Just RELAX!

Alright, it's been a week since I last blogged, which if you recall was also my hardest day here so far. I am blessed to be able to say that I am in a MUCH different place today, both spiritually and emotionally. The rest of the school week was still not all that great, but it wasn't TERRIBLE, either. Then, on Friday we had Sports Day for the high school. I was asked to be a ref for volleyball and dodgeball. Ha! When Sarah, my roommate and the p.e. teacher, asked me that's exactly what I did. I just laughed. I gladly said I would do it, but inside I was freaking out, luckily Daniel, whose family has been long time missionaries here, came to help me out. Let's just say I wasn't meant to be a ref for any sport of any kind, whatsoever. At the end of the day, we did a soccer game of teachers vs. students. Guess what Miss Brenna was volunteered to be? The dreaded goalie. It turned out being pretty good, I even managed to make myself look kinda good at it! We played for about a half hour with each of the four teams of kids until the bell rang. Then, 20 or so kids wanted to keep playing. With me. So I stayed in the goal and kept trying my best to block them from scoring. Some of the kids who stuck around for so long after were the kids I've been having trouble with in the classroom, so of course I milked those moments of bonding for all they were worth! It was the most fun I've ever had with my kids outside of the classroom, and certainly a highlight of my time here so far. I was so desperate to find a way to connect with them that I even took a HUGE bruise to my leg. If you know me, remember I bruise easily! So now the side of my leg is a pretty black/purple/blue combo. I'm excited to go to class tomorrow and show them how "tough" I am. =)

We had a three day weekend because of the presidential elections here, which as far as I know we still do not have news of the winner. I do know that depending on who gets it, things could get a lot less peaceful around here than they already are. Now, that's talking about the country more as a whole than it is right here where I am located. Either way, it gave us all a good excuse to stay in the house the whole time and not try to venture out into the craziness of the political rallies and parades. We did go grocery shopping and cash our paychecks Saturday morning, and speaking of groceries, I found Jif peanut butter on sale for less than the generic brands I usually buy! Granted, I still payed close to $4 for each jar, that's cheap around here for peanut butter! Random fact, but I thought I'd share that with you!

Saturday was a day of a little bit of work, and I do mean a little, and a lot of watching movies and being extremely lazy. That night, our friends Cristian and Hector came over and cooked Caitlin and me dinner and showed us how to do it ourselves. It was quite entertaining! Then, after begging for 4 nights, Caitlin finally got her wish of getting to set off fireworks outside. Fireworks have no real law on when they can be set off in Honduras, which is partially why they go off ALL the time, and more so when something big in the country happens. Anyway, I am really glad nobody was taking video of them, because I am sure I would have ended up on America's Funniest Home Videos... they set off a bunch, but one literally came after me. I mean, I was running for my life as it went off on the ground, like it's supposed to do, and then started spewing all over the place and shot RIGHT in my direction! Eek! Everyone had a good laugh at my expense, and now that I lived through it, it was pretty funny. Anyway, then it was only 10:30 or something and Caitlin and I decided it would be best to watch a movie instead of go to bed right away. Luckily, we had been discussing Mary Kate and Ashley movies last week, so she downloaded a bunch. Needless to say, before this weekend ended, we watched three of them. Gotta love it! Oh, and speaking of watching t.v., we also watched Duck Dynasty, which was FANTASTIC! (Caitlin also downloaded a bunch of those, thank GOD!) We also got to enjoy some Pizza Hut in Comayagua again because our friends Nikki and Kenneth randomly get the urge to go there and are always wonderful enough to invite us to go along. You NEVER turn down Pizza Hut trips here. Ever. I rarely eat it in the States, but here, it is a luxury that you don't want to pass up!

Yesterday I literally laid around until about 2 in the afternoon watching another one of my shows from home. Usually I don't like to be that lazy, but this weekend was necessary, and I don't regret a single minute of it. I've had some real quality prayer time to get to pray for my students and the relationships we have and I also have begun better contact with some of their parents, which I think will really help them pay attention in class. I'm looking forward to where that goes.

Speaking of prayers, my grandpa Charlie could really use some. My mom informed me he is most likely going to have to go into hospice care because he is not getting any better. I don't want to go into details, but please just keep him in your thoughts and prayers. It's really hard for me to think I may never see him again. I certainly wasn't expecting that when I left home.

As for me, I could use prayers for learning Spanish. I want to learn it NOW. I know that's not realistic, but I get easily frustrated when I don't get it right away. I know it just takes time, and I AM able to understand more and more on my own, so that's a plus! Also pray for us in these next 4 weeks of this parcial. We have a lot to squeeze in before Christmas break and it is already stressing me out a bit. Again, though, I have to keep giving it back to God because it does me no good to worry about it myself. Plus, I know He's already got it all under control.

God bless!
Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."