profound, pensive thoughts from the PE teacher, sitting in her office eating hershey kisses

Carefree:
carefreeness - the cheerful feeling you have when nothing is troubling you
carefreeness - the trait of being without worry or responsibility
carefreeness - The property of being lighthearted, joyous, cheerful, without a care

They say that children are carefree.... why aren't adults? What happens from the age of 7 to the age of 27 that changes? Why don't we play 'house' anymore, or pretent to sing into a microphone, or laugh when given the opportunity to run as fast as we can?
Let me introduce to you the three R's. (No, I'm not talking about "Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmatic.")
1. Rules
2. Responsibility
3. Routine

Our life becomes bogged down with what we're supposed to do, with what other people expect us to do, and what we've committed ourselves to do. I'll be honest, I struggle with freedom, with spontaneity. I so desire to be the one with the sweet ideas and crazy adventures. I know I've had some amazing adventures already, but in reality, I like rules, responsibility, and routine. It's comforting to me to know that I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. I'm a list person, but I'm not just a write-a-few-things-down-so-I-remember person... I'm the type of person that writes things on the list that I've already done, just so that I can cross it off. And, I confess, I love it. And to everyone else who loves to make lists, embrace the fact that you are organized, or at least attempting to be.

Enough about lists. In reality, that is somewhat immaterial to what I wanted to focus on: freedom. America is a land of freedom, when you can drive you experience new-found freedom, we as Christians have freedom in Christ... we hear about it so much, yet I often wrestle with the real demonstrations of freedom in my own life. How am I freed yet a slave? 1 Corinthians 7:22 ESV

So, here goes... Please dig with me through what scripture says about being truly free.

In order to be free, we have to be freed from something, agreed? Over and over the Bible tells us that we have been slaves to sin, and that if we are in Christ we have been set free from that. (John 8:31-38 ESV, Romans 6:7-14 ESV, Romans 8:1-11 ESV) I would like to add to sin, that we are free from the law. The Israelites were bound by laws in covenant with God. (anyone who has read Leviticus knows what I'm talking about) But we are free from the law with the fulfillment in Christ. ((Luke 22:37 ESV)) 2 Corinthians 3 speaks of a new covenant that we have in Christ. We no longer abide by the 'letter of the law' which kills us because it is impossible for us to keep, but we are in the Spirit with confidence in Christ. (1 Corinthians 7:22 ESV) Hebrews 8 goes on to say that the old covenant is obsolete. (Hebrews 8:1-13 ESV)

Ok, now we know the what. Now let's look at the how.

Old covenant: obey the law. New Covenant: freely given. The Son has set us free. (John 8:31-38 ESV) Romans 5 explains how through one man's sin brought condemnation, one man died for the salvation of us all! This 'free gift' has brought us justification. (Romans 5:15-16 ESV) There is nothing we can do to earn, to merit this grace, this free gift.

Now what: I am free! I am no longer a slave to sin. (John 8:31-38 ESVRomans 6:7-14 ESV); I am free to share the gospel with my neighbor (Hebrews 8:1-13 ESV); I am free to set my mind on things of the Spirit and not of the flesh (Romans 8:1-11 ESV); I am free to serve my neighbor and love them as myself (Galatians 5:1,13-14 ESV). But, may we never fail to be reminded, that what we do is not of ourselves, but of the Lord. It is by the Spirit that we can do anything at all. (2 Corinthians 3:6)

There is so much more that this discussion could go into: legalism, life in the Spirit, and ministry beyond, but we'll have to save it for another time. I pray that you were blessed by digging into this with me this morning! Have a wonderful day! It's absolutely beautiful here in Honduras and I'm headed out to church and then a BBQ with some friends. God bless!

(for the record, this blog started out in my office eating hershey's kisses, but ended eating toast with huevos rancheros this morning :) )

References used:
For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.”
(Luke 22:37 ESV)

"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
John 8:31-38 ESV

"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification."
Romans 5:15-16 ESV

"For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."
Romans 6:7-14 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."
Romans 8:1-11 ESV

For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ.
1 Corinthians 7:22 ESV

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:6

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery... For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:1,13-14 ESV

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
For he finds fault with them when he says:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:1-13 ESV

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
1 Peter 2:16

Lasts

I had my last basketball practice last night. It was almost a surreal feeling--partially because I found out 20 minutes into the practice that I wouldn't be having any more, and partially because I've been coaching since about week 3 of being here, and now it's over.

I know in these next couple of weeks I will experience 'lasts' almost every day. Strange to think back to when I came, when everything was fresh and new, I was marveling in the firsts. It seems like yesterday, but it feels like ages ago at the same time. The memory is so vivid, yet the changes that have happened since those first few weeks remind me of the months that have passed since then.

Right now, I feel like I'm in between. I'm obviously not back in the states, yet I feel that with each day that passes, a part of me shifts more and more in that direction. As I start to reconnect with my family and friends back home and complete what's been going on here, I pray that the Lord will bless this transition. Change can be difficult, and I know that amidst the joys of returning, there will be hard times too, a reverse culture shock so to speak.

Please join me in prayer for the teachers and students here who are also experiencing "lasts."

Track Meet!

This past week in PE all 1st-3rd grade students participated in a track meet in their classes! I created a block schedule to have each class for an hour. The students participated in the 400m dash, 4x200m relay, and a 50m hurdle. The track was about half the size of a normal track so the distance was a bit smaller, but it was more fitting for the younger kids anyway. They loved it! The best part was seeing them cheer each other on. We had runners, timers, cheerers, and then students who loved to run inside the cones all the way around with the racers, even when it wasn't their turn!

As a teacher, it was tiring, but worth every minute. One of the valuable things I learned was how to keep order in the chaos. They would get so excited cheering on their classmate that they'd forget when it was their turn to run. Or, better yet, the timers would get so excited they would forget to hit stop! or even start sometimes! I would remind them that they had "a very, very important job to do!"


Explaining the race order and organizing the runners. This is how I looked all week... with 4 stopwatches around my neck!

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!!!



I praise God today for the success that last week was. I had never done anything like this and I was very happy with how it turned out. The only part that didn't go as planned, was being able to fit in the two jumping events they had practiced! So, the track meet is extended to this week too!

God bless!

FAMILY FUN DAY!

I remember going to Family Fun Night in elementary and middle school every year. Carnival games in all of the classrooms, cake walk, candy, winning prizes, eating pizza... today was Family Fun Day at Pinares! The high school students are in charge of the games and all of the proceeds go to the school. It was out on the soccer field under huge tents. There were tons of different kinds of foods, games, candy, the Orbitron, a bazaar selling used items (I bought a purse for $2.50), futbolito in the gym, and people everywhere! Praise God for a beautiful day and a great time for everyone!





The girls I am with here are the seniors on my volleyball team. They are fantastic!







One of the games was to throw water balloons at teachers and other students. I took my turn from 12:30-1 and several of my students came to throw water balloons at me. We stood behind this fence which had barbed wire on the top that popped the balloons easily. This picture is from the last time slot of the day and a bunch of elementary kids are behind the fence with our principal, Mr. Osberg! As you can see, he also took advantage of the hair styling booth!


This is one of my Pre-Kinder students on the Orbitron! There was a line all day for the ride. I also got to hang out with Simon for part of the day. He's eating a charamusca, a frozen treat in a bag- kind of like a popcycle.

cLaSh DaY!

Last Thursday was a color day, meaning the students get to dress out of uniform, and Thursday was a clash day! It was hilarious some of the things students (and teachers) wore! On top of that, we had a lady come and sell ice cream during lunch! Yum! It was a super fun day and a great way to end the week before a long weekend! Some of the girls really got into the layers and colors!
It started to rain during lunch so soccer got a little messy :)

Enjoying some ice cream!
The Kindergarten had a transportation parade where they got to march through the school showing off their gigantic art pieces showing the different forms of transportation!

FREE DAY!

Not for me... for my students :) I have a sticker chart and each day that a class comes to PE they have a chance to get a sticker that will earn them a free day. Today two of my classes had earned a free day. Some students do the typical: boys play soccer, girls jump rope... but then there's the students that I'd love to peer inside their minds and watch the creativity working! In the second grade class, two of the girls took the agility hurdles, cones, and batons, and created an obstacle course that looked like a colorful Chinese dragon! In my third grade class, there was a group of 5-6 girls also made a race course. They laid out over 25 hula hoops to run through, hurdles to jump over, then a space where they ran and jumped rope using the rope they carried through the first part of the course. At some point they were going to add badminton racquets in it but they ran out of time.

I think that we can all learn something from children. As I was walking my Pre-K class to the field yesterday they all started erupting in laughter! The teacher side of me wanted to quiet them down, tell them that they had to be quiet in lines and respectful of the other classes and offices that we were walking past... the kid side of me won :) I started laughing right along with them. I don't even remember what they were laughing at anymore, I just remember thinking as they laughed the rest of the way down to the field, that we don't laugh enough.

The Lord is teaching me true joy right now. Not fleeting smiles that come because of circumstances, but deep down, soul-stirring joy that comes from experiencing the Lord every day. I see the Lord revealing himself to me through the children that I teach. There will always be times when I'm frustrated with behavior or upset at them being mean to each other, but when it comes down to it, when I sit back and reflect, it's the moments of laughter that stick with me. It's the moments of laughter that I will always remember.

Today, don't just smile... Laugh. Laugh a deep belly-shaking, eyes-watering laugh, and praise God for the joy he gives.

God bless!

Futbolito

Saturday was fantastic! Pinares hosted an all day soccer event. On the field outside, the high school teams played against parents, teachers, and alumni. Meanwhile, in the gym, the elementary students played futbolito. Miss Karla, the other PE teacher and I, were in charge of running the games inside. Each grade had played for about 45 minutes on the court. Games started at 8:30am and the last high school game got done at 5! It was so much fun to watch and to play! When I wasn't refereeing, I was playing in the games outside. It was a beautiful day and everyone enjoyed it!
4th Grade girls showing some team spirit!

The Juvenile (11th-12th grade) team vs. Alumni and teachers.

Future superstar goalie.

Pre-K and Kinder action.

Second grade stars!

First Day of School!

Wow! What a day!!! So many new beautiful faces!!! It was a bit overwhelming but went well. The seniors each year make an "entrance." This year they all came in with balloons, confetti, senior shirts, shouting and yelling. They took "Tuk-tuks" (3 wheeled taxi motor bikes) from a couple miles out and came yelling and shouting onto the school grounds. After the kids got there, we started the morning with an all-school assembly. I helped out in one of the 6th grade classrooms. This is the teacher who has been sick. Praise the Lord, she doesn't have Dengue and hopes to be back tomorrow!

Tomorrow is another half day-no specials. I'm going to be doing morning duty, recess duty, finalizing lesson plans, making sure the equipment room is organized, etc. I also found out today that I'll be teaching the Pre-K and Kindergarten in Spanish! I'm super excited about this but a little nervous. I'm going to refresh myself on some vocab this weekend.

I was pretty tired tonight. I think just emotionally tired. But, I did make some oatmeal cranberry cookies :) We have a potluck tomorrow for all the new teachers. Of course, I made about 30 cookies and ate 10 cookies worth of dough! It was too good to bake it all!

For more pictures, check out my facebook- it's easier to load multiple pictures there.

Thanks for your prayers! God Bless!

School starts... TOMORROW!!!

Wow. What a week of preparation! I can't believe that school is already starting tomorrow! The fist 2 days are half days so the elementary won't have PE. I'll be helping with the assembly and assisting the teachers throughout the day as much as possible. Monday I start full on. I got my schedule and class lists today. It'll be great to finally meet the kids!!! So many names to put a face with finally!

Other happenings: I've been teaching an aerobics class this week! It's been fantastic! Around 20 teachers came both Monday and today at 6:30am before our sessions. I'm going to continue it next week... I pray that I'll have enough energy to lead at 5:30! Tonight we had an amazing time of prayer and praise to start off the year. We sang all kinds of Sunday School type songs! Every day I'm more excited to get involved in the community of believers here. I'll be doing a Bible Study/Care group starting next week with 4 other girls. I'm not sure what it's going to look like yet, but I'm excited about the girls in my group.

Please pray for health for some of the teachers. One of the teachers they fear has Dengue. She's been unable to do much for the last couple days. Also pray for Mr. Smith and Mr. Osberg, our director and Elem. principal. Both have been under the weather. Now is not a good time to be sick... there's so much happening.

Thank you for your prayers! Keep in touch!
Love,
Rachel

The School

I've finally had time to take my camera around the school and take a few pictures!!! Enjoy!

This is my desk!!!

I share an office with Kathy Carrion, the Spiritual Life Director for the Elementary School.

This is the covered court (cancha).

This is the building my office is in. Love the color!!! :)

This is the gym!

I have an office!

Today was filled with moving furniture around setting up my office and helping other classroom teachers set up their rooms! We started out the day around 8am with an elementary teachers meeting.. just in time for the power to go (a regular occurrence in Honduras I'm told). It stayed out all day until around 4pm. My office doesn't have a window so that made it a bit more challenging but it went well. I didn't get a chance to take a picture yet but I will soon! I share an office with Kathy, the spiritual life coordinator in the elementary school. She's amazing! So much fun and so good to talk to. I'm excited to spend time with her. We had a traditional Honduran meal tonight for all the teachers: chicken, steak, rice, beans, and tortillas. Very delicious! Tomorrow is more meetings. I'll be starting to plan my curriculum for the year with the other elementary PE teacher as well as going to the hardware store to get some of the things I wasn't able to take!

I'm definitely tired after a long day. I think that the first few weeks are going to be more mentally challenging than physically challenging. My brain is trying to take in and remember so many new things all at the same time! But, I am going to play some pick up soccer tonight with some other teachers. :)

Good night and God bless!