Day 48: Short and short

To start, the promised pictures from yesterday:

Andrew is the r, i'm trying to make a d shape

Visiting English Classes

This will probably either be a pretty simple and straight-forward post, or go off the deep end emotionally. Hopefully the former. I'm really tired. Let's find out together!

I woke up early today and couldn't go back to bed. That's uncommon because going back to bed is definitely in my skill set. Katie and Izzy didn't sleep well last night due to feeling sick, so they stayed home and the guys went to the CDI together. James had left even earlier that morning to go to a meeting with Lagos and the principle of one of the schools. 

James had some kind of crazy, spin-off adventure today with Lagos. We really didn't see him much. They were off doing some prep work and projects and stuff like that. I still don't actually know what they did. 

We celebrated June birthdays at the CDI today. There was cake, ice cream, face-painting, pizza, lots of games, and....get this... someone (i think Doña Constanza) brought pumps and long balloons to make balloon animals. So, I spent a lot of time making swords and hats and hearts and a flower. It was quite a throwback to 2006. 

Non-stop party is exhausting, but doesn't always come with much to report. The kids felt very loved and had a lot of fun. I felt very language-fluid today; some moments I was vibing in Spanish really well; other moments I couldn't understand simple words. 

The kids handled their sugar pretty well, tbh. They were rowdy, but they were manageable still. We didn't have time last night to go to the grocery store to get (much less cook) hot dogs, even though that was the plan. Andrew and I went to pick up pizza and got to have some good conversation while we did. 

We washed dishes so many times today.

After the kids left, we cleaned the CDI (servant-hearted team served heartily), and talked with Lagos a little bit about plans. James was there at the end, doing something super helpful to their computer. We packed everything up and headed home. It was exciting to have a night without active ministry plans; I think the team really needed some down time together. Andrew and Matthew made quesadillas and rice tonight, then we played a board game as a team. I lost, but that's ok. 

Sometimes, hope feels unshakeable in me. My Hope in Christ usually feels that way, and my general hopefulness about the future (often connected to Hope) also feels pretty solid. Other times though, I can despair of ever really changing or growing as a person. But, whenever hope slips, despair is just chilling right around the corner, so I usually hold pretty tightly to hope.

For those who were here yesterday, my brother and his wife did indeed have their 2nd daughter. I am so proud of John and how he is doing as a father. It feels like he's stepped into his real purpose in a way that leaves me floored. I look up to him a lot. 

Tomorrow the church will have a Men's time (James is going to share), and we'll go to the CDI to work on more of the projects James and Lagos started today. We'll have church in the evening. There's some important decisions being made tomorrow (not regarding me or us at all), please pray for God to speak clearly and lead.

PRAYER!
-for us to walk in step with the Spirit
-for good team dynamic
-for our projects tomorrow
-for the boys who lost their mom
-for lots of wisdom
-for peace
-for hope
-for our team in the Balkans
-for our camp with the CDI kids next week
-for our time hiking with H@ngout students on Sunday

Big Roja

This is right before everyone attacked Andrew with balloon swords

Lots of Cake. Lots of Sugar. You're welcome, parents of these kids.