Thank You!

Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes. I am doing much better from the attack of the amoeba. I am still recuperating. Shelly, my roommate, takes very good care of me and I am deeply grateful.

Attack of the Amoeba

Please pray for me. Last week I was hospitalized with an a very aggressive amoeba. I am still sick, though functional, but very weak. Please pray for my strength as there is a lot to do this week and next.

Yesterday was the wedding of Micki & Daniel. She is our fourth grade teacher. It was so beautiful and so much fun.

Who's really the teacher...

If anything has affected me deeply since I have been living in [Jarabacoa], it has been the children. … Yet here I am surrounded by boys and girls running up to me, giving me kisses, climbing up to my shoulders, throwing balls at me, and constantly asking for some sign of interest in their lives. The children always challenge me to live in the present. They want me to be with them here and now, and they find it hard to understand that I might have other things to do or to think about. … I marvel at their ability to be fully present to me. Their uninhibited expression of affection and their willingness to receive it pull me directly into the moment and invite me to celebrate life where it is found. … I did not know what to expect when I came to [Jarabacoa]. I wondered how the poverty, the lack of good food and good housing would affect me; I was afraid of becoming depressed by the misery I would see. But God showed me something else first; affectionate, open, and playful children who are telling me about love and life in ways no book was ever able to do. I now realize that only when I can enter with the children into their joy will I be able to enter also with them into their poverty and pain. God obviously wants me to walk into the world of suffering with a little child on each hand.

Adapted from Henri Nouwen, Gracias, Thursday January 28

The Whole Story

Ok, I know the last blog wasn't very detailed. I have been super busy with lots of things. But here is the whole story...

On Saturday night Braulio asked me out to dinner. It was late, and I was tired, but because we are both so busy right now I wanted to take advantage of any free time with him. When I asked him where we were going, he wouldn't say. I didn't mind much. After we had gotten on the motorcycle to drive into town, I asked him again and he said La Lena - a pretty fancy, expensive restaurant. I thought that was strange because we always eat on the street. So I asked, why are we going there? He said he had gotten paid and wanted to eat a good dinner.
After we had eaten and were discussing life, he pulled out a box. At first I thought he must have something else in there - not a ring. Then he opened it and asked me to marry him. I couldn't believe it and kept repeating "What is that?" I said yes, and he had to remind me to accept it and put it on. We have filed the paper work for a finace visa, which means that when he gets his visa, we will be marrying in the USA. It should take about a year to a year and a half to get his interview. Please pray for rapid proceeding.
Love to all.

We're Engaged!

On Saturday night Braulio took me out to dinner and asked me to marry him. I said yes. I was not expecting that anytime soon though. I had finally found peace in just being content with where we were in our relationship. God always surprises you! We have already filed paperwork for a fiance visa and it will come through anytime from June to December of 2009. In the mean time we both have school to finish. Email me if you want more info: arat316@yahoo.com

My aide, Mark O'Neil, was hit by a car last week. He broke both bones in his leg and had to have surgery. He is doing better and is at home recovering. Please pray for him and his wife Ciara (5th grade teacher).

This is a picture of one of my students, Adrian, and his family in Lego Land in California. It is a great reminder to me that just because I may leave one day, does not mean that I will lose everything I've learned here or appreciate about this culture and place. It gives me hope...