I wanted to list a couple things that I believe illustrate the faithfulness of the God I’ve chosen to serve in Paraguay. Some are big, some are small, all are great.

A few Sundays ago, I was looking and looking for a pick for my guitar. I was almost late for the morning service, and I had no picks. I know I have a dozen in my house but couldn’t find the first one. I said to Jesus, “Lord, I only need one pick.” I couldn’t find one, but I checked my wallet just in case. Nothing except an expired credit card. So I got creative and made myself two pics from my credit card. When I put my pants on to leave, I found in my pocket two of my picks. I laughed and thanked God because when I only wanted one, I now had four.

The week of my birthday, I told my kids I couldn’t put stickers in their books every time because I would run out soon. Less than an hour later, I got a package from some friends back home with over 1000 stickers.

My cousin Becky is getting married in April, and I wanted to go. I didn’t know how I would get there, nor did I know what I would do with my classes. Karen’s sister is coming down in April. She’s a teacher, and she said she would take my classes. One problem down, one to go. I found cheap tickets, but I still didn’t have money. I prayed that God would send me the money somehow, and everyone believed with me that I would go. When I did my taxes, I ended up having more than enough to go. Incidentally, I also got a very large set of donations the day I bought my ticket. Not only did God allow me to use my tax money to go, He also provided me nearly all of it back in my missionary account.

On Friday I was getting discouraged in school. Some of the grades are forgetting that I am supposed to be in charge, and I am struggling with handling it the right way (another discussion for another post maybe). Before my last class of the day, which is usually the most frustrating, I said to God, “Lord, I need a good day soon or I might forget why I want to do this.” That afternoon we had a very lovely class where all of the kids worked really well and we all showed a lot of love one to another. On my way home, I thanked God for responding so quickly.

Just a few examples of many. I hope you are encouraged by them.

-j

ps> There are some new pics in my flickr stream.

I love having birthdays in Paraguay. Maybe it wears off when it’s not your first, but it was good times. Surprises around every corner.

I woke up to a hug from Cristian. Well, I should say I was awake already when he hugged me, but it was the first exchange between us that morning. I had a text from a friend here wishing me a happy birthday and telling me she had a present for me when I got to school. Then I got to school during devotions, and afterwards all the teachers sang happy birthday to me (I like the version they use here better – it’s like our “May the good Lord bless you” verse, but there’s no first verse). Then each teacher stopped to greet me and blessed me on the way out the door.

I walked into my first class and found total darkness. I turned on the light and more than a dozen students screamed and jumped out from under their desks. They sang happy birthday in English (must have learned it last year) and started giving me notes or presents. The trouble was that they were also writing me notes in class instead of doing work. How can I be mad at that? Another student has a birthday with me too, and his parents left me some cake. Yum!

Later, and the cyber, I found 80 messages. Normally I’ll find 15, and most will be garbage. I bet I had 70 messages from real people. Good stuff!

I had been thinking about taking Cristian and me out for a South American all-you-can-eat barbecue buffet, but then I remembered he has school at night too. So his (our) friend Gaby and I went to the store and bought up the fixin’s for a tasty barbecue.

I don’t know how Ben’s Tuesday was, but mine was pretty cool.

-j

Turns out all you need for a really fun birthday party is some homemade pizza and cake, Dutch Blitz, an amazing come from behind victory, and three good friends.

Ben and Vivi invited me over Sunday night to celebrate our birthdays (Ben’s is the 17th also). She made three pizzas that were delicious. Ben had made a tasty carrot cake, complete with cream cheese frosting. I brought ice cream. I don’t know about them, but my stomach was quite full when we were done eating.

Vivi and Emi learned how to play Dutch Blitz. By the end, they were both playing correctly: loud and aggressive. Emi needs another game to come back from her devastating loss. That’s what happens when you can’t tell the difference between a 6 and a 9. Vivi held her own, so she’ll be ready to go the next time they head up to Ohio.

We played to 100. Near the end, I had 60 and Ben had 90. I knew it wasn’t likely, but I saw the possibility for victory as long as I could keep Ben from blitzing. I blitzed the next hand, and I was fortunate to see that Ben had quite a few remaining in his pile. I counted my cards and had laid out a respectable 20. Who would have believed it when Ben ended up with 99 on that turn. I had one more chance. I would have been happy with a tie, it would be a good present for both of us. The final hand was intense. I was laying out card after card, and suddenly I noticed my pile was gone. I called blitz again and saw Ben with a good many of his left. The pile of cards I laid out was bigger than the cards I had left, so I knew I was over 100. The question was about having enough. Poor Ben, he ended up with a -2. In an incredible match of wit and speed, the elder came out ahead 104 to 97. You had to be there to believe it!

-j

ps> Yes, I really turn 30 on Tuesday. I can’t believe it myself.

School has been under way for about a month and some change already. It was a rough start, but mostly because we were bored. We don’t use books until a month in, I think because it’s tough for the parents to be buying all the books at once, so they have time to get them all. Now that we’re covering book material, it’s generally easier to have a more organized class. We’re making progress, and the kids are learning new things, and they’re excited when they figure out new stuff. For example, in 4th grade we’re doing dates, and after a couple days some of the kids finally figured out how to say ordinal numbers (like fourth, twenty-first) and figure them out with a pattern. It’s really cool to do a few examples and hear a kid say “Ah! Now I understand!” And they actually do!

Sixth grade is a different story. I fight with both of my 6th grade classes for control of the room. Vivi says it happens with 6th grade like clockwork every year. Their teacher, Emilia, seems to have control of her class, but when she leaves them with me, they figure they can get away with a lot. They might be right, so I finally started cracking down. One kid, who is super smart and outside of the class is a nice kid, enjoys making jokes about me and generally disrespecting me and my authority. He thinks it’s cute to talk back, and so do his classmates. I finally got tired of it and sent him to the principal (Vivi). He reluctantly went, and when he did, a few kids started laughing at him, so I took their names. I’m not going to have the kid making problems, but I’m also not going to have others enjoying his punishment.

I should mention that before class started, I brought Oscar in to talk to them. He’s the general director and they are basically afraid of his discipline. He gave them a good solid talkin’ to, and basically said I would give him the names of my problem kids if they continued. Before that time, one of the students already had his name on the board. So when the other got sent away, and he laughed, I put a check by his name (two checks and you leave…my new policy). I continued teaching and after a bit a student by him said “Teacher, Jimmy’s* crying.” I figure he thought I was going to send him home with Oscar. I’m praying that was the last time I had to write his name down.

After class, I went up to the lounge to grade books, and I met up with the expelled. He looked pretty solemn, and I asked what happened. He had talked to Vivi, and he has to think about his behavior and how it affects the class, how he can improve, etc. Then his lip started quivering and he asked my forgiveness and offered his hand. Of course I took it, and then he hugged me. At that point *I* almost started crying. I explained that I like him and think he’s a great student, but he has *got* to let me have my classroom. I knew what he would say next, that he feels like I pick on him more than the rest. That might be true, but it’s because he’s one of three kids who is every day doing something to call my attention and make it hard to teach the class. I told him I will try to be more fair, and he will try to respect me more. Maybe we’ve hit a turning point. We’ll find out next week.

Please pray for my students. They’re all really great kids. I genuinely love each one of them. But they have to learn that in the classroom, as Karen said, I’m “the mom”, and they need to let me teach. If they don’t, they already know that they won’t be in English class anymore, and their parents won’t like that. Please also pray for me that I can discern wisely who is causing problems and administer discipline appropriately.

-j

*Names have been changed to protect me from lawsuits