Joy

My life here has been busy and exhausting lately. Progress reports went home on Friday... That doesn't seem like a big deal until you are the teacher working until ten o'clock Thursday night to get everything graded, putting it all in gradekeeper, writing out the averages on the report form, and writing comments to all the parents. The sad part is, it's not that I had fallen behind by procrastinating for two weeks (which I have done once or twice before)... It was just a lot to do, and I'm convinced that my perfectionistic tendencies cause me to work slowly on almost anything I do. Anyway, all that to say I've been feeling pretty tired since Thursday night, and I just haven't seemed to be able to catch up.

On Friday from 4:30-7:30, I hung out here at an event called Live Out Loud. It's kind of like a youth group type event held twice a month, once for grades 7-9 and once for grades 10-12. I didn't really know anyone since elementary is a whole different world, but I'm hopeful that God will use me somehow through these events.

Yesterday morning we went to the market bright and early. I love it there. Every so often, I have these moments when I realize, "Wow... I live in Honduras." The market us almost always one of those times. I wish that I could take and share pictures, but I've heard it's almost guaranteed that your camera will be stolen if you take it out there. The vast majority of the people sell fruits and vegetables, and they have tables set up under tents made of tarps and such... I love seeing the people from all ends of the socioeconomic spectrum and trying to communicate with them... The prices are incredible too! At one tent, I got 4 bananas (2 lbs) for fifty cents. The bell peppers were 5 for a dollar. A fresh pineapple is about a dollar. I love it...

My absolute favorite moment on this particular market trip was buying tomatoes (5 for 50 cents) from a beautiful old lady that blessed my heart. Honestly, the tomatoes didn't look like the best that I could find, but I felt compelled to support her. Her hands were somewhat crippled, and it was obvious that she is really poor. I struggled through the little Spanish I know just to communicate what I wanted, but as she spoke to me, I longed to understand her because she was so incredibly warm and loving. I feel like it is incredibly possible that she is a Christian and that I saw Christ in her. I really hope that I can remember to look for her throughout the next few months as we continue to go to the market. I would love to support her by buying whatever she has, and hopefully the Lord will perform a miracle in my Spanish so that I can get to know her a little in the process!

Sidenote: If I stay here longer than a year or spend another extended period of time in another country, I want to go to language school first.

Last night Honduras played the US in world cup qualifying soccer, and we went to Chili's to watch the game. I never cared about soccer before now, so I decided to cheer for Honduras since I'm not exactly tied to the American team. Unfortunately, that means I was pulling for the team that lost - but it was worth it. The atmosphere was crazy. It was extremely crowded, and our table seemed to be the only one in the whole place that wasn't smoking and drinking. When Honduras scored their first goal, the celebration that filled the room was unbelievably loud and lasted for about five minutes.

Toward the end of the game, I found myself praying for Honduras to win. It just seems like our country has everything already, and Honduras has nothing but problems. I was praying for this opportunity because it would fill about six million people with incredible joy and hope. But then I felt the Lord telling me that their joy cannot come from a game. It must come from Him.

Please pray for this country.