Pick Up Lines

Usually, you get to meet some of the coolest people on the planet working at this orphanage. Sometimes, you also meet the most awkward individuals...

During the second week of my stay here in Guate I met this dude who was REALLY smooth. Thankfully his stay was ONLY one week! Here are his lines:

1. You speak really good English!
2. I like your headband...And your shirt...You look really good in it.
3. So, do you have a green card?
4. You should look me up on Facebook. You can't have too many friends you know!
5. Come sit down with me. Let's talk.
   

He won me over with "Do you have a green card"!!

Bless his heart.

Who Knew?!?!

Okay, think you get the picture that I've never been a runner, nor have I EVER particularly enjoyed it. I've talked about running for a while and made mention of it in two blogs:

1. Here: this is when I went to my first Houston Marathon as a spectator and actually wanted to try it!
   
2. Here: this is when I gave up on my training.

Since then, I got into an argument with a friend over running v. not running. It was RIDICULOUS! I've gone to cheer more friends at the Chevron Houston Marathon. I actually WALKED 5k in April in less time than I expected. And I've been training...like seriously training to RUN a 5k in August.

Ironically enough, I've gotten past the stage of dreading it. Okay, honestly the first 5 minutes when I get out there really suck but I LOVE IT and I wish I had started this sooner!

I'm so thankful for my friend Regina who jogged the last I don't know how many yards of the 5k in April. I told her then that I LOVED the atmosphere of a 5k, I loved how the self competition kicked in full gear when I was there, and I loved the challenge. I told her that if I could do a 5k I could do a half marathon. While I was mostly joking, she took me seriously and she said - Okay, let's train to actually run a 5k and we will go from there.

So here's the progress. In April I did the 5k in 47 minutes! Not too shabby for someone who didn't train. Okay - so I train on a track that's 2.88 miles and on June 1 I went around in 43 minutes and it was more walking than running. On June 18th, I did the loop in 40 minutes 6 seconds. 24 minutes of jogging and 16 minutes walking.

I write this not to boast and say LOOK AT ME! I write this because I didn't know I had it in me. And the things that have really helped are the following:

1. Accountability (insert Regina and this blog post)
2. SCRIPTURE starts flowing in my head. I wish I could quote it right now, but I've gone blank...I'm not running right now. I'll post in a future blog the scripture I use.
   
3. Prayer! OMG! Regina knows when I start getting tired or when I'm about to and she tells me - Okay, Mimi this is when you should start praying if you haven't already started!
4. Subscribing to Runner's World! TIPS GALORE!
   

I'm actually going to RUN a 5k August 7!

This is a bit of a selfish prayer request and a bit more personal than I like to get on a blog, but I'm going on a mission trip to Guatemala for three weeks. When I travel, I tend to gain weight which tends to make me blue. So, please pray that I can keep this up while I'm away. I really don't want to lose this progress. It really makes me happy and I actually DO enjoy this!!

Mona Lisa Smile

There's a scene from the movie Mona Lisa Smile that I often think about. In fact, I thought of it today. If you haven't seen it, it's about an art teacher who comes into a SUPER traditional and extremely conservative 1950's private girls school and challenges their way of doing things. This stirs up a lot of talk and trouble.

Well, this scene in this movie reminds me of something Jesus would do. No, this isn't a Christian movie, nor does it teach biblical roles of men and women, but this one scene...I tell you what! The scene is when the perfect little Betty Warren (who married this "perfect" man) comes into the dorm with a chip on her shoulder. She is cruel to one of her classmates to the point of making her cry. A mutual friend looks beyond it and just embraces Betty. She saw that Betty came in with a wounded heart. Betty falls apart and starts weeping! Turns out her husband was having an affair and she was taking it out on anyone she could.

I think of it mostly when people say things with every intention of HURTING me. I honestly want to hug them (just like this girl did in this movie) and tell them that they really aren't upset with me and that Jesus loves them!

Copperish Brown

Against popular belief, not all Mexicans have a natural tan. My legs are WHITE when they say hello for the summer. But now summer is here and I've been walk/jogging at the park and I spent all weekend outdoors and I can say now that I'm tan. I have a ridiculous watch tan line to show the contrast.

Anyway, I'm not on here to talk about my tan, per se. I remembered a story from a couple years ago when I went to a ball game with my brother, Tim. We sat directly behind the cutest little boy and his dad. Well, this kid turns around and points at me and says: IT'S HER, DAD! It's HER!

The dad was embarrassed and says: I'm sorry about that ma'am. My son and I were playing I spy and he spotted something copperish brown. It happens to be you!

HAHAHA! That story makes me laugh. Kids are fun!

The Quotation Promised

I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap and then you grow wings.

- William Sloane Coffin

For some time, a friend of mine has reminded me that God is pursuing me. He desires me to trust him 100% and he desires to have my heart. As a christian, a follower of Jesus, I think "He already has my heart. I trust him." But, at some point something happened to make me doubt...Life. It never goes just how we plan. And I hit some big bumps during and right out of college. And yeah, college was 6 years ago. But the problem is that I stopped trusting.

As a result, I was afraid of taking any risks. I think I've always taken some sort of risk - going skydiving for my 18th birthday and H.S. graduation, moving far away for college, flying on my own to foreign places, eating food I wasn't sure was legit, paragliding, etc.

Once I got back home it all stopped...and I became fearful. I was no longer doing anything that wasn't "safe." If I noticed something was just a tad bit off, I stepped away. My life was being sucked right out of me.

But in the last two years (and maybe even longer), I've had a mother load of people praying for me (it takes a village). God's faithfulness in pursuing me has been incredible! And even that is an understatement.

I'm thankful that I went to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit in August 2008. I'm thankful that my job search lasted over a year. I'm thankful that even when things don't make sense at all there is an affirmation of the spirit that lets you know you are doing the right thing - I resigned from a decent job without having secured a new one. I'm thankful that for five months, I had uninterrupted HOURS with my Bible. I'm thankful that I met the principal of my school so randomly and that she liked me enough to hire me mid-year. I'm thankful that my kids took well to me. I'm thankful that I made it through my first semester as a teacher successfully. I'm thankful that all of this has not been easy. I'm thankful that I have summer!

You have no idea what this means to me. And I have no idea how to let you know what this journey does to me! :o) I'm so happy! Like so happy that I feel it to my inner core.

I had dreams as a kid...and they grew as I did. The dream: To become a teacher. To help children who need it. To be a summer missionary. To meet missionaries and provide them fellowship and American goods they may be missing. To love recklessly.

As all of this is falling into place, I have to have some Kleenex's with me because I'm overwhelmed at how the desires of my heart are being answered.

So, I'm saying this to you - TRUST HIM! He's asking you to trust him...and when you take that step He will give you wings!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." -Ecclesiastes 3:11

School is Out for the Summer

Hey! I made it. From February 10, 2010 t0 May 27, 2010. Time flew right by! So fast that I have about three entries in my journal since I was hired. I'm a little sad about that because there is soooo much that happened - to backtrack would just be a bit tedious.

Anyway, yesterday we had our end of the year party and it was soooo much fun! Next year, I'm going to recruit more parent volunteers because they are sent straight from HEAVEN! They were so very helpful and I was VERY happy to have them there! We had pizza, a movie (A Goofy Movie), paper bag puppets, face painting, etc. If you want to help me next year - I'll recruit you too!

And the last day (today)...well, my kiddos were OFF THE CHAIN! OFF THE CHAIN!! We watched the Lion King. I returned a bunch of their old work for them to take home to play school with and also gave them worksheets that they could do while they are home for the summer. I remember liking that when I was kid. I always played school! But unfortunately, the last hour was not as fun as I would have hoped. I'm going to have to figure out how to keep my students a bit more calm next year cause I lost my cool the last hour...or maybe we could just have extended recess?!?

I thought I'd tear up because it was my first class and my teacher's always did when I was a kid...and because I'll admit - I'm a crier! And I didn't. :D

I'm proud of myself this semester. I cried only one time! ONE TIME! One time...and that was because one of my students cut another students ear. I didn't cry in front of them, but I took them to the lunch room and when I went to the teacher's lounge I let go of a few tears. The more experienced teachers said I'd be okay - and they were right! I was!

And so there it is...My first semester! I made it!

P.S. I told my class that we were having an end of the year test...Which was a joke and they thought I was clever. However, I really think I'll do a "test" next year. I think that they'll take it seriously and that will keep them occupied for quite a while!

a WHOLE month?

What in the world!! Where does time go?

I've been thinking up a post...inspired by a quotation that made me very happy. I'll share it with you very soon, but for now I just wanted to say HI! I'm alive and well (except for one of my little toes).

I have SEVEN more days with my first ever first grade class! Eight days of work. YEAH!

Excitement about summer abounds!!