Life is... Busy!

Yes.. I am still in Honduras-- but wow, it has been a VERY long time since I sat down to write a blog!! The past few months have been challenging. The March- May months were long, hot and dry. Picture a 95 degree day, where you walk outside and start sweating instantly. Then picture yourself walking back inside to an air conditioned room, hopping in an air conditioned car, and going anywhere. Now, take away the air conditioning and the car, and you have where I am. No AC and no readily available car to drive wherever I want. As you can imagine, the heat is exhausting. It takes the energy, life, and motivation right out of me.
In the middle of May I started my online classes. If I told you the past 6 weeks have been easy I would be lying. It's easy to post only good things on social media, cute faces, smiles, and a facade that presents a perfect life--where I love broken kids in a third world country, share about Jesus' love and have zero problems. This is a lie.

I LOVE these four year olds, even when it's difficult. 

Do I do these things? Yes. But, it is difficult, exhausting, time-consuming and stressful. Teaching 15 four year olds who test my patience each day, doing all of my school work, finding time to go to the casitas, prepare for a half-marathon I am running in September, spending time in God's Word and giving myself even 5 minutes to relax is hard. I have been completely drained and stressed trying to put my very best into every area of life. I know God has called me here and I am confident in that. However, I also know that taking classes is what I'm supposed to be doing, so trying to juggle everything can be physically, emotionally and spiritually draining. However, God is always good, faithful and gracious. I absolutely love my class. After being gone for three and a half days, I walked into my classroom where I received 15 around the knee hugs, while my students yelled "Miss Rachel!!!" So, I love my class. I love these children. I love my God, and I love the friends that God has so graciously blessed me with while here.

Dario, Armando, Jerson, and Eric--
some of the translators I had the opportunity to work
alongside & get to know better this week!
 (Eric and Armando grew up at the children's home,
so it was awesome seeing their English skills improve,
 & get to serve with them.

I was given the opportunity to spend a week in a village with a medical and dental team, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Yes, the weeks leading up to it were stressful-- doing two weeks worth of work in the crux of the semester had me near my breaking point, however once I finished there was a huge sense of relief. The village was an awesome and much needed time to get away from the everyday life here at the children's home. It was great meeting new people, laughing, playing games and fellowshipping. It was encouraging to hear translator's testimonies, and be able to share some of my own testimony as well. I was able to put my little Spanish knowledge to use, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was able to deepen a great friendship with another one of the LEAD teachers, deepen other relationships with some former boys at the children's home, and get to know other translators. Witnessing more of the brokenness and poverty of Honduras was eye-opening, and meeting more children and people of Honduras while experiencing the culture was exciting.

I love serving alongisde Bailey.
She has become an amazing friend, who I am so thankful for!
This is Edgar and Noe,
the boys who stole my heart the first night in the village!

Although this blog is scattered, I wanted to share the truth of the last few weeks and months. I wanted to be transparent in saying living in Honduras is not always easy. Teachers disagree, kids don't listen, finding time to do everything is difficult, and life gets really stressful. However, this week in the village was a great reminder of why I am here.  To serve.

"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first msut be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be serve, but to SERVE, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:26-28

 The coming days and weeks will hold lots of challenges and triumphs. Each week will bring me days closer to my departure date on August 3. The reality that this is just over a month away is scary and sad to think about. Leaving these kids, my incredible friends, my class, the tias, and this country makes me sad to even think about. However I know this is the next chapter in my life. I don't know what the next few months hold, but I'm thankful I know the God who holds them. So, as I close, I want to thank all of you again. Thank you for loving me, supporting me financially, praying for me and keeping up with my life in Honduras. I apologize for not blogging more, but I pray my transparency today encourages you, and gives you a glimpse of my life and my heart. 


I also encourage you to check out our LEAD Teacher vlog (video blog)---(GSCA LEAD Teachers on youtube). It's a way to show people what being a LEAD Teacher looks like and some of the adventures we experience.
Here't the link to the week in the village-- spoiler-- I ride a certain animal for the first time.... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ir-vTDLrMM