Celebrate Colombia!

Visit to Hogares Luz y Vida 

I got to spend last Saturday at Hogares Luz y Vida, the Special Needs Orphanage.  It has been since December since we last visited and I was so excited to go back!  My little friend, Lily, and I got to spend time together.  She wanted me to give her piggy back rides up and down the ramps in the orphanage.  She kept yelling, "Corre!!  Corre!!!  Mas alla!!"  At one point, I was getting so tired I thought about putting her down and stopping.  My legs were tired and my energy level was qickly falling.  Every time I would stop or slow down, she would very enthusiastically shout, "Corre!!  Corre!!! Mas alla!!!"  As I battled whether to stop or to keep on running her around, God sent these verses to my mind from 1 Peter :-)

 "If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and the power, forever and ever.  Amen."    1 Peter 4:11

I prayed that God would give me the strength to keep on playing with this little girl.  Even though I was exhausted, I was reminded of the joy God was bringing to Lily by having people love on her.  Being in a special needs orphanage with so many kids, she doesn't get that much attention.  God is such a good God to give me his strength to love her and make her feel special.  With His help, we continued to run up and down the ramps at Hogares Luz y Vida - with a very precious and joyful Lily riding on my back :-)

Monkeying Around -  God has been teaching me that being a great teacher is not always about academics.  Sometimes, it:s about joining in with one of your student's crazy ideas.  We have a stuffed animal monkey named Meticulous.  He spends the weekend with the student who is the most "meticulous" with their desk.  A few weeks ago, Brianna brought in a girl monkey and asked if Meticulous could have a wife.  They started to plan and talk about a wedding - and asked if we could have an actualy wedding in class.  Of course, I had to say yes!

All I had to do was say yes, and my students planned the rest. They made invitations, wedding clothes, rings, a Father monkey, a ring bearer, and even kept the happy couple on opposite ends of the classroom until the ceremony. I had my friend, Katie Blaylock, come in and preform the wedding since she is our Bible teacher here at ECA. 

After the wedding, the monkey's had their first dance as husband and wife - followed by some dancing by all of the wedding guests :-)  It was adorable to see the excitement of my students and getting to expose them to an American Wedding. 

When asked who Mr. and Mrs. Meticulous would be spending the weekend with, one student responded by saying, "They both have to go with the same student - it IS their honeymoon!!!"  Even though they ended up spending their honeymoon in 3rd Grade at ECA, Mr. and Mrs. Meticulous are happily settled in our classroom.  Praise God for joyful moments we can have as a class that bond us together :-)

Celebrate Colombia - ECA has two days dedicated to celebrating the wonderful country of Colombia.  This year, each class studied and learned a dance from a different area of the country.  My 3rd Graders learned a dance from San Andres, which is on the coast.  It was fun to watch my students work so hard at learning the dance during Spanish classes.  They thought it was funny when I tried to learn the dance with them one day :-)

Here is a VIDEO - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjjNt6j-FyQ&feature=youtu.be - of them all dressed up in Colombian costumes and their version of the dance from San Andres!  I absolutely loved it.  All of the dances were beautiful. Please enjoy a little Colombian flavor and a wonderful dance by my precious 3rd Graders!
The students were able to talk Spanish in the hallways and at lunch and break time.  I tried my best to talk with my students in their native language - so I could get a taste of how they feel having to talk English everyday.  They thought it was pretty fun to talk Spanish with me.  I loved seeing all of the red, yellow, and blue around school. 

Prayers/Praises:

•  Please continue to pray for my role at El Camino next school year - that God would give me real clarity and confidence of where he wants me to be within the next week or two so I can let the school know.
• That God would show me where to find more time to talk with my student's about heart issues - those are my favorite moments and I desire to have more!  Also, that I would continually surrender my students into God's hands - so that he can mold them into people who love Him.
• Plans for my parents to come and visit me in March during Holy Week - pray for our preparations and for their time while they are here.  I am so excited to have them come and join me in ministry and to be able to show them the wonderful country of Colombia!!!!!

Because the haven't heard,
Carrie