Bonus Photo: Weathering the Storm

I first noticed this new neighbor a few weeks ago.  It's always there and I don't like looking at it too long, but I suppose if it stays on the other side of the window, we'll be alright.  After some very, very limited research this morning (I don't like looking at spiders), I believe it to be a Banded Garden Spider.  

 As a good neighbor, I decided to check on it during a pouring rainstorm this afternoon.  Though it was hunkered down hanging on for dear life, it seems to have done alright.  And I was finally able to get a pretty picture of it's beautiful spiderweb.

MeXED 2014

This week some of the staff here went to a conference in Oaxaca.  The theme was "The Worldview of a Christian Education in a Postmodern World."  Quite the title, eh?  In attendance were people in ministry from all over Mexico and even some international visitors. I thought I'd share some highlights/snippets of what we heard/learned.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Christian education is to love God above all other things and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

The children we're teaching, in 20 years, should know that they are doing the work that God designed them for - whatever that might be.

We can't just have materials and plans, but we have to pray for the people who are going to receive these materials.

We have to work with conviction, because the world is against evangelism.

In the time in which we've been called upon to work, there is too much information.  The world tells us that nothing has meaning.  We form people whose character permits that there is hope and clarity in existence.

In our worldview, we are connected to our culture.  When I am converted, the culture begins lose control over me.

Character is not inherited, it is formed.

How many of us, as teachers, can say, like Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ?

 In reference to what this world offers: When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the fountain, he didn't change the woman's circumstances.  He just waited for her at the Samaritan fountain and told her, you've come to the wrong fountain.  You need the fountain of life.

A Christian mind is capable of responding, is able to resolve conflicts, is discerning.  The Christian mind understands that there is difficulty sometimes in seeing how God is working and learns to see that nothing escapes the hands of God.  The Christian mind is prepared to enter the fiery furnace.

When we feel broken, he whispers in our ear, "You are my beloved child."

The promise to Abraham is that he will be blessed and that he will be a blessing.   Be a blessing.

The group from the children's home.

As teachers, we were blessed to also have a teacher in-service day on Friday, where we were able to reflect on discuss what we learned.  I think we all feel refreshed with a renewed call/focus to the purpose of what we're doing here.  One of the teachers told me she felt like we're starting the school year over again.

Photo of the Week: Stormy Sunset

Dark clouds framed this golden sunset earlier this week.  We've had a lot of interesting weather in Oaxaca lately.

What Tavo Saw

On Thursday, my name was on my church's prayer line.  On Thursday, I also found the kids to be ridiculously cute.  Like, I couldn't handle how cute they were being.  Connection?  Hmmm....

But, this adorableness has continued some into this following week too.  So it was that today Tavo came to tell me about this book he had just read, Mud Tacos.  Written by TV personality Mario Lopez, it is about Mario's time visiting his grandmother's house with his sister.  They would make mud tacos when they were playing, but at the end of the story the grandmother makes them real tacos. 

This is what Tavo wanted to show me - the last page.  But he noticed something in particular about this picture, any guesses as to what it was?

With a huge smile on his face, Tavo said, "Miss Laura, look.  They get to eat real tacos - and there's one left for me!"  Sure enough, he had counted up the tacos on the page, concluded that there were seven tacos and only six people (counting the dog), so he could have a taco too.

I don't think that, even as a child, I would ever have come up with that conclusion on my own.  However, to a child growing up at a children's home, where food is served on long plates like the one in the drawing, that is what Tavo saw - and he delighted in the fact that there would be enough for him too.  I found it very interesting (hopefully there is always enough for him at the table here at the home) and very cute.

To Post or Not To Post

After the visit from children's rights inspectors last month, they suggested, and I agreed, that we should have the children's rights posted in a place where they can see them.  Well, I looked online and the 56 articles are not exactly kid-friendly reading material.  So, we wait on them to provide a good poster we can put up.

Meanwhile, the sixth graders were studying children's rights in their Formation of Civics and Ethics class.  Great!  When I found out they were making posters of some of the rights, I wanted to post them in the hallway for all the kids to see.  We could put it up right alongside our perky hand washing poster - which I tried to strategically place at kid eye-level so that all the kids (boys especially...) could see and perhaps be inspired by. ;)

However, once I saw the children's rights posters, I realized some of them had pretty heavy material.  Did I really want words like sexual exploitation, pornography and prostitution to be posted in the hall of the elementary school?  So, I considered the matter further.

Here's what I came up with.  Most of these kids already know about this stuff.  Many of our kids have been sexually abused and exploited.  We know children who were in fact sold by their own family. These things are a tragic reality in this culture and these communities.  One would hope that by teaching them about God's love and his word, they would pick up on the don't-let-people-exploit-you message, but I unfortunately doubt that they make that connection.  And they should know with certainty it is not right and should not be.

So, I put the posters up - though admittedly I placed the one about pornography up pretty high so littler eyes wouldn't see it as readily.  New things on the walls are exciting around here, especially things they have worked on themselves, so the kids did stop to look them over.

One of the boys asked me with surprise in his voice, "No one can sell a child?"  I said, "No, no they cannot," and was glad I had put up the posters.  This boy in particular has been very abused in the past.  When he gets a real close haircut, you can see scars all over his head.  O Lord, the things these children have had to go through.

I am not of the opinion that a government program is the ideal way to teach these kids values and truths in life.*  Like I said, I should hope that the love and truth of God would bring that healing and restoration to their lives.  But for right now, I'm going to use this tool to our advantage.  It is my hope and desire that good comes of it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - 

* I have been discovering lately how extremely secular the Mexican government curriculum is that the school has been using.  It has, in fact, been shocking for me.  I would appreciate prayers for myself and for the teachers to have wisdom and discernment as we teach these young ones who have been intrusted to our care.

- - - - - - - -

"If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble..."

Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2

Video of the Week: Storms

We've been having lots of rain here lately.  This is a video of a crazy storm system that moved in Friday.  There was even smoke rising from the north side of that mountain.  We didn't get much rain here, but they say the city of Oaxaca had lots of flooding.

Photo of the Week: Career in Botany...?

I was hoping for a good picture of the beautiful sunrise this morning, when I looked down and saw this beautiful plant.  If I knew anything about plants, I would probably know what it is - but I do not, and so I just know that it's real pretty :).  I shall call it the cactus-like-plant-that-wants-to-be-a-rose.

Wonders of Creation

I do not like beetles.  And I think it goes without saying that I do not like dung.  However, as I walked to the highway the other day, this little dung beetle arrested my attention and I was amazed.

I have since learned that if you have lived in a rural setting and are used to seeing dung beetles, this is no big deal.  You may say, Laura, it is just a bug pushing a piece of poop.  Nonetheless, I remain amazed :).

A Day of Independence

The 204th celebration of the Independence of Mexico has been coming upon us all this month...

- - - - -

The streets were decorated.

The markets were decorated.

The vegetables were decorated.

(I see what you did there, grocery store employee.)

- - - - -

Traditionally, all towns in Mexico celebrate their independence with the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) at 11pm on September 15th.  A leader shouts the names of important heroes of the war of independence, and the people respond "Viva!"  A bell is also rung in remembrance of Hildalgo ordering the church bells rung to gather the people.
- - - - -
Here in Oaxaca, in preparation for the anticipated celebration, law enforcement took steps to clear the squatting merchants and striking teachers from the zocalo (main square).  This included police in riot gear blocking nearby roads for days leading up to it.

While I didn't feel threatened by the police, neither did I want to be around if something did happen.  So, I was especially thankful that the home had their own festive and fun celebration.
- - - - -

Doors were decorated.

Delicious food was prepared...

...and eaten :)

Faces were painted.

Hair was braided.

Games were played.

The shout was made.

Prayers were said.

And it ended with a bang! (or 7, or 8...)

 ¡Viva México!
 - - - - -

To the moon

Did you see the moon last week?  I walked into my dark bedroom and it was like someone was shining a bright flashlight right in my face.  It was beautiful.  It was so bright that the sky was a light blue color - almost as if it was a sunrise.

It made me recall the analogy of how Christians should be like the moon.  We are not the source of the great and brilliant light, but we are to reflect it to the world - hopefully lighting up the dark places.  I asked my sister if she had seen the moon and she sent me this picture (she lives beside Lake Michigan in Chicago).

The moon indeed shone brightly last week - from north to south, and I imagine from east to west as well.  May the church likewise shine God's light brightly throughout the whole world.

The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us.

Psalm 118:27a

Photo of the Week: Bus Stop

I made a poor choice of a bus stop this weekend and had to wait quite awhile before a bus came along that was headed where I wanted to go.  However, that meant I had ample opportunity to take a picture of this old building across the street from me.  

I find it interesting that some Mexican restaurants in the U.S. mimic this style of brick showing beneath the plastering, meanwhile here in Mexico, while it still looks neat, it mainly means the building is falling apart... :)

A Cry For Help

I think it's safe to say that most people who have heard Bible stories have heard that of Daniel and the lions' den.  I was reading that passage the other day, and something stood out to me in a way that it hadn't before.  It was the following verse:

"Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help."  (Daniel 6:11)

These men were, of course, the ones who intended to trap Daniel in prayer and have him killed - by being thrown into the famous lions' den.  I recall the illustrations I've seen as a child of Daniel being discovered praying after being told that he was not allowed to pray to anyone but King Darius.  But what stood out to me this time, that I've never noticed before, is that they found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

While Daniel was asking God for help, his enemy found him.  What a blow.  I wonder what went through Daniel's mind at that moment.  I imagine there are many people who would feel betrayed or abandoned by God - concluding that He is unfair and should treat his servants better.  People thinking, "I've served God my whole life, I'm a good person, and now when I pray for help, bad things still happen? Where is God in all this?"

But, Daniel was quite the man of God - having lived in exile through the reign of several different kings, having been visited by the angel Gabriel a few times (once with a troubling vision),  having had - as a government official, mind you - no corruption found in him.  I think maybe he could have been very afraid/disappointed at the turn of events, but it seems to me that he also had walked so closely to God that he was able to trust beyond his understanding.

Maybe, like his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he said that "the God [I] serve is able to deliver [me]..." And obviously, like his friends, even if God didn't save him, Daniel still refused to worship anyone other than God.

While Daniel was asking God for help, his enemy found him.  But we know the end of the story.  We know the great miracle of the angel (Gabriel, perhaps?) shutting the mouths of the lions and King Darius rejoicing that Daniel was still alive.  We know that he comes out alright in the end, while his enemies do not.

I've heard people wonder "why me?" at challenging or tragic events of their lives.  I cannot understand what they must be going through - but I do have a feeling that it is not the end of the story.

“For he is the living God and he endures forever;

his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.

 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders

in the heavens and on the earth. 

 He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

~King Darius~

Daniel 6:26-27

I also seem to recall another Man of God being found by his enemies while praying to God for help...

Thankfully we know the end of that story too.

Photo of the Week: Evening Storms

We have been getting a surprising amount of afternoon/evening rain storms lately.  Sure makes for chilly nights and humid days.

Disconnected

I find myself a part of an interesting generation.  We grew up without the internet.  We played outside with the neighbors until it got dark.  If we didn't know something, we were left to just wonder about it - and if we were especially curious, we went to the library to find out more.  If we got lost, we were lost and had to ask someone for help.

Through my years of school, the internet was becoming important.  We were taught how to use it, how to discern whether information was reliable or not.  We were required to use both books and internet as sources for papers.  My senior year of college, someone talked me into signing up for this thing called Facebook that was exclusively for college students at the time.  I waited until my teaching practicum was finished though, because I had a feeling it would distract me greatly.  And it is all a blur from there.

However, living out here in rural southern Mexico, it is not uncommon for my internet usage to come to a grinding halt when the internet goes out.  I would like to say that it doesn't affect my life that much, but it can actually be quite stressful.  Last week the internet modem at our house in particular stopped working altogether, and it was a very frustrating time.  I couldn't listen to the news in the morning, or check my email at night.  I couldn't FaceTime with my family or do research for lesson plans.

With no internet at our house here, I had to go over to the main building of the children's home to get connected.  And, as it turned out, I found myself more connected than I had expected.  As I sat there on the front porch, a worker who is usually not real social stopped to talk with me for a while.  I was invited to dinner by the visitors who were there that week.  One of my old students came by to do his homework with me like old times.

Even within our house we were spending more time in the living room/kitchen - hanging out together, since shutting ourselves away in our rooms became much more boring with no internet.  Hmm, I think there is a lot I can learn from this no internet business.  So, I thanked God for our broken modem.  It opened my eyes to the world around me.

The irony is that, though I wanted to write about this yesterday, I couldn't do it until today. Our internet was out again.  Maybe I still have a lot to learn, because I definitely wasn't as positive and grateful this go around.  But, I once more noticed how the internet was affecting my life.  I got a lot of extra work done, and my roommate and I even discovered that we both used the surplus time to put more effort into doing our hair nicer that day (yes, it is embarrassing to admit that your grooming habits are affected by the internet...).

So, if you're feeling up to it, feel free to take the Oaxaca internet challenge - turn off the internet in your home (including no smart phone usage at home!) for 3 days and see if/how your life changes... :)