The Things You Learn in a Month...

As of today, I’ve been in Honduras for one month already!  I still feel very impatient to have life here figured out, but when I extend myself a little grace, I can see how much I have learned in these 4 weeks.  Here’s a list of some of the things I have learned so far:

Amaryllis

1. On Wednesday evenings, there is a house church in the neighborhood that knows how to rock it out for the Lord.  Sometimes I have to get up and dance and praise Jesus with them because it’s impossible not to!
2. No matter how many times I try them, I absolutely can NOT like any of the Honduran cheeses.  I can, however, enjoy beans and tortillas on a daily basis!
3. Whether you’re saying hello, goodbye, or it’s the “meet and greet” time in church, it’s customary to greet everyone with a partial or full hug and what I call the cheek-to-cheek air kiss!  At the same time, you bless them by saying bendiciones, or Que Dios le bendiga.  In church, this ensures that you come in contact with everyone three times whether you know them or not; it’s usually a good way to at least learn their names!  
4. I can be up and ready to leave the house by 6:15 a.m.  Thankfully this is not a daily occurrence!
5. In our garden in front of the house, we have four mango trees, a lime tree, an orange, tree, and a pomegranate tree, not to mention all kinds of flowers like amaryllis!

6. 

   Baby pomegranates

   Quickbooks--a bookkeeping program.  I can’t claim to have learned all that much about QuickBooks, but I have definitely spent a lot of time on it entering a large portion of the ministry’s financial information for 2014.
7. Running a non-profit is A LOT of work!  I am sure I have only caught a glimpse of all of the responsibilities that Emily andDavid have, and it is overwhelming!  The good thing is that they have lots of people helping them, and God is on their side!  Amen!
8. I can sleep through an awful lot of city noise as long as I have earplugs in, but I cannot sleep through dog fights or fireworks in the middle of the night!
9. If church starts at 8:30, you can expect people to start showing up at 8:45, and others will still be arriving at 9:15.
10. My “house parents” are the sweetest people ever!  When I was sick with stomach flu, they came to my room and prayed for me and brought me tea and crackers!  I am blessed!

11. 

    House parents, Reina and Saul

    Spanish.  This is a slow process and probably one of the most frustrating things for me.  I know my auditory comprehension is improving, but I need more opportunities for conversation!  An extra challenge is that the Spanish here is a bit different from what I learned in Mexico in terms of vocabulary and grammatical structure.
12. Sometimes the government just decides to turn off the electricity for the day to save money.  This is minor compared to all of the other corrupt things the government does like taxing all kinds of things and then embezzling all of the money for themselves.
13. All of God’s children here at the school are absolutely precious.  I’m so glad God knows all of their names because I’m not sure I’ll ever learn them!  So far, I think I know about 10 out of nearly 200…!  In my defense, I’ve not interacted with the kids all that much (see #5 above!).
14. Out of compassion for the woman who hand washes my laundry, I’ve learned that it’s acceptable to wear the same shirt multiple times before putting it in the wash.  Come to think of it, maybe that’s less compassionate…?  
15. I have a much greater appreciation for Skype, FaceTime, and MagicJack which, together with FaceBook and good “old fashioned” e-mail, help me stay in touch with everyone!

    

    Praising Jesus!

16. I think I’ve mastered the use of an electric shower head, but that’s questionable!  It’s pretty impossible to really control the water temperature, so even on warm mornings, I end up taking a piping hot shower; it’s either that or cold!
17. This isn’t new information, but starting and ending my day by spending time with the Lord makes a huge difference in my life, and all for my good!  I need him more than ever, and I am thankful for the way in which He is working in my life here even when the pruning isn’t comfortable.