Mat. 25:21 Well done thou good and faithful servant...

Well Independence Day has come and  gone. The kids marched four times in September.  They were so tired as were the teachers. They marched once on the 15th, twice on the 24th, and once again on the 28th.  Independence Day was the 15th,  Day of the Bible was the 24th, and the receiving or signing of the documents for their independence was on the 28th.  They marched in the morning and again in the afternoon for the Day of the Bible.  When I asked the teachers why they had to march twice on the 24th, I was told that the churches don't agree with each other.  Then what meaning does the Bible actually have? Yeah, I know. So anyway, during the parade on the 28th, I was watching the kids and the teachers. They were all so tired. I prayed the Lord that He would give the kids strength when they performed before the dignataries. He did! So being the Rectora, I'm not always sure where my authority lies.  But I thought we need tomorrow off. I asked the one director and the coordinator if I had the authority to call off school for the morrow.  Sure enough I did. So we had no classes the next day. Thank you Jesus.  And then later I received a message that the Minister of Education made Oct. 2-8 a hoilday. PTL!!! The 5th through the 7th are holidays anyway, so he gave us two additional days.  We are so thankful.

Life in HN is not particularly easy, especially in the rural areas. The roads off the main highways are not good. What would take 15-20 minutes to get somewhere in a car takes 40-45 minutes in a van, especially an old van. The teachers have responsibilities that are done by the school secretaries in the states. Instead of having teacher conference days before the beginning of the school year as is done in the states, here the directors/principals are called that morning or the day before to go in for a meeting. Therefore the kids don't receive their lessons from their teacher. It can be frustrating.

So my message to the church was received well. My pastor asked if I wanted to continue the following week. I said no because it takes a while to get all of this down in Spanish and especially when I don't write out my messages in English. I hit several areas including tithing. And that all of God's blessings have conditions. If we don't meet the conditions, we don't receive the blessings. My pastor came to visit me and told me that the message made him think about some things.  I give the Lord the glory for all of it. And the pastor preached a fantastic message a week ago on tithing. He hit every area concerning tithing and offerings.  So many Christians in the world do not honor the Lord in this area and evidently don't realize that their financial blessings are connected to Mal.3. And neither do they understand the mercy and grace of the Lord. We have to live obediently and by faith. As the apostle Paul said, faith without works is dead. Jesus said if we love him, we will keep his commandments.  Even before the law of Moses, Abraham paid tithes, and we are the children of Abraham. I have heard people say that they're not giving their money to some man. Well, they aren't giving it to a man, they're giving it to God. He is the one that blesses not the preacher. I guess they don't know the account of the children of Israel and the priest Eli. The people hated to bring their offerings because of Eli and his sons, but they did it anyway because they knew it was the Lord's. 

This is election year for a president on the 26th of November. They will use our school for voting. So I'm not sure when the last day of school will be for kids and teachers.  Since Jess and I have to go to Panama the 20th-24th, our last day will be the 19th.  Here you are told one thing on one day and then on the next day, they have changed it. In a way, you're always in limbo. I thank God that he is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow!

It has been a few days since the Las Vegas massacre. How sad. And I've thought how hypocritical our leaders and newscasters are. When a tragedy hits, everybody talks about praying and prayers.  Really?  Especially when it's against the law to have prayer in schools and other public places.  You can't say Merry Christmas in the stores at Christmas time.  God said through one of the prophets that the people honor him with their mouth, but their hearts are far from him.  How true, how sad.  I came to the conclusion  many years that if God doesn't protect me, no one or anything else can.  I know that he is with me every moment and is with me in everything that is happening.  And I know that I'm going to physically die one day.  So the secret is to be ready for that event all the time regardless of how and when it comes.  Are you ready to meet him?  This is the thing that Christians desire, right?  So we need to be ready at all times.  The main thing that I want to hear Jesus say to me is, Well done thou good and faithful sevant.

This has been one of the best vacations ever!  There has been nothing pressing, so it truly has been a refreshing time.  I think that I could get use to this.  Not really.  After anoher week or so, I'd be chomping at the bit wanting to be busy.

Grace and peace to you.