Celebrate Colombia, Spreading the Gospel through Relationships, and a Meticulous Anniversary :-)

"To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter."    2 Thessalonians 2:14-15

1. Celebrate Colombia - Dia de Idioma
To help nurture the Colombian culture into the hearts of our students at ECA, we have a day each year called Dia de Idioma, or CELEBRATE COLOMBIA.  My students learned so much about Colombian history (legend of El Dorado, anyone??) and had so much fun putting on a skit that showed the indigenous people of Colombia from Guatavita from which the legend of El Dorado came from.  The costumes are dances are so rich in history and it's amazing to watch my students perform.  It warms my heart to cherish this Colombian heritage with them.  Sometimes, I hear that our students can't connect with their grandparents or parents very well because our ECA kids have such a mix of American and Colombian culture in them.  When they go off to college, they feel separated from their Colombian classmates and wish they knew more of their own cultural heritage and who they are.

I had the privilege of learning an authentic Colombian dance called Jota Chocoano from the Pacific Coast.  My dancing partner was Henry, the Spanish teacher for my 3rd Graders.

3rd Graders anointing the King at Lake Guatavita!

My Thoughts:
1. Colombian dancers are amazing!!   Super fast and intricate moves :-)  No need to exercise after practicing this dance.
2. Learning to dance with a skirt - and knowing how to grab it quickly and correctly was quite challenging!
3. Dancing barefoot equals to bleeding on your foot- but it was worth it!! I'm used to injuries with ice skating :-)

Here is the video of the dance for you to watch! :-) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFJXUinhWYw&feature=youtu.be

Below are some picture of our time of celebration.

2. Spreading the Gospel through relationships:

Spending time with my students and their families is still a highlight of the ministry God has for me in Colombia.  Last Saturday, I spent time with Josue, his brother and sister, and his wonderful parents.  This family happens to attend my church here also, so it is an extra bonus!  When I arrived, Josue showed me his house and his room.  Then, he grabbed some photo albums and showed me his adorable baby pictures.  Josue wanted to have me over to build a fire, so after dinner we all went outside and we had a time of praying and thanking God for the blessings in our life.  This was such a sweet time of getting to know Josue and his family so much better.  This made me realize that sometimes I can get so focused on the work that needs to be done.  Planning lessons, grading, helping with random things at the school, parent meetings, leading Elementary worship...

Luke 10:38-42

New International Version

At the Home of Martha and Mary

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work?  Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha, "the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Josue's twin brother and sister - they are adorable!!

While these things are great and have value, there is nothing more valuable that stopping the incredibly busy lives we create for ourselves that we no longer have time for the people that we love around us.  Believe me when I say that I am first to admit that I find purpose and value in the work - striving because I want to please and serve the Lord.  My motive behind the work can lead to pride and a sense that I am earning God's favor.

How humbling to learn that true ministry and helping the gospel run is based on relationships.  Spending time with people and being apart of their lives speaks more that whether I had the best lesson planned, the grades updated in the grade book, or how many projects I decided to help with at ECA.  This is challenging to me - because my personality leads me to want time to myself to re-energize.  I find myself being a hermit, where I have time to refocus on the work that needs to be done.  What a blessing to step out of this task-oriented mindset.  Now, when I speak with this student, my words have more meaning because he knows I care and have invested time to be with his family.  

Isn't this what Jesus wants of me?  To not constantly be trying to earn his love when it has already been freely given to me in Christ?  That's why I work so hard.  But, I can't earn it with being a perfect teacher.  I can't earn it with being willing to sacrifice all of my time and energy to serve other people.  Actually, nothing I can DO will earn his love and acceptance at all.  I'm learning that he accepts me because I am his daughter!  I think it's hard to accept this gift because we know how undeserving we are.  How could Christ's love be free?  It was so costly to him, he must want something back in return!!  How hard it is to sit at his feet and just be with him - but how precious those times are.  Pray with me that the Lord would graciously draw each and everyone of us to him to just sit at the foot of the cross - burden free - to spend time with our Savior.  That's all that we wants from his children.

3. Meticulous Anniversary??
Remember last year at this time our stuffed animal monkey named Meticulous married his wife, Friendly?  My students brought in wedding clothes for the monkeys, wedding rings, we all dressed up, my friend Katie came in to officiate the wedding, and we ended with a dance party??

Well, we just had to celebrate their anniversary!!  We invited the 4th grade class (my students from last year) so we could all celebrate the marriage of our classroom monkeys.  Meticulous and his wife, Friendly, had an announcement to make to all of the kids...

They are the proud parents of twins!!!!  They have a son named CHAMP and a daughter named EMPATHY.  CHAMP is named after our classroom discipline plan of acting like champions in school.  EMPATHY is named after part of our Elementary Chapel theme of noticing how other people are feeling, especially our friends when they are being bullied or treated mean by others.  The happy family is pictured below :-)

Prayers/Praises:

Praise that a wonderful family from ECA had a group from their church from the States coming down to visit and offered to bring my Vitamin D for me!  So grateful for God's provision :-)

Continue to pray for my decision for next year - that what I give weight to in deciding to serve one more year here would be what the Lord gives weight to in his ministry.  Also for clarity, peace, and hopefully a decision soon!!

Chicken pox is still going around - I now have two confirmed cases in my class.  Please pray that our administration would seek guidance from the Lord on how to handle keeping our school a safe and healthy environment to learn.


Because of Him,
Carrie