The Last Stretch

I can't believe it's already November 20th. Just one more month left!

Lately, we've been...

enjoying our last days at school:

Alison & Augustina

Franco & Florencia

Mariam & Ceci 

my Mombarete student, Roci
such a little rascal

Juan is thankful for Jesus!

Farid and Tobias
all the kids buy those chocolate (on the table)
so they can get Ben 10 stickers

Carlossss so cute

Harry Potter!

Matias and Milka

we played Battleship

we did a Halloween Mad Lib

the first graders had a little traditional party

and danced with each other, so cute

my English club :)
some more boys started to show up and my club grew to 8!
our last meeting is on Friday, i'm pretty sad...

working on our video project

judged the Senior presentations...so crazy (in a good way)!
it's like a Masters Project!

another Olimpiada!

students making team posters

"Let's go!"

had some fun with a student's pom-pom

Olimpiada for upper elementary!

the 3rd grade performance

still hanging out with awesome people:

Here's Tito! He took us to a Chinese restaurant, where he ordered for us in Mandarin! Thoroughly loved the food and drinks there :) The next day, we went to the mall to watch a movie!

tastes like my drink at Half & Half!
found some more at Agros shopping :)

WHATTTT

Gap's coming to Paraguay!

watched Gravity in 3D

Eva took us to San Bernardino, which is a vacation spot for Paraguayans. Felt like we were at the beach and I loved it! Got to hang out with David, Lea, and Toby for a bit and then went to see 420 Paraguayan harpists break the Guinness World Record!

had some delicious frutilla popsicles!

isn't he just the

CUTEST?

WOOHOO PARAGUAY! 

Ate Mexican food with Rudolfo! The food was seriously delicious, can't wait to go home and eat some al pastor tacos! and the restaurant was sooo cute. He even sneakily paid for our dinner...Rudolfo is seriously one of the nicest guys you could ever meet! 

at Quattro D- we ordered too much dessert.

Got to hang out with the oldest Cler, Samantha! We loved her crochet work so she offered to teach us! We're in the process of making headbands :)

Isa- her daughter is sooo cute

Rita is a fellow English teacher at CPC. She's the sweetest person and has great fashion sense! We invited her over for some kimbap after school!

We celebrated a couple birthdays recently!

Silvia- she has such a joyful spirit and I love her group of girlfriends!

Our dear brother- Amilcar Cler. We spend a lot of time with Amilcar, especially because of Ytororo. He is one of the most dedicated and caring people and he serves so faithfully! He even cooked hamburguesas for us on HIS birthday!

Amilcar- we are so blessed to know you and your family!

Looking through all these pictures just made me realize that I have so many memories here that I don't want to forget and knowing that I only have one month left makes me want to take advantage of every moment! Although we will be in Paraguay for 1 more month, the school year ends next Thursday! and that means we only have about a week left with our students! Although there are moments when I want to throw some of them out the window, I'm hoping to be able to show them love, kindness, and compassion. If I'm having a rough day, I want to respond to them in a manner that is reflective of the gospel. Please pray that I would be a witness of Christ in all that I do!

Paz

What does it mean to have true peace?

Romans 5:1-3

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in 

which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God." 

Fruit of the Spirit

Last week, I received an apple from one of my favorite students, Violetta! Violetta is one of the sweetest 5th graders. She loves to dance and performs in competitions, loves to hide behind Joe and spring out to surprise him, and makes the cutest pouty faces. It was such a heart-warming moment because it's the first apple I received as a teacher. 

From this sweet gesture, I started to reflect on fruit. The fruit of the Spirit. In the past 3 months, have I been producing good fruit that reflects the goodness and glory of the Lord? Have I been loving? Joyful? Patient? Kind? Gentle? Have I been controlling my frustrations and anger? I'm going to have to admit that I haven't been doing the best job. There are so many times that I allow my flesh to overcome Spirit when I face trials, but I have to remind myself that Christ has already faced the greatest trial and conquered death through His glorious resurrection. Through his power and victory, I have received the gift of His Spirit, who helps me in my weaknesses. I want to live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. 

Galatians 5:22-25
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

Live by His Spirit, walk by His Spirit.

A Tantrum for My Transformation

"Every challenging situation becomes an opportunity for us to trust Him, to obey, to learn, to grow, to rely more on His grace."

The quote above comes from an article I recently read titled A Tantrum for My Transformation. Being here in Paraguay has provided me with plenty of challenging situations but I'm hoping and trusting that they are for my good. Actually, I know that they are for my good. Strangely enough, although I don't have 2 kids who throw tantrums, I found myself being able to relate to this woman. Right now, I'm the one who throws tantrums every other day. There's always something to upset me, something to complain about, something that challenges me to my core. BUT I have to remind myself that through these challenging situations, He is sanctifying and challenging me so I can become more like Christ. Still trying to learn how to endure hardship as discipline and be joyful about it.

"He is not in the business of making my life comfortable and free of any stress. He has something greater planned for me: my holiness."

Hebrews 12:10b-11
"...but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."