Apparently there was a lot of protesting in Tegucigalpa today. One article I read tonight said that something like 10,000 Zelaya supporters marched into the city today from all over the country. Some have been walking for days to get here from their homes. They got pretty violent, burning a bus and setting fire to a Popeye’s. The incredible part to me is that I didn’t know a thing about it until about 8 o’clock tonight. We used to (and still do) joke that my high school was a prison with literal bars around it and that’s exactly what it’s like here too. My apartment and the school are all fenced in with guards at the gates. I didn’t leave the compound all day, and we are kind of in a suburb of the city, so the majority of us were unaware and unaffected. One of the returning teachers told us today that it will be interesting to see how many of the kids do not show up for school this year because some of their families have left and relocated to the US because of the unrest. I feel safe here at the school and will stay away from the city when things are stirred up.
I’m telling y’all – either the Lord has a strong grip on my heart and mind, or I am absolutely stupid and crazy because I am extremely peaceful and calm about it all… I just don’t worry about it. The other day I was reading in Psalm 146 and in verse 9 it said, “The Lord watches over the sojourners…” So then yesterday, it was still on my mind and I decided to look up the definition of sojourner. It was one of those words that I thought I comprehended when I was reading but I wasn’t certain that I could define it, so I looked it up using a couple Bible dictionaries and Webster’s. It literally means foreigner or one living in a foreign land. For now, that’s me, and the Lord watches over me.
I faced my biggest challenge so far yesterday during that crazy shopping trip that I referred to in my last post, but I also hear I have my work cut out for me with this upcoming 5th grade class. Basically they are well-known throughout the whole elementary school as being the worst class. I have talked with the librarian and one of the 4th grade teachers and I am told that they are loud, energetic, rowdy, want attention, sometimes disrespectful, some are full of attitude, and as a group are just hard toward the Gospel. Just because this is a Christian school does not at all mean these are Christian kids or families… I guess that my principal chose me to work in this grade because of my previous experience and because my evaluations and references all praise my classroom management. I am praying that the Lord will equip me with everything that I need to love these kids no matter what, to meet their needs, and to have a great year. I pray that Satan will have no victory in their lives or in my classroom.
Speaking of my classroom, here it is! I worked in it today for a few hours – moving furniture and going through the things that have been left behind to try to organize them in my own particular way. In the process, I found countless dead spiders and bugs of various sizes (only two live ones though!). Last year at Vincent, we did a huge professional development study on setting up and decorating a classroom called Spaces and Places. As I looked around this room and prayed that wonderful instruction, learning, and relationships will take place – I couldn’t help but think, “So much for Spaces and Places!” Haha…
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