"God Responded to Us"

Every morning during our Bible time, we have a time for prayer where we can share prayer requests. A month or so ago, we prayed for more teachers at the ranch. I had forgotten that we had even prayed for this as a class. The other day I was sharing with my class that a new teacher was going to come. One of my students got real excited and said, "God responded to us!" It took me a minute to realize what he was talking about so I asked him to explain. He said, "Remember a few weeks ago that we prayed for more teachers to come and now there's one coming, so God responded to us!"

This was a good reminder to me to look for ways God answers prayers and praise Him for doing so!

Visitors!

I had a team from my church come to Honduras! Woodcreek church sent a team of a few families to come work at the ranch last week! It was such a blessing and encouragement to have them here. I really enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know those who I didn't know before (which was the majority of the team). They accomplished a lot while they were here. They built a playground at the school, sorted coffee beans for a coffee competetion, dug a trench for a phone line, repaired screens on porches, helped at school, worked on some computer stuff, and probably other things that I'm forgetting right now. We were also able to go to a waterfall, hike up to the pond, eat dinner with families at the ranch, play capture the flag, and have two bonfire worship nights. Here are some pictures from the week:

School Starts Tomorrow!

Our kids come back to school tomorrow. I'm excited to see them after not having them in class for 6 weeks! This semester I'm teaching lots of random stuff. I'm still teaching primarily 5th and 6th grade, but also have my 3rd and 4th grade math class, an ESL class, Chemistry, and Geometry. It will be a little more work refreshing my knowledge of Chemistry and Geometry, but I think I'm ready for the challenge!

I had a great time in the states! I'm glad that I got to see and reconnect with as many people as I did. I returned to Honduras on the 30th of December. The next night was a fun celebration for New Year's Eve. In Honduras, it's a tradition to make a scarecrow looking thing called "Old Man Year." You stuff him with fireworks, and at midnight, you burn him representing the passing of the old year and the coming of the new year. We continued with this tradition and also had games and puzzles going on in the big house to wait until it was time to burn him. I was excited to actually witness this tradition this year. My first year here, I was still in the states for new years and last year I slept through it b/c it was the same day I flew back into the country and I was exhausted. Needless to say, it was a fun night!

Happy New Year everyone!

"I'll be Home for Christmas..."

Well, I'm already home...my home in the states that is. I've been here since December 2nd and will leave for Honduras again on December 30th. I'm about 1/2 way through my time here and have had a great time so far. I've gotten to see family, meet with some friends, meet some new friends, share about what God's doing in Honduras, and other fun stuff too.

I've been cleaning out things in my room at my parents' house, mainly because I'm a pack rat and haven't done so since high school. I've found some fun stuff, given away lots of stuff, thrown away lots of stuff and enjoyed some fun memories that came with the things I found.

My brother Robbie just got married in November. I've gotten to spend time with him and his wife, Mallorie, as well. They were in town for a Cowboys game, so we were going to go to the Fort Worth Zoo. It all sounded like fun, but it was cold and kinda rainy that we planned to go, so we ended up going to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum and a mirror maze they had there. They had some wierd and random stuff, but it was fun! I'm also looking forward to the beginning of this next week when I get to go spend a couple of days with them in Tyler, hanging out and getting ready for our family Christmas celebration we're having at their apartment.

I have a feeling the rest of my furlough time will go by quickly with Christmas and all that comes with it, so I thought I should post a little update now before I forgot.

Merry Christmas everyone! May God bless you and your family as you celebrate Jesus' birth!

Love According to Kids

A month or so ago, I received an email that had kids' definitions of love. I thought it was cute, so I decided to ask my kids. I gave them an index card and said, "Write down what you think love is." I did this several weeks ago, but I just found the cards :). This is what they wrote:

"When people get kissed."

"[Love] is an expression of the soul and heart."

"Love means that you love somebody like dad, mom, brothers, sister, and girlfriend."

"Love is more than an emotion; love is a dedication, a commitment, a goal, to always care for somebody/something, to the point you'd give your life for them/it; no matter how tough times get."

I thought these were interesting responses for 5th and 6th graders.

Thanksmas Christgiving

Tonight we had a Thanksmas Christgiving party. This combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas stemmed from the fact that some of our "family" aka coworkers here are going to be gone for Thanksgiving, yet we wanted to share a Thanksgiving type meal together. We also wanted to have a Christmas party before everyone went home for furlough, so it seemed like the perfect combination. We had all the traditional food that you might have at a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal (except we had chicken instead of turkey b/c it's cheaper), had a "Secret Santa" gift exchange, and played a few Christmas games. Our table was set with regular plates, fall/thanksgiving napkins, and Christmas colored cups. Hanging outside on the door were two welcome signs: one that is decorated with a fall theme, and one that says "feliz navidad" with a snowman on it. It was a fun start to the holidays and a great time of fellowship with the family I have here in Honduras. I hope this becomes an annual tradition :).

Happy Merry Thanksmas Christgiving!

Oops!

So...I kind of forgot that I had a blog. Sorry to those of you who read it and have been looking for another update. Umm....let's see...the semester's almost already over! I can't believe it!

This has been a great semester. It's been challenging in many ways, but in those challenges, I'm reminded to seek God and I end up growing from the challeging situations. I've been blessed with great friends that are pretty much like family, so it makes times when I'm missing my stateside family a little easier.

My students have been doing very well! I'm impressed by their hard work and diligent effort that they show (most of the time :)). We've had several big events this semeseter including an Independence Day program, a Day of the Child celebration, and a Culture Day program. We're also looking forward to a Christmas party with the kids and graduation before the semester is over.

I'm currently in the states right now for my twin brother's wedding! Robbie and Mallorie are getting married on Sunday! One of the ladies at the ranch is subbing for me so I can be here to celebrate with them. (Thanks again Jaylene!) I'm excited to be here for this special occasion and look forward to seeing a lot of family and family friends that I haven't seen in a while!! After all the craziness of the wedding festivities, I'll have a few days to rest at home and get ready to head back to Honduras to finish out the semester. I'm also looking forward to spending the majority of the month of December in the states and being able to spend Christmas here with my family.

Please be praying with us for more teachers! We need several more North American and Honduran teachers for next semester (beginning in January)! If you're interested, please let me know!

As always, thanks for all of your prayers and support!
-Hannah :)