The Most Chilled Out Person in the World

Hello All,
I hope it´s as sunny for all of you as it is for me in Esperanza right now. Yesterday, my roomie and I took a sick day to sleep off the stomach bug, and it was quite helpful. I am feeling 100% better now, and the only sunburn residue is my peeling nose.

Today is El Día de Lempira en Honduras--my second of this holiday in two years. Lempira was a Lenca Indian that took the initiative to fight off the Spanish to work toward independence, and he is thus known as a Honduran national hero. Because of this holiday and the fact that student teachers have begun teaching in Chiligatoro, we only had two classes today. Fourth grade B was a bit wild today; holidays do have a way of hyping children up. There was a special play performed afterward, so we only had sixth grade for twenty minutes which was actually perfect. It was just enough time to teach them the verb ´´to be.´´ They are so very smart, and they caught on so quickly. At Marie Claire´s suggestion, we are administering our first quiz to them on Thursday. We are trying to prepare them to write pen pal letters to my sister´s class that wrote them letters before school let out for the summer.

Yesterday, we received a visit from Nick, our Global Volunteer Network coordinator, and we had a fun time laughing and joking with him. Afterward, Tina, Marie Claire (my roommate here), Maricruz, and I all had an impromptu talking session. Maricruz shared the testimony of her son who was a drug addict and alcoholic before becoming a Christian. It was a blessing to listen to her story. Afterwards, we were briefly discussing religion, and as Maricruz was asking the other two girls their beliefs, she mentioned that although she is a Christian, she is not a Jesus freak and didn´t wish to pressure them. I piped in saying that, personally, I am a Jesus freak. There is no reason for me to deny it, but I won´t force Him on anyone else. Love doesn´t force itself onto others, and God doesn´t force Himself onto us. So, while I will always be honest and real about God and who I am, and while I hope earnestly that the love and peace of God overflows from me to others daily, it is not for me to force Jesus into someone else´s heart. Just as the Indian poem says, we cannot make the flower blossom. It is all His work. We are merely the vessels. Anyway, Tina piped in and said that she was glad that I am not a forceful person in this regard, that she had been worried when she first met me (I guess from things she´d heard about me being a Christian) and that she had avoided me at first. But, Marie Claire added (and Tina agreed) ´´But you are the most chilled out person in the world.´´

I take that as a great compliment and know that it is all the work of Jesus in my life. I was not always as peaceful and laid back as I am now. I seriously doubt people would have said that about me even just a few years ago. God has worked through circumstances in my life to cultivate patience in ways that I never thought possible. I look back on who I was a mere five years ago and know that there is no other explanation for who I am today. While I go through my bouts of impatience and stubbornness, times of fighting God and wanting my own way, I have learned (and continue learning) how to rest in Him and His will. His burden is easy; His yoke is light. I trust His best more than ever before.

Meanwhile, I have only one more week of teaching after this and only three more weeks left in Honduras in total. While three weeks seemed like a long time in Mexico (in the pre-Honduras anticipation), it seems like a very short time now. I believe I will be more ready to leave this summer than I was last summer. I am excited for my senior year at Shepherd (I´m so old!), and I am excited to graduate (even if I will never use my magic piece of paper in the rest of my life). I am excited to live with my girls for another year and to enjoy a final year of college life. I have enjoyed college so very much. I also look forward to the preparations to move here. I keep mentally going through my closet and excitedly thinking of everything that I can get rid of. It is absolutely ridiculous how much junk I have accumulated in only 21 years of life. Life is so much simpler when you own little.

As much as I am excited to move here, I know that this year will be a time of learning to lose all and share all with others. I am incredibly excited, but I also know that letting go of some elements will be very difficult. It hit me earlier today just what it will mean moving here--who I will be leaving behind. It will mean possibly not seeing my family often, and it will mean having to Skype with my best friend, Anthony, to keep up with how his senior year of college is going. It will mean being out of the reach of many people who have stolen my heart over the years. But, it will also mean opening my heart to new adopted family, new friends, and new people that desperately need to see Jesus in someone else. I have been called to leave it all behind, and I want to do so with a joyful (albeit broken) spirit.

Lots of love,
Sarah