Scorpion

Here is a picture of a scorpion I saw in a public women's bathroom on the south coast of Honduras. I have learned not to be surprised by anything here.If you look closely at the picture you can see lots of tiny baby scorpions on it's back. It was really cool to see in person! Honestly, I was really excited that we found the scorpion, since I knew that they live here but hadn't seen one before that day! ENJOY!!!

Quilt

Since moving to Honduras I have learned so much more than I thought possible. I have come to realize that everyday holds the opportunity to learn about or learn how to do something new. I think that many people believe that once you finish school you finish learning. I think that in my subconscious I kind of believed that too. Well, my thinking has completely changed, that's for sure. I now believe that you can learn more out of school, than in it. Of course there are certain things that are necessary to go to school to learn about, but there is so much that you can learn if you just look around yourself. I find that most people are willing to share their life experiences with you, and are often eager teach what they know. You can learn so much if you are a good listen and student. I have most recently learned about quilting. At the Ranch we often have teams come down to help with various projects, and the last team we had was a sewing team. This team has been coming for the last few summers to teach our kids how to sew. They are a remarkable team, and our kids look forward to them coming each year. This year the team came for two week and had some "adult" sewing time, giving me the opportunity to make a quilt. It was a really fun experience and one that I will never forget. I really liked the process of making the quilt and seeing it change. It went much faster than I thought it would. Of course, being my first quilt it is a very simple design, but I really like it. I also made a matching pillow. I found that the work was very rewarding and hope to make more quilts in the years to come. I am very grateful for such a fun learning experience.

A moment passed with sleepy clouds

About a month ago I had to go into Tegucigalpa (Tegucigalpa: the capital city of Honduras and the main city where I do my shopping. Tegucigalpa is about and hour from the ranch.) for a meeting of sorts. I had to leave the Ranch around six in the morning in order to make my appointment. I rode in with a few of the teens who go to school in the city. The students happened to be in exams that same week, so on the way into the city most of them were getting some last minute studying in. I was enjoying the bumpy ride down the dirt road, thinking of nothing in particular. A few minutes later we came around a bend where a beautiful valley is nestled into the mountains. I really love this spot and my eyes quickly traveled to the valley, what I saw took my breath away. The clouds were still resting their sleepy heads on the sides of the mountains. It wasn't just "fog" that is like a large blanket, but it was like the clouds descended to have a slumber party. There were many clouds nestled cozily against the mountains and in the valley. It really was beautiful, I looked around the car, to get the others reaction to the beautiful landscape. They still had their heads bowed studying. That is when it hit me... how often was I like those teens? You know so busy with "life" that I missed the treasures that God placed before me. They were doing just what they "needed" to be doing. Most would agree that before a big test you should study, but yet they missed such an awesome moment. How do you balance that, living your life...and not missing out on life? How do you get the things done that you have to do, without neglecting the people who are important to you, or missing the little treasures given to you throughout the day? Even aside from missing out on stuff because of "duties" think how often we miss out on moments worrying about yesterday, tomorrow, 2 minutes from now. It was a great reminder to me that there really is more to life than deciding what I'm going to have for dinner, when I'm going to mow my grass, or how I'm going to spend the weekend. Jesus even talks about this in Matthew 6:19-34, He says,
"19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Wow, He said that so much better than me. Isn't it even funny how often I have read those verses, and yet it didn't truly sink in until that moment. God is very patient, he teaches us the same lessons that He has been teaching us, but when we don't get it He is so kind to speak to us in an other way so that we do get it. What a great God we serve!

Island in the sun

I don’t think there could be a more magnificent place on earth than on a private island. Three of my fellow teachers and I had the privilege of escaping the everyday tasks to get a little R&R off the coast of La Ceiba. We traveled 6 hours by car and an hour and a half by boat to arrive at the most amazing beach I have ever been to. Words could not begin to describe the beauty I felt, pictures hardly do it justice. In a place like this, one comes face to face with the handy work of God like never before and wonders how anyone could ever question if there is a God. We were surrounded by nothing but His glory. At night we looked into the sky and watched the stars sparkle; and because we were around NOTHING but the ocean the stars shined brighter and we saw a lot more than normal. The night sky was enough to sell me, but then morning broke and the most astonishing pinks and oranges appeared and I knew that it couldn’t get better than that, and yet it did. God can not be limited. Never have I seen such a blue ocean! The water was crystal clear, clam and inviting. The water was so blue that it almost looked fake, in the pictures it looks like we are swimming in a pool, but there was no pool on the island. We snorkeled in the worlds second best coral reef, and I could not imagine there being a better one. There are NO WORDS! Really, I had no idea something like that existed. I have been to aquariums and thought it was cool, but I kind of thought that they just put a lot of really cool fish and things together and made it really big and stuff just so that you could see more fish and more types of coral. I guess I expected that stuff to be few and far between, but all of the that stuff was at our finger tips. The most marvelous fish swam easily as my jaw dropped, stunned by what I saw. If I had not seen it with my own eyes and don’t know that I would have believed it. We saw fish in every color imaginable, fish that looked like they came straight out of a fairy tale land. Big fish and tiny fish, ugly fish and the most beautiful fish all swimming there in perfect harmony. I also saw a sea turtle, it was a perfect looking sea turtle, as if it were a stuffed animal. To say that everything was breath taking would be an understatement. Other cool things that we encountered would be the pelicans that hung out on the docks and the vast amounts of hermit crabs that try repeatedly to get into our house at night. One night we even had hermit crab races! I didn’t know that hermit crabs could get so big, or that they stared so small, the smallest one that I saw was about the size of a comma mark on your key board, the largest was bigger than my fist. We also played hide and go seek in the dark, and lots of card games and I think that it goes with out saying that we laid out a lot too. I couldn’t imagine a more relaxing vacation, or a more beautiful place. I will add it to my list of things that I will never forget.

Happy One Year Anniversary to Me!!!!!!

As I sit down to write this blog I really can not believe that this time last year I was on an airplane to come to this country I now call home. When I boarded that plane I had never been to Honduras, now it is a place that will never leave my heart. It is truly amazing to see all that can happen in one year. I could not even Begin to explain all that God has taught me since being here. In the big scheme of things I think most people would say that one year is so little time, but I would have to disagree. Everyday that passes shapes us into who we become in the future. I have had 365 days to be shaped, 365 days to grow, 365 days to have my breath taken away, 365 days to cry, to laugh, to feel the sunshine on my skin, 365 days to live... Wow, what a blessing we have been given, to live. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the bad stuff and the hard times, but if we had never cried, would we cherish the times when we laugh? I find that even in the hard times there is a blessing. Without those moments we would not be who we are today. Although you don't have to move to an other country to grow, to learn or be shaped, I know that I would have woken up a different person today if I had not lived in Honduras for the past year. I think being in a different culture challenges what you always thought to be "normal" or the way things "should be." You begin to see flaws in your own thoughts, you even shock yourself with ideas you didn't know you had. You watch others and realize that there is an other way to think about things or to do things. Being in a different culture has definitely shaped my thinking, and expanded my worldview. I have also been shaped by the beautiful children here. I have learned a love I didn't know existed. I thought that I was coming to Honduras to touch the lives of the
children here, but the thing about kids is that they unknowingly touch your life more than you ever hope to touch theirs. While I hope that I have made a big difference in their lives, I have no doubt that they have made a difference in mine. They make my laugh without even trying and make my heart melt, just by wanting to hold my hand. Just today Kensy came up to me and said "Miss Jessi can I hold your hand?" as if it were a privilege to be able to hold my hand. It would take me a year to recount all the precious moments I have had. I have been blessed to no end being here. My prayer is that I have truly given more than I have received, but at times I find that hard to believe.

Pictures of my class

My class moved into a new room this week. We are in a brand new building and it is beautiful. Here are a few pictures from the past week of our new class room.

The Girl with Frog Stuffed Pockets

Personally I really love the title that I posted, I think that one day I will write a children's book with the same title. It will be a story about a little girls journey to growing up with only brothers. Weather I will make it comical and touching I have yet to decided. I will keep you posted on how the book turns out. My inspiration for the book comes from something that happened today. I had taken all the kids outside to play, being momentarily obsessed with all kinds of bugs and small animals, they immediately began looking for what kind of animal they could find today. It wasn't long before they came across a frog, which means instead of following me their eyes were glue to the frog like it was gold. For some reason when they find something interesting their eyes start working double time, relieving their ears from having to work. I'm certain I could have been shot and killed and they wouldn't have heard anything. Jennifer is very brave when it comes to grabbing animals so she quickly snatched the frog right up, leaving the others in distress, since they didn't have a frog and Jennifer did. About 12 steps later they found another frog, and who do you think grabbed that frog? None other than Jennifer, leaving the others double distressed. They were quite verbal about it too. Anyhow, what's a girl to do when she has a frog in both hands and a chance to catch more frogs? You guessed it, stuff them in her pockets. I thought it was hilarious although I did tell her that she needed to take them out of her pocket and suggest that she might want to share with her class mates. She didn't exactly "want" to share her prized possessions, but she did anyways. It was a beautiful moment that made me laugh. The moment will forever live in my heart and maybe one day in my children's story!