I spent Thursday with Erika.
Friday at 6:41 a.m. my coworker called to say she would meet me at 9 a.m. at our meeting place in Villa Nueva. I was excited because for the past few weeks we haven't gotten out into the communities. So I called my taxi driver and got the ride arranged, since there is no safe place to leave my car there.
Then at 7:30 she called again saying her plans changed and she had other priorities, but we can go next week. So much can happen before 8 a.m. in a country where it is accepted practice to make phone calls at 6 a.m.!
I spent the morning and part of the afternoon preparing my message for Sunday church, but nothing came to me. Little did I know God was going to wait until 8:35 a.m. on Sunday to confirm what I was supposed to share. He came through just in the nick of time!
At 2 p.m. I had a meeting with my boss. She asked if I would like to have my own club in Villa Nueva, the colonia which is between my house and Los Pinos. I will be responsible for the needs of 25 kids and their families. In addition to meeting with the group of kids weekly, I will do home visits to every home at least once monthly. I am the only person serving in an area that is not my home, but I have already met some of the families and am familiar with the neighborhood.
My boss also explained to me that she has a son with Asperger's. He does well in school with the book stuff, but his social skills are lacking. He attends a private school that is bilingual and inclusive. She asked if I would like to help out at the school teaching things that the teachers are not covering, like impulse control, coping mechanisms and social skills.
I was instantly excited. These are things I did and enjoyed in wilderness therapy and when I worked in the lockdown facility for sex offenders. She even got me a book with different lessons we can use as a starting point.
Here is the cool part: Her dream is that we start this pilot program at her son's school, fine tune it, then duplicate it in the public schools! The organization we serve has the pull to be able to make this happen! If kids with special needs have specialized individual education plans, they will be more successful, less likely to be left behind, and more likely to graduate. This could change the future for a whole lot of kids!
I love how big my boss dreams, and since she is a woman of action, I believe this will one day be a DREAM COME TRUE.
(You should have gotten an email about this. If you didn't and you'd like to, please let me know.)
After spending lots of time this week reading the bible and praying about the message I was to present this morning at church, I spent Saturday evening reading Psalm 91 over and over until Fany said I had it right. Both of us were falling asleep in her kitchen, but finally I felt ready to go to bed.
I knew that Psalm 91 was not the message that God wanted me to share with my church today, but He hadn't given me anything else, and I had to prepare something.
This morning I had plans to make myself extra beautiful by straight ironing my hair before church. Then the power went out. No blow drying or straight ironing for me! So I laid down on my bed and prayed. Finally, at 8:35, an hour before my ride was supposed to pick me up (my car is making a funny noise) God gave me the message He wanted me to share.
I realized that I was reading Psalm 91 because Fany and another friend had recommended it to give me peace when I was scared. And although Psalm 91 is powerful and tells us not to be afraid, to me it still represented the fear I was fighting.
Instead of Psalm 91, God gave me John 14:27 (NLT) "I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid.
My message at church this morning turned out really well, I think. I felt very satisfied with it. God gave me the words to speak and the Holy Spirit was with me as I translated everything into Spanish. I didn't even feel nervous. Instead I was happy and excited to share what God wanted me to share with my church family. Never thought I would say that, but it really is true!
Clara is back in the hospital. She came down with a cold after she started receiving chemo and it is kicking her butt. I am so proud of the way her daughters stand by her side. They are both in college now and busy young ladies, but they do all they can for their mother. It is beautiful to see. Clara raised strong, loving, devoted and faithful daughters who are fighters just like Clara.
Laura starts school tomorrow. Fany is going crazy. This is really hard for her! But Laura is excited.
Ana and her family came over yesterday. We ate baleadas and had a nice, relaxing time. I had to walk to the next colonia over to buy garbage cans for the church. Turned out Ana knew the lady who I had ordered the garbage cans from. The lady and her husband drove Ana to the hospital when she was in labor with her oldest son, Jired. They haven't seen each other in 16 years! It was cool that of all of the people in the world, that is who I bought the garbage cans from, and then happened to have Ana with me when I went to pick them up. No coincidence there!
No photos of Isa today because she fell asleep in my arms:
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| Climbing the mango tree |
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