Take a Stretch

While these first two weeks back to school have been emotionally draining, mentally tasking and more challenging than I ever thought possible, there have been rays of sunshine that have made their way into the business.
1. Jahel came back to school and nothing has changed between us. His eyes still light up with mischief whenever I glance in his direction. He still loves my hugs and being sassy by saying in English to me, "I am sorry for you" and even though he's 13 and tries to act grown up like a lot of the boys, he will still fall into fits of laughter when he "steals" my nose and I pretend I can't breath until he gives it back. I honestly didn't know I could love someone so fast and so much until I met Jahel. He's the most loveable child I have ever known.
2. Maribel called me "mi mama" and it made my heart melt a little. I was tucking her into bed and teased her by asking if she remembered to give me a kiss goodnight and in her matter-of-fact little seven year old voice she responded with of course she was going to kiss her mom goodnight. Side note: I've wondered at times if I could be a mom because the thought of raising kids seems rather daunting (especially 12 at a time although I realize that most people don't try to raise that many children at once) but hearing her say the words, "mi mama" made me feel so happy.
3. Wiemar came! A group of over 40 people ranging from doctors to dentists to 9th-12th grade students arrived Tuesday midmorning. They're here to help the community by giving free health care, give a week of prayer and vacation Bible study and build a garage for our truck. And while there's been a slight change in our house in that we went from having 13 people in our house to now having 30 and one working bathroom, they're here for a purpose, they're going to do good things. It's been fun seeing their reactions to all the things I've become accustomed to such as tarantulas, putting your toilet paper in the trash can instead of the toilet and lice.

Speaking of lice, I am currently lice free! Woohoo! I think I wrote about how scared I was of getting lice in one of my first blogs when I first got here. I succeeded in not getting it all of last school year but inevitably it found its way to my hair in the middle of December when only about 10 of our 80 students were at the mission. Turns out, lice isn't as scary as I thought it would be. You may think it's gross that I'm saying that but honestly, there are worse things in life then lice and it's not permanent .
I got rid of them the end of December but had Audrey check my hair just to make sure and she confirmed that I am lice free. It's the small victories.

I think the month of February could be summed up in one word - stretched. I've been stretched in more than one direction, my patience has been stretched as has my relationship with God. If I'm going to be stretched though, I want this month to stretch me to make me more dependent on God, to make me rely on His help daily and for His comfort when I'm in the storm.