Hello again!

Hi everybody,
 I know I haven't written in a couple of weeks and I apologize.  Of course that doesn't mean that nothing has occurred in the space between our talks :).
 Some great news is that after all of that cold weather for two weeks straight it has been warm as all get out here.  This is the first place that I've been where in February we had to use ac in the car, it has been in the 80's and 90's here!

My Mexican Family

Mural at Alleluya where Vicki and her family go to church.

I regret not notifying you earlier about a family who lost their baby and house last month due to a fire.  Of course things have been very rough for them, but I have gotten to see some of how prayer works in the last few weeks.  Their oldest son, Pedro was badly burned and had to be in the hospital for about two weeks.  Now though only about two and a half weeks later, he has new skin growing back and is moving out of the hospital to be with his family.  Pedro's dad also came to Christ as a result and Vicki, his mother, though devastated by the loss seems to still radiate laughter and joy.  AND we found out last week that she is pregnant again, which offers some joy and hope to the family as well.  This family did a lot of praying for me when Keith (my step dad) lost his job and it has been good to pray for and be there for them as well.  I'm learning a lot about how these people are my family in Christ as well.  Vicki and her family could really appreciate your prayers right now as Pedro still needs to go through therapy and they have to finish construction on a house that they need to move into as soon as possible.  Thanks for your support and prayers in that.

Makeover!!

 Ok, well I don’t really have to write much here, just check out the pictures :).  Keep in mind, this is a MEXICAN makeover, so it is a little much for me.  I like the hair and am learning about make up though!  Enjoy.

This one is more me :)

I really like being a Profe (teacher).

Ok, I know that it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t update about Nava…so here goes.  This week I walked into the school on one of the last days of the week and I remember thinking how lucky I am to be a part of the school and the lives of the students and teachers.  Again, what a great family I have here.  My students struggle a lot in class with staying focused, and sometimes I get super stressed out.  Then I have to remind myself that I just need to be there for the kids, that are the most important thing I can do. 

But it hasn’t just been hard; we have seen some awesome victories in the classroom in just the last week.  The last time I wrote I asked for prayer for classroom management and wisdom for how to best teach my students what they need to know.  This week and last I saw great improvement in students who normally do not want to participate in class or obey but are disruptive and manipulative.  One student when asked (sometimes more than once) to go to his seat will do so, instead of playing with the computer or drawing on the white board in the middle of the lesson.  I watched as another, who normally struggles with lashing out and being violent, was hit intentionally by another student and simply backed away.  Even when it came to teaching math, something I struggle to help the students understand, students were interested, challenged and responding to the activity.  I had a soccer coach who told me once that when you have a rough practice or game, you should focus on the ways that you were successful in the game.  I have learned a lot about doing this this year, and these are some of the cool things that happened.

PRAYER REQUEST:

 A student of mine confessed on Monday that her mother is living with a man who hits her.    The young girl, Blanca Estela is clearly affected by this and has begun acting out in class and becoming more violent.  She comes to school frequently and I think it is cool that she is still coming.  Could you please pray for wisdom in how we can help the situation, wisdom for how we can be there for Blanca at school and show her love, and that she and her mother and brothers and sisters can be removed from the situation as soon as possible.

Oracion porfis :)....Prayer please.

 -Prayer for balanced time, rest, and focusing on God and what he has done in my life.  Getting my value from him.

-Prayer for what will be happening after this year.

-Patience and wisdom at school with students.

-Being present here in the time I have left.

-Safety of course!!
-Blanca Estela (one of my students) and her family, in an abusive situation.  Please pray for rescue and that we can be there for her at the school and show her love.

-Vicki and her family, Fernando, Pedro and Ani and the new baby on the way!! (youngest daughter).

Who knew it could be so cold in Mexico?

Well hello again,
 This week has been pretty uneventful because school has been canceled due to below freezing weather.  We only had school on Tuesday this week.  Though Tuesday was a good day because I taught the students the concept of counting numbers past ten and I think it began to click for some of them.  I also learned some about classroom management, a prayer request being answered :).

 In any case, I'm ready for school to start again and I have some prayer requests:  the first is that it be warm, because our students have already missed like two weeks of school, and they were already behind to begin with.  The second is that next Wednesday we will give the students the state bimester tests (a test given two times a semester).  Obviously my students are not ready due to the fact that we have missed two weeks of school, and I would just ask that you would pray that we could prepare them the best we can before the test comes. 
 I could also use prayer for wisdom in what and how I teach my students. Because they are so behind I need wisdom in how to teach them and what to teach them so that they get the most out of school.  Thanks for your prayer.  Could you also pray that I can instill a love or desire to continue in school in the students...
Ok I think that is all!

13 crazy Mexican kids!?

  Aside from the crazy cold, things are still going well.  I'm really grateful that I'm learning how to balance my time.  As I said earlier, I have time to rest and be with God, I have time to work on planning for Nava school, and I have time to get my own homework done.  More importantly I have time to BE with my Mexican friends and family.  I really want to be present here and so far it is working out.  I ask for your prayers that I can continue balance my time this way.
  As you all know, I really LOVE my job.  But lately it has been hard.  All of the sudden my class is crazy.  The students really struggle with paying attention and staying in their seats.  I plan a lot for classes and I really feel like what I have prepared will help them a lot, but when they are so crazy it is too chaotic for them to learn anything. 
I ask for your prayers that I could help them to pay more attention.  I think what we need to do is have more procedures and expectations that the students get used to and thus take responsibility for their actions.  With these procedures hopefully they will feel like they have more structure and can be more calm and pay more attention.  Please pray for wisdom that we can find appropriate expectations and procedures and that they will help.  Thank you!?!