinceanera (15th birthday party). She picked out a beautiful dress to wear, and is very excited! There will be about 60-70 people in attendance. Right now, Leo is having her hair fixed and is getting ready.

I hope to have more news soon and some photos of things going on here! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

On My Way!

Hello all,

I am currently sitting in the Atlanta airport, on my way down to Quito! I had several wonderful people come to see me off at the Huntsville airport, and some even brought goodies :) Packing for a year was much less of a headache than I anticipated, and I was able to fit in more than I expected in the space I was allowed. I will land in Quito at 10:00 tonight, and be at the Hacienda very late. Jerry told me a couple of days ago that the girls were busy getting ready for me to come! I am excited about the fun and busy weekend ahead of me.

I appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers for me and my travels. Please pray that God humbles and uses me this year to accomplish His will and bless these children. Praise be to God!

Getting Ready!

So, at the request of my grandmother (love it!), and for all of my friends and family who have requested to stay updated, I am going to keep a blog during my time in Ecuador. Currently, I am in the process of packing and getting everything together to leave on Friday. I am getting excited about this year!

For those who do not know, I am going to spend a year down at the Hacienda of Hope (children's home) in Tabacundo, Ecuador. My primary role will be teaching English in the bilingual school on the property, but I will also be living with our girls at the Hacienda and helping the house parents before and after school.

I am excited about what God is going to do this year, and appreciate all of the prayers, love, and encouragement that I have received from my friends and church family. I love all of you very much, and your support means the world to me. My prayer for this year is that God be glorified in every situation. Remember 1 Corinthians 2:1-5--"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." Praise God!