It's been more than a week since my last post and yet life here continues as usual. School consumes the majority of my time. The rest of the time is spent keeping up with relationships. Living in a relationship centered culture can be tiring, but praise the Lord I love it! You can't just say hello and be on your way, you have to ask about the family, work and anything else that comes to mind. There's no just getting straight to business, you've got to communicate about those things first. It's wonderful!
I cannot believe that the month of January is coming to an end. How quickly time goes! My eighth graders are doing well. The oldest and most rebellious was suspended indefinatly; until he can admit what he did wrong, aplogize and convince the principal (Cody) why he should come back to school. It's not looking like he will return. Please pray for Adelso and his family. He is adopted by a Canadian missionary family here.
Sometimes life just seems to fall apart, but it's lovely how God's peace permeates all of it. My motorcycle is always in need of repairs. I don't know anything about it, but my friend Braulio who works for Chad Wallace always comes to my rescue. Our hot water heater was replaced a month ago and has since caused a lake in our house, but Paulino the fix-it man always knows how to fix it. Our front gate broke and fell off and we are still looking for someone with a blow torch - I know God will provide. It started raining last week and hasn't stopped since, but that's to be expected for this month. Praise the Lord peace doesn't depend on our circumstances, but on his unfailing love and grace for us!

Isaiah26:3 He will keep in perfect peace those whose mind are steadfast, because they trust in Him.

One Whole Month!

Ok, so it's been almost a month sans communication on my part. I am sorry about that. During vacation I did not have internet access. I hope you all received my newsletter (let me know if you are not on the mailing list and want to be: arat316@yahoo.com)

Well, the first two weeks of vacation were very busy. I was busy helping out with all the Christmas activities at my church. There were 3 different cell-group Christmas dinners I had the privilege of helping out with. Then there was dinner on the 24th. Here they don't celebrate Christmas day. The 24th they have family dinner and spend the day with family. They open presents on January 6th - Three Kings Day. You can check out the pics under Christmas parties.

Then my two very good soul-friends, Beth & Lindsay, came to visit me. An honor I did not deserve, but that is why God has put them in my life - to remind me of his undeserved love. We had a great time and enjoyed many things. We saw the water falls, went paragliding, went to the beach and just enjoyed each other's presence.

The last week of vacation (there were three) I spend preparing for school and battling some sort of sickness. I watched a lot of movies and spent time learning more about God's unconditional mercy. I am reading books in Spanish right now, or I would suggest them to read, they are amazing. I am reading one about raising your kids in Christ and even though I do not have children, I am able to apply so much to my teaching.

Now that things are back to normal I will keep you posted as regularly as possible. Please pray for my future ministry involvement here in Jarabacoa, DR and also that God would bring radical transformation to my life this year. I want more!

Welcome to Life in the DR!

My new friend is a little mouse who took up residence in my closet. He lived there for a few days making all kinds of noise while I tried to sleep, then one day I didn't hear anything anymore. I was so relieved to be able to sleep in peace it didn't occur to me to wonder what happened to my new friend. Then a few days later, my closet began to emit a smell I had never smelled inside my house. I began to worry and decided to clean out my closet ( a task I should have undertaken a few months prior). I got to my black boots, where the smell was the strongest, and who should I find inside, but my new friend. To my amazement, he had expired in my shoe and left a smell that, despite the best cleaning I could manage, still arrives at my nose occasionally.