Day by Day

WOOPS! I looked at the last date on my blogs...and needless to say, it's been quite a while since the last update!

Most of the girls' school vacation has been spent outside, playing on the trampoline, on the play set, and playing soccer. You'd think after 9 years on a soccer team, I'd be able to aim a ball...not so. (Not to mention that I'm playing against Latinos, who are born with cleats on their feet)

Besides all the fun and games, Kimberly and I took the opportunity to teach English classes to the staff. When we first tried out the idea in a Monday morning meeting to see who would be interested, immediately all hands shot up. So, the next Monday we began the first of bi-weekly English lessons for the Oasis staff.
The classes have turned out to be one of my favorite times of the week. The joy and energy that our students bring to the class is electrifying. It's thrilling to see them energized about learning and putting such effort into it. They are so excited to practice "Pass me the..." at the dinner table, or "Good morning" when I see them in the morning. Although I doubt any of them will reach fluency before I leave, they've provided me with a wonderful 2 hours per week of realizing how blessed I am to have learned English as my first language. (Consider the word "Up": light up, get up, throw up, stay up, turn up, pick up, shut up, etc.)

In reality, the time off from school has been a wonderfully blessing in that I find myself unburdened by classes to prepare/teach and with plenty of free time to spend with the girls. This has allowed me to create relationships with the girls. The girls of the Blue House, for example, are all 15 years old and above and go walking through the surrounding towns every morning at 6 am. I've been accompanying them, not only for the exercise and the chance to get out of The Oasis for a while, but also for the hour and 1/2 that it provides me for interrupted conversation with the girls.
In general, the girls in the Blue House are hardest to reach, mainly due to the fact that they're teenagers. Let's face it, as a teenager myself, we're hard to talk to when we don't want to open up. Yet, as the summer passes, I've seen cracks and breaks in their shells where I've been chipping away piece by piece. Day by day, piece by piece. I have to remember, God does not change me in a day. I learn with each experience. Similarly, with each demonstration of love, discipline (which are one in the same, but they generally don't grasp that), and concern for them and what's going on in their lives, I have faith that God will do amazing works in the lives of these girls. He is molding them into women after His own heart. There's nothing I can do for them on my own, just let myself be used by God in the ways He has planned.