And the peace of God...Phil.4:6-7

Again I am reminded that my life and times are in God's hands, that He knows everything from the beginning to the end. There are no surprises to Him. What a comfort to know that when I make plans and they are suddenly changed that God already knew it. And if I'm shaken by it, I just have to talk it all over with him, and my peace is restored.

I had made plans to go to Costa Rica because my visa was due again. I bought my tickets and was looking forward to going to another country. I really do like to travel by air. Instead I went to the U.S. again. I had received a message from my youngest son that my mother was having serious health problems. I knew something was up when I couldn't reach her by phone the preceding Sunday. I called my brother and he said that the doctors had not expected her to live through the night before. So I flew home on the 11th of August. She passed the 13th of August and was buried the 17th. Jesus said he would give us peace, but not the kind the world gives. I was so thankful for that peace when my mother was dying. People ask me if she went to heaven. Do I know if she made it to heaven? No, but I know God knows and he is a just God. I normally prayed with mom before we would hang up when I called her every week or so and she said she was right with the Lord. So I leave it there. Do we really know if an individual goes to heaven when they die? We hope so.

So I was able to spend time with my daughter and brother and their families while I was there. It was good to see my grandchildren and my great granddaughter, Nicole. I was able to visit with other relatives that I had not seen in years. So even though it was a sad time, it was also a time of rejoicing and reconnecting with other members of my family.

When I returned to Honduras, Becky and I went to San Jose, Costa Rica for the three days. It was a time of rest that we both needed. San Jose, the capital, is big just like Tegucigalpa. However, the people in Costa Rica drive like people from the U.S. That was a welcomed change. More English is spoken there than here in Honduras. English is a required subject in many of the schools there. We wanted to visit the language school, CINCEL, while we were there, but it wasn't open. We did a little shopping and went to Taco Bell so Becky could have a bean burrito. Well, they don't have bean burritos. And why would they when beans are a staple in Central America? But we were thinking Taco Bell, an American restaurant. Oh well, a Mexican pizza sufficed.

So back to Honduras and school. It was good to be back. I miss Honduras and everything about it when I'm not here. I, too, was missed, and that was nice to know. So on the first day back, we reviewed. It was good. On Fridays I do the devotional with the 7th graders. This was the second time that Eva, my interpreter, was not there. But God was there and my Spanish was ok. My lesson was on having peace and that our hearts not be troubled like Jesus said in John 14 and 16. He said in Matthew 10 and Luke 12 that he didn't come to bring peace but a sword. That sword, his word, will cause a division, not only in our families but in the world. Since Honduras is going through a difficult time now as are other countries, we are reminded in Mat. 24 that all these things must come to pass. But even so, we are told in Phil. 4:6-7 that if we pray about all the things that trouble us, God's peace will keep us. How good God is to his children. The new song we are learning in English is Come unto me...Mat.11:28-30.

My Spanish lessons have gone from 2 days to 3 days a week. My teacher worries that because I live alone, I don't get the practice that I need. (Jesus and I speak English)! She wishes that I could live with a family here in Valle that just speaks Spanish. Be immersed. That's the key.

We need our road fixed that goes to the school from the main road. Two of our teachers have fallen in the last week and have hurt themselves. They haven't broken anything, thank you Jesus, but they've been hurt. I asked the "principal" if the men from the area around the school would get together and work on it. She was doubtful, but maybe if we got the word out, some would come and work on it. Will see what can be done next week. Jesus said ask, and if we don't ask...

Again thanks for all your prayers and support.

I can do all things...Phil.4:13

Well, it appears I'm a little behind on things. However, I finally got the newsletter out. What a mess. I never planned to be a publisher of anything nor a big user of a computer. God has a way of putting you in places and doing things you never cared to do. So everyone hopefully will have some patience with all this when things don't look like a professional job. Because it truly isn't. People, especially Doug, says to just go in and play with it. Ha! That's exactly how I got on Facebook, that I don't have time for, don't really know how to use, and then I lose things and don't know how to find them again. And it appears that I touched a button somewhere along the line and changed the font in some places in the newsletter. Oh, well, hopefully next time will be better. Need lots of prayer here. But in the fast world we live in, everything has to be instant, and you're required to be everything, whether you want to be or not. I thought I was doing pretty good just doing on line banking and doing it right.

So what's happening? Will begin Spanish lessons three days a week instead of two, so that's six hours a week instead of four. The problem here is not having anyone to converse with, since I live by myself. I teach English just about all day long. I speak with the teachers and shop owners in Spanish, but that's not for a long period of time. And you know, I can trill that "r" when I'm using my prayer language, but not in normal speech. I finally decided that it's because I'm not controlling my tongue when using my prayer language. God is. So my prayer is for him to loosen my tongue when speaking Spanish.

What else is happening? Yesterday we didn't have classes except for the 7th graders. Parents came yesterday to get their childrens report cards and to talk to teachers. The other 7th grade teacher wasn't there, so the only class the 7th graders had was with me. And since it was Friday,
it was devotional time. Eva wasn't there to translate due to meeting parents in the kindergarten. Since they are learning the chorus "Come, now is the time to worship" in English, we worked on singing and looking up the words they didn't know which were not many. Thank you Jesus. They sing it in Spanish in church. Then we talked about what they wanted to be career wise. Which means, they have to go a different direction than what is considered normal here. A girl gets pregnant at 13-16 (and above) years old. The guy goes else where, and starts over again with another girl and is not held accountable for the children he is helping to create. They don't look towards the future. It's here and now. So with God's help, maybe this group can be different. They looked a little shocked when I said it was pecado, sin, in God's eyes. It's very difficult to break away from your culture into God's culture, and maybe impossible without God's help. For the two are not the same. So I pray God will open their eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to his truth. And that they will work towards the careers they said they would like to have. The area I work in is very poor. So God and his grace is a definite need in their lives. And I'm so glad that he hears and sees the poor. And He will make a way for them if they make him their savior. A choice we all have to make.

Received the sad news that one of my former students had passed away. Really broke my heart. She was such a blessing to have in class. She had muscular dystrophy, if I remember correctly, and was probably 18 or 19 years old. I had her during her freshman and sophomore years. We had a lot of fun trying to figure out what was going on in Lost, the television series. And we never could. She decided that's why they named it Lost, because we were. She had a great sense of humor. She will be missed by all who knew her. I pray God will comfort her family.