Random Reports

Last week, I got to teach a guitar lesson to a mom and son on Stone Island. It was a really great time because not only did they get excited about the guitar, but I also got to know their family a whole lot more. We talked for probably 2 hours or so. I'm really excited to keep giving them lessons this week.

Also last week, was the very end of the English Classes.... Sooo sad!! We had a big party with all the students and Ellen and I cooked American food. You might think that means just hamburgers and peanut butter and jelly, but we actually got some amazing ideas and everything turned out pretty stinkin' delicious. We made Italian Beef, lazagna, apple sauce, garlic bread, a tossed salad, and homemade cookies. It was amazing. All the students actually really liked the food, too. It can be hard to please the taste buds of people from a different culture, but we managed to do so! One of the students brought a cake and said some really kind words of thanks. She cried, I cried, it was a very bittersweet moment. I really had some amazing students and amazing experiences and I will miss it.

The day of the party was also Ethan's first birthday! Woo hoo! Not only is he amazingly cute and bright, but it's fun for me to have a baby boy around who's about the same age as my nephew. It's kinda like watching my nephew grow up in a way. Anyway, Kyle and Ellen bought him an Elmo cake for his birthday which we ate at the party. But first, we all sang to him and then the group started cheering ¨Mordida!¨, which basically means take a bite of the cake while we push your face into it (like they did for my birthday). Kyle was a bit surprised that everyone wanted to do Mordida with Ethan who was only one, so he checked again with everyone and they encouraged him all the more. So, Kyle went ahead and did it but not realizing that we were all expecting him to just get Ethan's lips a little bit with frosting. Instead, all of Ethan's face went in the cake and he came up crying and all covered with bright red frosting! It was so hilarious I still laugh so hard when I think about it. Kyle felt pretty bad because he misunderstood what everyone's expectations were, but we all sure got a good kick out of it! I think Ethan will love that story when he gets older, too. It was so funny...

This past weekend I went on a retreat with the youth group... two retreats back to back! This retreat I was actually fairly excited to go on because it's with a lot of my friends, but it was actually pretty hard in the end. I think being with a whole bunch of teenagers is stressful because it can be clicky and difficult to fit in. On top of that, you mix in the fact that I can only understand about 50% of what I hear, it just made it even more difficult. Plus, one of my better girl friends, or so I thought, barely hung out with me. In fact, she kind of acted like she didn't want to be around me at all. So, that was kinda stinky. I ended up feeling about as insecure this weekend as I felt in 7th grade... pretty low point actually. But, I think I'm fully recovered from it. Everyone's been friendly since we got back and even tonight I went and hung out with a bunch of the youth on the beach. So, I guess I'm just glad that's over and I can be back in some better situations hopefully. Whew! Sometimes living in a different country can be extremely uncomfortable, so I've learned.

Tonight at church in Madero I got to meet the oldest son of one of the ladies at church. Only thing is, he looked nothing like a son. He's gay and had his hair long and dressed like a girl. It really took me by surprise when she introduced me to her son. I tried to just seem normal and show him love like I try to do with everyone, but it felt kind of awkward. After he left, his mom just broke into tears with me because right now her son is just really messed up but she hopes that one day God will rescue him. It just broke my heart seeing this mother so broken over her lost child, and just trying so much to cling to hope that he will be freed from this lifestyle. It made me realize so much more how much we need the Holy Spirit's power to be inside of us, overflowing into the people around us. He's really the only one who can change hearts and set people free. I read a story a bit ago about some youth that just felt led to go do some praise and worship in the mall. They spent about 3 hours just worshipping Jesus and nothing happened until near the end when one man just walked up to them and pulled out all of the drugs he had, left them on the ground, and walked away. The Holy Spirit moved in him and it changed his life. I hope that my life can reflect the Holy Spirit more and that people who get to see a part of it will just have even more of a hunger for Jesus and to be set free.