México: Loving God, Loving Others: Escuela y Una Fiesta

"Use me then, my Savior, for whatever purposes and in whatever way you may require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with your grace." ~D. L. Moody

We had yet another (almost) completely normal five day week. With the exception of Friday afternoon, we had a whole week of school. It has been wonderful to be in a routine and not have crazy schedules that change daily both for our sanity (our being the teachers) as well as the sanity of our kids. Things would be pretty crazy around here without all of the structure we’ve found the past couple weeks, so hopefully things won’t be changing or interrupted too often between now and the rest of the school year! I like consistency!

We celebrated two birthdays this week. One of the daughters turned 16 on Sunday and then on Wednesday a long-time intern (better known as a tía, an aunt) had her birthday. There was lots of cake to go around and two more marvelous creations! A popcorn cake and a 3-tiered chocolate heart cake—They’re pretty impressive! Check them out below :)

This week would have been another 5 day completely normal week, but the kids earned their 10^th compliment on Monday, which resulted in a compliment party on Friday afternoon. Our morning was fairly normal. We just shortened our literacy blocks a bit and then let the fun begin! For this compliment party each kid was able to make their own pizza with all the supplies we bought last weekend. We split the kids into two groups. While one group was creating their pizza, the other group of kids stayed upstairs and read a Max Lucado book, then we switched. Once all the pizzas were made, we baked them and enjoyed our delicious lunches while we watched a movie that was sent to us for the kids for Easter. We enjoyed our pizzas, bread sticks, carrots, monster cookies, and pop! It was a fun day and the kids loved making their own pizzas! Perhaps we’ll fit another one of those days in before the school year ends!

When I put things into perspective, I realize I can't complain about anything. My life is pretty great! This week around the world (back in the States at least) has been pretty crazy. It's sad to think that it takes events like those that have taken place this week for me to put my life into perspective and be able to see how great I have it. I haven't encountered any bombs or explosions this week and I haven't had flooding in my home, workplace, or city. Instead I get to witness beautiful sunrises and sunsets every day. I get to walk around feeling and knowing that I am safe. It's dry season here, so instead of complaining about the heat, I praise God that floods are not destroying all I have and that the sun IS shining!

Sometimes I just need to take a step back, get a new perspective. Though I don't know what the future holds for me beyond the next month and a half, I know that I'm in good hands.