live simply love freely: Happenings in 2012...

I started off the school year with a visit from my parents. It was such a blessing to have them here with me for a week before I started back to school. We had a great time relaxing in Jarabacoa, visiting friends, eating, and a trip to the beach! I am so thankful for my mom and dad and how they support me in all that I do.

Dad, Moreno, me, Mom

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Certification - Most of you know that last year I was taking some online courses to complete my teaching certification. This summer I took my final exam and passed with flying colors. You are looking at a Texas Certified Educator right here.
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Expeditionary Learning is the fundamental educational philosophy of Doulos where rich and varied hands-on experiences provide a unique and practical approach to learning and applying one's knowledge to real life. In second grade my students learn and become experts on Germs. One of my favorite thing was seeing them light up when they were given the opportunity to look at bacteria in a microscope. Their final project was a News Show informing others of germs and how they effect us. My kids did a fantastic job!

I wish you could have heard the screams and seen the smiles on their faces!

Creating their own bacterias out of playdough.

Germs Wanted. Found in the dirt. This germs makes you sick. You can get rid of this germ by taking medicine - Joel

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Each Monday I start the week with my kids by giving them a chance to write down their prayer requests for the week. Each day we choose 5 or 6 and my students pray for each other. Often times it's for their tio or tia that is sick or for friends that don't have casa, but this one Monday it was very special for me. Someone pulled a little girls prayer request. It said, "That Jesus is in my heart and that my mom feels better." So I asked her to explain to me what she meant by the first part and she said, "I want to pray that Jesus will be in my heart." I am pretty sure tears started welling up in my eyes. It was a beautiful moment where I was able to talk to her about what that meant and then she prayed a prayer with me in front of the whole class and accepted Jesus into her heart. Later that day in English class she wrote a story about how she felt so happy today and it was because she knew that Jesus was in her heart. That is why I do what I do.

Marcos, Jose Daniel, Esdras, Georgia, Chanel

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Discipleship - Each year my church here offers an intense, year-long discipleship class. Our pastor's goal in this is to provide solid biblical teaching to those that are committed to becoming disciples of Christ. It's almost like a seminary class. If you are late to class or do not complete your homework you get a strike. When you have 3 strikes you are out of the class. If you make it to the end of the class you will have read the bible through twice and 12 books. I never even thought of taking this class because, a. it's in spanish, b. it's a lot of work and c. I just never felt like there was time. This year, I actually gave it a little thought. This is the first year in a long time where I didn't feel like my plate was over flowing and so I said I would pray about it. The pastor's wife is my small group leader and she really encouraged me to do it. I felt like God was also stirring in me a passion for really knowing His word. God is good!
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Fundraising - God has been so faithful. And I am thankful for each one of you and the way you give of yourselves financially to support me and the calling God has placed on my heart. I am in a great place with my monthly support and have half of what I am trying to raise to purchase a car. I am currently still using a motorcycle to get around town, which is great except for the 5 out of 7 days of the week that it rains! This is not a necessity, but would help me live a little more comfortably here. I am lacking about $3,000 to reach my $8,000 goal. Again, God is good!
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One of the not so exciting things to happen in 2012 was when I contracted Dengue Fever from a tiny little mosquito. Who knows when I was bitten or where I was when I was bitten, but I will never forget the virus this little nasty bug gave me. I had just come home from a high school Choir Concert and my head was pounding. I thought it was from the really loud, horrible sound system. So I laid on the couch as my roommates and I talked about the evening. It was a nice, warm caribbean evening and for some reason I was freezing cold. That's when the fever hit. I had fever for 3 to 4 days and went in to the clinic to get some blood work done to see what antibiotic I needed to take. When they saw my white blood cell count and my platelet levels they looked at me and sad, "Looks like you're not going home. You need to stay here for a few days so that we can monitor your blood count. Looks like you have Dengue Fever." I tried not to panic and knew that my God is a big God and He was going to take care of me. So I had a little 3 day vacation at the clinic here in Jarabacoa. I did not enjoy my stay at the clinic or the IV that was jabbed into my hand for 3 days, but I was surrounded by so many people who love me. I was never alone because someone was always stopping by to visit. Several of my little 2nd graders came to see me and they even made me this awesome get well card and sent me this video! Being sick is not so fun, but it sure does allow you to see the body of Christ at work.