Bug/Worm/Centipedey Thing.....

I haven't posted pictures of any creatures yet this year...but this guy came to visit me this morning in my bedroom. I have seen a much smaller version of him, but have never seen one so big. He was very big and his legs were big and chunky and his pointy pinchers were huge!
His antennae are on the wall...at the other end check out the pincher/pokers/fangs...UGLY!



After the photo shoot it was time for RAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



The best kind of a critter is a dead critter!

You could call today a success! We had two meetings with parents of students who had detention for not doing homework, and did not bring their detention slip signed today. So we made a call home and asked for a meeting.

Both meetings went well...one was filled with tears and a promise of a new attitude and work ethic. I am praying that will be seen on Monday!

The second meeting went well also. But the most rewarding thing was watching this young boy walk out of the Learning Center with his father's arm around him. WOW! Patty and I stood and watched, both a little teary eyed....that is what we have wanted for the last two years! For dad to be involved with his son...and not just being angry with him but really caring and showing that to his son. And it is so much what his son wants! It was an awesome moment!!!

Please pray for our kids, that they will work hard during the day and complete their homework. Many 5th and 6th graders are falling behind. Sixth grade is a crucial year, as these kids graduate this year....and there are many who are still finishing up their fifth grade Paces from last year. This week I doubled their daily goals, so they now need to complete anywhere from 30 to 40 pages per day....this is a lot, but they can do it! If they will work hard and stay focused on their Paces!

9:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, 2009…..here I sit, in the dark, in the hot, quiet, dark. All I can hear are the children’s voices outside, children who should be in bed….but who could possibly sleep with this heat when there is no power - which means no ceiling fans, no floor fans, nothing to cool off the air….

Electricity is a funny thing around here. Sometimes it is shut off to save energy. Don’t worry about the inconvenience to people, or the food in the refrigerators, or the time and money lost because people cannot run their businesses. Or like tonight…I don’t know what caused the melt down, but I heard it…a loud WHIRRR and then silence. Silence and DARK. It is so dark here. When the power is out it is just black darkness!

Thankfully I had just recently had my computer plugged up and its battery is fully charged, so I am able to sit and type my next blog entry….to be posted once the power is back on and I am able to get my internet to reconnect. (it never likes it when the power goes off and it takes several reset attempts before it will reconnect)

Now the neighborhood is coming alive…I hear more and more folks outside talking…I just hear chatter…not sure what is going on. This is one of those moments where you wish your blue Honduran antenna was working. It would be nice to know what they know…but here I just sit in my dark, hot house with a few candles burning so that I can attempt to move about the house.

Of course just as the power went off, my cell phone began beeping because it was about to die. I lit a candle and ran to my room to find the phone charger and then started to plug it in so that I could charge my phone….DUH! No power, no charger, so now no phone on top of it all! JOY!

Hoping Carol is alright up the street…but I can’t call as I have no power on my phone.

And I am a bug attracter right now…as the light from my computer is the only light in the room…so it is attracting every flying bug around. :)

And the candles….when I was getting candles out to light, I realized they were all very soft and stuck together. If that gives you any idea how hot it is in my house. My candles are melting in their boxes, sitting on the shelf in my dining room. I should have realized that would be the case, as those boxes of candles sit on the shelf above where my thermometer is hanging…my thermometer that never drops below 90 degrees these day! Don’t I remember from my Partylite days “keep cool” “store in a cool place”….well now I remember.

But I am thankful for candles, even soft melty candles….they provide light.

Mmmm the battery on my computer is now at 63%....once it starts going down it goes down quickly. And right now I feel this is my only connection to life…life other than the life I am currently living in the hot, dark, with strange bugs flying into me! AHHH!

If it were daytime most people would just head to the mall…the big grocery store at the mall always gets very busy when the power is out…because their’s doesn’t go out. They must have a generator or their own circuit or something….and it is like all of Comayagua ends up at the grocery store when the power goes off. But at this time everything in town would be closed, and in the dark, who wants to go out searching for life….I’d rather stay right where I’m at.

Alarm clock…..I’m hoping the roosters will wake me in the morning, as there isn’t any alarm clock now. I sure need those batteries so when the power goes out….but they don’t seem that important until there is no power! That’s when I think why didn’t I buy batteries at the store for the clock….but then the lights will come back on and next time I go shopping they won’t seem so necessary again.

Well perhaps I will see if I can convince myself to try to go to sleep. Morning comes quickly around here….and tomorrow is my hectic day at school – 3 hours of art classes. Makes me so thankful for Fridays!

Hopefully I will be posting this to my blog soon….maybe even tonight…now that would be a great feat! Although highly unlikely, but there are always those moments where I am surprised. Otherwise, I just try to take things in stride and not get too bent out of shape.

Good night and God bless!

The lights did come back on at 1:45 a.m.....and here I am posting this note... I was able to sleep a little, on the couch then I woke up once and got up to go to the bathroom and walked right into the corner - didn't quite get the turn for the hallway right...I have a nice bump on my forehead....ouch! Happy to have lights again so I can see where I am walking....and Goodnight for real this time.

Happy Easter! We could not get on the base this morning for chapel service. They gave both of us trouble…they couldn’t find Carol’s pass in the book, and they wouldn’t accept my pass because it lists my Passport number and I had my Drivers License….even though that is how I have gotten on base every Sunday for almost two years. So what did God have for us as we worshipped at home?

So we returned to our homes this morning. Since living in Honduras I have had “church” at home many times…

I worshipped this morning with Kari Jobe. One of her songs from her new CD particularly spoke to me this morning. The song is called “Sweep Me Away”. The part that really took me was Sweep me away in your love where nothing else matters

WOW! How many things have I let get in the way of my relationship with God. Responsibilities at school, convention, worrying about the kids, day to day living and responsibilities of caring for my house and Annette’s house, all the things that I let pile up on me and forget to get in God’s presence. All those things mean nothing if I move away from God.

Any time I feel distant from God, when I think I’m not hearing Him, I don’t know where He is, it’s me! I need to turn off the world around me and just let God sweep me away!

I read from each of the Gospels this morning concerning the capture, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. I love the verses in John where Jesus prays for his disciples then he prays for all those who will come to know Him and love Him. Reading these prayers you can feel how much Jesus loves each of us. To think that He thought of me and prayed for me…that just blows me away!

Where ever you may have worshipped today, remember what Jesus did for us, and the sacrifice God made to give his son to us, and say Thank You!

Have a blessed day!

The children dress up for the procession. I wonder how they chose which one would get to be Jesus?


Here is one little Jesus who is going to join in the procession. The cross was heavy, he kept dropping it.

Can you imagine working all night long on this work of art...

They plan their drawing, their colors, color the sawdust, and prepare for the special night.....




After the procession and the lovely carpets have been walked on, the children fill their empty soda bottles with the colored sawdust.

Some of the beautiful carpets we saw yesterday morning...




This one was done by the Honduran Airforce Academy

SAMSON!

He stops playing just long enough for a drink.

My Saturday laundry....




Maria comes two times a week to clean and do laundry. However, I have started washing a lot of my shirts as some of them have turned into short dresses with the way she pulls and stretches as she washes.




So today I thought I better get it done, and playing in the water in the pila was a nice break from the heat!

Semana Santa...Holy Week

Living here in Honduras where Catholicism is the predominant religion you see many traditions and religious ceremonies that are new and different.

The big thing to do this week is to go swimming...because it is extremely hot and many people have the entire week off work. However, as I learned last year, many children do not know the meaning of Semana Santa or why they have a week off, they only know that it is when you go swimming.

We have been able to see some of the Catholic ceremonies here to remember this week and what Jesus did for us. Thursday night there was a re-enactment of Jesus with the disciples at the Last Supper, Judas' betrayel and the capture of Jesus. The beautiful sawdust carpets made in the streets from colored sawdust and seeds, the procession of the Catholic church carrying a statue of Jesus through the streets, walking over these carpets.

Yesterday afternoon there was a re-enactment of the crucifixtion (although Carol and I could not find it) and Sunday morning they will have a procession and re-enactment of the empty tomb. All the weekend is filled with mass and processions and many events in the Catholic church.

It has given me many things to think about...how North Americans celebrate Easter? It is probably the busiest day for churches in the U.S., for people wanting to punch their church ticket or get to buy a new dress for the occasion.

While the catholic church is full of ceremonies and rituals, the talk in the street here is of El Senor....what is the talk in the streets of the United States?

Tell someone today that Jesus conquered death, we have nothing to fear, our hope is in Him, for He has Risen! He has Risen!

Have a Blessed Easter Weekend!

Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:28

Ruach wins 1st Place in Soccer! Ruach Rocks!!!!

1st Place Quartet






1st Place Trio

Our team prayed before and after each football game. Here you can see many other schools who have joined in the circle as Gerson led the team in prayer!

What an awesome bunch of kids we have at Ruach!

Pace Bowl team won 3rd place!

Congratulations!!!!

By Wednesday afternoon everyone was getting tired! Nury, Marisol and Celeste relaxing with Carol and I outside.

I will post some more pictures tomorrow....tonight I am too tired to continue...still recuperating! So thankful that next week is vacation!

Ready for the rally to begin.



Jose Antonio and Arnaldo won 3rd place for the instrumental duet.


Celeste MaryCruz (sister to Celestino)

And the medals kept coming and coming!




Charlie, ready to head to the rally.

It was fun seeing the kids all dressed up for their evening meal and rally.



The girls were waiting for the vocal competition to begin.

Kemel thinking of his next chess move

Last week Carol and I spent 5 days at the A.C.E. Student Convention. Our school took 23 students. There were approximately 200 students at the event. We competed in sporting events, art, photography, singing, instrumentals, chess, checkers, spelling...We had a great week!

Carol and I came back completely exhausted! We rose each morning at 4:45 to attend a 5:00 a.m. sponsors meeting...and that was the beginning of our non-stop day until we would crash at about 11:00 p.m. where the girls would take pictures of us sleeping. :) gotta love teenagers!

Our kids had a great time and did very well in their competitions.

Here are the awards they received....

Marisol
800 Meters - 3rd place
400 Meter Relay 5th place
Photography Black & white scenic – 2^nd place

Photography color plants & animals – 4th place

Nury
400 Meter Relay - 5th place

Andrea Maria
100 Meter - 3rd place

Kasey
800 Meter - 1st place
400 Meter Relay - 5th place
Photography Color Still Life – 2^nd place

Vocal Solo – 2^nd place

Allison
400 Meter Release - 5th place

Anna Raquel

Vocal Solo – 4^th place

Manuel
200 Meter - 3rd place
800 Meter - 3rd place
400 Meter Relay - 2nd place
Soccer Kick - 1st place

Gerson
400 Meter Relay - 2nd place
400 Meter - 2nd place
Preaching – 1^st place

Photography Black & white scenic – 6^th place

Christian
400 Meter - 4th place
400 Meter Relay - 2nd place
1600 Meter - 4th place
800 Meter - 5th place
Sketching – 6^th place

Arnaldo
400 Meter Relay - 2nd place
800 Meter - 4th place

Charlie
Socker Kick - 5th place

Checkers – 3^rd place

Spelling – 1^st place

Jonathan
High Jump - 3rd place
1600 meter - 3rd place
400 meter - 1st place
800 meter - 1st place

Photography Color Scenic – 2^nd place

Jose Antonio
Chess – 2^nd Place

Celeste Mary Cruz
Photography Color Photo- Still Life – 4^th place
Crochet or Embroidery – 3^rd place
Embroidery or Crochet – 1^st place (my notes are messed up….not sure which one was which place)
Sketching – 2^nd place

Maria Celeste
Pen & Ink – 1^st place

Group Events

Vocal Duet – Maria Celeste and Andrea Maria (twins) – 6^th place

Vocal Trio – Anna Raquel, Maria Celeste , Alexandra – 1^st place

Vocal Quartet – Kasey, Celeste Mary Cruz, Anna Raquel, Maria Celeste – 1^st place

Vocal Quartet – Allison, Nury, Alexandra, Andrea Maria – 3^rd place

Instrumental Duet – Arnaldo, Jose Antonio – 3^rd place

Instrumental Trio – Arnaldo, Jose Antonio, Christian – 1^st place

Vocal Quartet – Alexandra, Nury, Andrea Maria, Allison – 3^rd place

Pace Bowl – 3^rd place

Bible Bowl – 5^th place

Girls Soccer – 3^rd place

Boys Volleyball – 2^nd place

Boys Soccer – 1^st place