smiley

alright, i have to be honest. i am just NOT a fan of the stray dogs around here. i'm just not. mange, excessive barking, dog fights, weird looking poop on the street, etc?

no thank you.. especially after i got bit by one. (sorry to all of you with huge "doesn't matter WHAT kind of dog it is, love it anyway" hearts..)

HOWEVER, there is one dog who has recently made me re-think my stance..

THIS dog is just awesome.


we call him "smiley."

hccsa returns!

for their spring break trip, a group of incredible students from hill country christian school of austin came down to serve the makarios staff and our kids. laurie's spanish classes come every year to serve alongside some of their parents and school staff. i cannot begin to tell you how incredible every single one of these kids really are. we actually talk about it every time they are here.. how in the world are they all such great people? they love Jesus, respect everyone around them, are full of energy, and come to humbly serve.

i probably said this last year, but i will say it again.. it is just SO encouraging to see juniors and seniors in high school know the Lord the way they do and want to spend their spring break sweating and serving other people. love it. their unique community of students, staff, and parents is a beautiful picture of how to hold others accountable and build people up.

basically, they rock.

here are just a couple pictures of my kids from when they came to lead our classes for a few days (umm AWESOME for us teachers. we got to sit back and hang out with our kids while they took over..)

working hard on their giant name crafts

who wouldn't LOVE fake snow? (especially if you never see real snow!?)

what a beautiful picture of service and what an encouragement for all of us here..

thank you, laurie, for loving your students so much that they want to come love mine.

unexpected

so you know cristina already.. one of the wisest, strongest, most loving, graceful women i have ever met. i have missed her friendship and presence terribly since she moved to the capital. i love LOVE her so much!

we hadn't talked in awhile and she randomly called me one afternoon. or course we start blabbing a million miles an hour about everything going on and she randomly asks me about my plans for the weekend.. and i ramble some more..

i will save you all the mess but basically i was having an incredibly hard couple days and honestly felt like i was about to break. on sunday i was sitting in church praying to the Lord, calling to Him and declaring how much i just disparately need Him. i'd been brought beyond my own strength. no more. i need Him. i always need Him but sometimes, in my foolishness, try to do things on my own strength.

anyway, in the middle of me scribbling in my journal to the Lord, kendall scoots closer to me on the bench because someone sat down on the other end. then she elbows me and whispers..

"cristina"

what? WHAT? thank you LORD!

robin has everyone shift over so i can run to the other side and sit by cristina. i couldn't let go of her. i was just sobbing. sobbing.. the kind you can't turn off. she let me hug her, told me to stop crying, and held my hand the rest of the time. ahhh i could just feel so much of the love of God in her presence.

i am so incredibly thankful for the time we had. she is such a blessing. for her to find money to be able to travel to see us "just because" is so loving. we were able to spend the day with the group at the beach. cristina spent the night with us and got to visit school in the morning before heading back to the capital.


oh i am so thankful for her understanding, her deep love, and her friendship.

i looooove surprises! :)

effeciency..

here's the thing- if you have 4 people all going to the same place across town at the same time, it just makes sense to go together, right?

aaand if you have 1 moto, why not share it?


yeah, we really did ride across montellano like this after school. it's safer than it looks. ok, lie. BUT (mom, this is for your sanity's sake) johan is a really great driver.. :)

cooler than hot cross buns

remember how we used to go to music class in elementary school? "hot cross buns" on the recorder, anyone? c'mon you know, hot cross buns. hot cross buns. one a penny. two a penny. hot cross buns.. yes it is still with me even at 24 years old.

well, we don't have "music class" everyday (wouldn't that be awesome? my very own 6-year-old band!? hmm.. not ready to let go of this idea..) so for awhile in art class, we had a music theme. we made drums, watched youtube videos of random people playing piano, the flute, drums, guitar, etc.

the coolest part of the week was that we got to have SPECIAL GUESTS!!

special guest: CARA JANE on the GUITAR!!

cara taught them about the parts of a guitar, played a little for them, and let them try to play! FUN.. they loooved trying to name the parts of the guitar and listening to cara jam a little.

special guest: ROBIN on the FRENCH HORN!!

eduardo mastering the technique robin taught

french horn. is robin fancy or what?

rachel learning to play..

you should have seen robin's grand entrance playing the horn as she walked into the room.. and their faces- oh man. robin taught them all how to position their lips, how to blow into the horn, where they should put there hands.. they were more than freaking out they were so excited! that was my first time to try the french horn.. they get to do it at age 6. watch out, we might have some musical prodigies on our hands..

oh and yeah, that's right.. my roommates pretty much rock. perhaps we should start an apartment band. i'll be the interpretive dancer and kendall can learn the drums.. ahhh yeah. for real, THANK YOU so much, robin and cara!

destruction

.. pretty crazy this is possible for a 4 year old to do, huh? one of lauren's students was left in the room by himself for a minute to calm down. anger.. who knew he could turn a wooden table on its side (left side of picture)? please keep praying for our kiddos.

[note- since this happened, he has been asked to come for only the end of the day and then lauren uses some of her afternoons to work with him individually. we have seen a difference in him and were just talking about it today. praise the LORD]

i really love him

everyday for a couple weeks, luis fernando has been coming to school.. and every day at some unpredictable moment he would snap. after the snap he spirals into a rage he doesn't seem to be able to control. this takes on many forms- attacking other students, throwing chairs, hitting, etc. i can't accurately describe what his face morphs into or the way his heart races and whole body shakes.

we don't have a principal or counselor.. or really anywhere i can send him, so helping him through this is my job. i carry him to the office or porch while he fights to escape with every ounce of strength he has. i remind him over and over how we can count and breathe when we are angry. it is ok that he is angry but let's try to breathe. breathe. breathe.. as calmly as possible, i remind him that we are friends and i can let go when he is tranquillo and we can talk about it. sometimes he calms down eventually, sometimes odilsia has to come talk to him, and sometimes it just won't stop.

what hurts me more than anything is that i know he is confused and hurting. i can take him hitting, biting, kicking, pinching, and cussing at me all day; i know it's not me he's really upset with. oh but it breaks me to hear about his mother wanting him, not wanting him, taking him back, giving him to one of her friends.. and then to talk to the woman he stays with now (he calls her "grandma" but she's a friend of his mom) and hear her say "oh yeah, his mom doesn't want him. he misbehaved. she doesn't want him.." in front of him. ugh. he's told me himself that his mom doesn't want him.

one day he was in a pretty bad rage (i guess that's what i would call these fits..?) and i'd been sitting with him in the office, arms wrapped around him to keep him from hitting me or running out.. for literally like 15 minutes. at this point, no one has been in my classroom (which pretty much means utter chaos in there) and luis and i were both dripping in sweat. i asked him if i let him go, what his plan was. where would he go?

then i tried it. let him go.. and he walked right to the front gate. "ok i can't let you leave.." and i carried him back to the office. he wasn't going to stop. there was nothing in him that would stop. my class is screaming down the hall, kids are yelling "profe!" every two seconds, i hear people crying, luis is shaking and trying to pry my arms apart, i can't ask for anyone to help and no one but odilsia is in the building.. and i really let him go.

i even opened the gate for him.. and he left. walked by himself in the rain.

of course i stood there sobbing until odilsia ran to calm my class down and told me i had to stop crying. ok. back to class..

after school, i went straight to luis' house to talk to his "grandma," explain to her what happened, and make sure he knew i love him and was not mad. grandma said he wasn't going to public school that afternoon (perfect..) so i asked if he could come with me for an hour or so. yes.

we made necklaces, watched michael jackson videos (we share a love for good ol' mj), read books, ate apples, played with my camera, and laughed. oh my gosh it was so refreshing to hear his little laugh again and watch him sing/dance.

you know who that is.. (photo by luis)

one of my favorite smiles on the planet

such a funny kid.. loco

i am so incredibly thankful for that afternoon. that hour. his shrieks of laughter. his playfulness. his love. please, please be praying for luis fernando. please pray for his family. pray that he knows and understands God's love at such a young age. pray that the Lord is where he finds stability, peace, and love.