bhajo naam - praise the name

Exam review has started, our last week of tutoring has come and we finally ate at The Deck Cafe in Los Fuertes. We've had a lot of extra time with our half day schedules and I'm not going to lie, it's been nice. Our time is usually spent riding home on our school bus, exercising, being owned by Billy Blank, visiting friends and for me, reflecting on the past year.

Kenny got a hold of my camera... 

Today was an exciting day with the French Harbour boys because they received their pen pal letters from their unknown friends in High Point, NC!! Some of them had girls, some of them had boys and it was hilarious helping them read the letters and piece together sentences in response. "Do you have a girlfriend?" "Would you like to snorkel with me when you come to Roatan?" "Are you for Barcelona or Madrid?" LOVE.

We took our class pictures today. I know I talk about them all the time but these 7th graders are the coolest kids I know. I'm going to cry like a baby on our last day of school.

7th Graders!

Pen Pal Letters

Derek

i can't wait

to get my hands on this book.

check out the link below to download the first two chapters.

much love.

Veneer. 2 free chapters.

paya bay domination

What is LOVE?

Recently, a best friend emailed me at some absurd hour of the night and in the message box read:

What is love?

Hmmm...

I thought she was joking or tired or referencing a song from 1997 we had both just remembered in a conversation prior to 1am.

Nope. I answer the question in my complete honesty and then I produce a thought provoking question in return for her in a mere attempt to learn something from one another. Mind you, we have been friends for 12 years now. I like it.

My first thoughts came from lyrics, naturally. Music speaks to my soul and I find a lot of truth and comfort in song. I typed in 'love' to my itunes library. 140 titles/artists returned. Wowzas. Just to name a few: All you need is love, One love, Skinny love, Let your love flow, Crown of love, Your love is extravagant, Amazing love, How He loves us, Love your love the most, Somebody to love, Your love is my drug, Bleeding love and the list goes on and on.

This got me thinking about the many different types of love that people perceive and experience. Donald Miller recently cited that love is not an emotion but a need. He writes, "A scan of a persons brain who is experiencing the mystery of love looks surprisingly like a scan of a persons brain who is experiencing a cocaine rush." Interesting.

Ms. Kelly kisses every single one of her sweaty 1st graders as they exit the classroom because she wants them to know that she loves them despite the temper tantrum that happened during recess. My parents sent huge boxes of supplies and goodies to Roatan to show me that they love me and support me in all of my endeavors. We tutor the French Harbour boys in the afternoon because we love God and want to share God's love with his children. The love list is endless.

The only logical thing that I believe love boils down to is that God loved us so much that he sent his only perfect Son to earth, to endure the pain and suffering of man, reveal the glory of His majesty and then be brutally sacrificed for our transgressions on the cross. God is love. Jesus is love. I can only give love because I have received love and forgiveness from my heavenly father.

We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19
Love keeps no records of wrong. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
Love your enemies. Luke 6:35
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Above all, love each other deeply. 1 Peter 4:8


I would dare to say that we are all on a constant search for love. We "love" our cities, our jobs, our pets, our gym classes, our favorite bands, our addictions, our boyfriends and girlfriends. The word gets thrown around like a rag doll.

I think this quote sums up what I believe about love.

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. Because in the end, love wins. Love always wins." -Tuesdays with Morrie

shuffle

So my morning bus ipod shuffle mix was a rocking good time. Usually, I find myself skipping over tracks, half asleep on Juan Angel's shoulder and trying not to spill my water bottle all over my pants.

The run down:

Hanson - MMMBop
Avett Brothers - Talk on Indolence
Mumford and Sons - Roll away your stone
Coldplay - Swallowed in the Sea
Kid Cudi/MGMT - Pursuit of happiness
Don Henley - All she wants to do is dance
Beatles - 8 days a week

And then. The Temper Trap. LOVE LOST. Why I have never listened to this before?

Happy Weekend.

To Texas I go

I can't believe the school year is almost over. I've been having so much fun with my students. I am trying to remember what is truly meaningful and squeezing out my last bit of love toward these amazing children of God.

I think I've learned more from them than they have learned from me. I love the fact that I can be so open and honest with them about everything. Being able to share my walk with Jesus and then see them walking with Jesus has been incredibly inspiring. I just found out that one of my 10th graders will be living in Austin next year and going to a high school that I will be servicing with College Forward! Awesome to see who the Lord has intentionally placed in our lives and that I can continue to pour into her as we both venture to the great state of Texas.

I haven't publicly announced my move but I recently accepted a position with Americorps! I will be working for a non-profit called College Forward where I will be assisting disadvantaged juniors and seniors in high school get into college. I am so excited about this new endeavor and God inspired opportunity. The Lord revealed to me that I still have a strong passion for higher education and college access after many of my seniors came to me asking for SAT prep help and general college questions.

If you know any connections in Austin, let me know! I'll be there in August.

young, wild & free

Things I will miss about this place:

Trekking to church in our bathing suits, falling off of ledges into the ocean and never wearing shoes

Friday happy dances with my 7th graders

Eating absurd amounts of homemade popcorn with K. Swope

Exploring the Tamarindo fruit juices... (aka POOP)

the best soda ever! not.

Richie

Playing with the French Harbour boys every Tuesday and Thursday

Realizing that life is good when: you're fresh out of Tigo internet, you're fresh out of saldo minutos on your cell phone, the power just went out and there is no way to connect with the world that it's just best to light some candles, bust out the guitar, shake the egg shaker and beat on the djembe with your friends

how poor we are

from Paul Coelho's blog, I loved it.

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad”.

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yes”, said the son.
“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:
“I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
“We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden and they have a creek that has no end.
“We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

“Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
“We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

“We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
“We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added:
“Thanks, Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

more love. more houses.

LET'S DO THIS

The link above will take you to another fundraising website for a house that Dwellings is building for the sister of the family who's house was built in March.

Thank you ALL for your help and support.

BLESSINGS FROM THE RO!!