Honduras

I know that I should tell you guys all about my awesome trip to Honduras. But, I can't. I can't write these things down for the whole world to see. I know that right now, the only people that really read this blog are the people I know, but my thinking is that if you want to know about this trip, come talk to me. I'd love to tell you all about it! So instead of telling you about the trip, I'll tell you about the transition home.

If any of you have been on an over seas mission trip, you'll know how hard it is to come home. I came home completely content, until I started seeing people, tv, talking to people, and getting a glimpse at the 'American life'. I was in a constant conflict with my self. "Were people always like this? Has America always been so indulgent?" I came to realize that Americans didn't change, I did. While I'm not someone that's about to go sell everything to raise money for whatever, I am still shaken up.

When I finally got home and got settled, I wanted to go back. I wanted to go back to the smiling, friendly, spanish-speaking people of Honduras. But, I know I couldn't. Atleast until the next trip in August 2013 =]. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things here, which breaks my heart even more. I don't want to forget and get swallowed up in the consumerism. So I constantly look at pictures, reread what I've written in my journal, and continue to write in my journal.

One of the biggest and most joyful lessons I learned while in Honduras isn't that the people live in poverty, anyone could tell you that, it's a bit more juvenile. Laughter is a universal language. While in Honduras I couldn't speak with the children very much. I could ask what their name was and if they had siblings, but once they heard that they thought I spoke the language. Oops! Anyway, what I could do is play with them and take turns teaching them English and having them teach me Spanish, and most importantly laughing. When they see me laugh, they can't help but laugh and vice-versa. Whether you speak Spanish, English, Creol, Italian, or any other language you can be certain that laughter is universal.

~ Jessica

Inspiration?

I was just 'inspired'. I know, I know, if you talk to my mom being 'inspired' it's nowhere out of the ordinary. But I'm not one much for inspiration. I'd rather stick with just doing it.

I don't read many blogs. I have a few that I read, a few that my friends write, but not tons. Maybe five. I was surfing the internet (when I should be working on school stuff) and I decided to look through my moms blog list. I came upon this gorgeous picture and had to read whatever was attached to it.

 

Go ahead, go read the post. Exactly 1 week and 3 days away from going to Honduras and I have to say, this was the little push I needed. I couldn't tell you the bloggers name, I could only tell you that I think she's the one who has really cute parties. I have no idea. This is my mom's thing. But today this was what I needed and today it was given to me.

Update

Hey guys - It's been a loooong time!! Sorry about that. I've got a couple of things I want to cover in this post, so keep on reading for what's been going on in our life lately!!

This weekend my mother and I are going to the beach for a girl's retreat with our youth group. Our week has been spent preparing. The theme is 'Woven' and my mom is the main craft lady for everything concerning it. Which means that we've been making gifts for the girls, table runners, decorations, etc. We've been super busy! But, I promise that after this weekend we'll be back!

On another note, we're trying to rethink what our blog is and what we want it to be. We want your opinion too! Leave us a comment telling us what your favorite thing is about other blogs and how we could improve ours!! Do you want to see more day-to-day stuff, crafts, tutorials, devotions, etc.

Honduras news! We only have approximately $1500 left to raise! That's amazing!! Last night we hosted a jewelry party to raise money for the trip, we did a couple of volunteer oportunities at our church that we'll get money for our trip from, and we're still praying through it all! The cookie sales have started to dwindle down a little bit until now they're pretty much non-existent. But, that's fine... we made more than I ever managed off  of them!!

As you can tell, we have a lot going on! We're still trying to finish up school for the year, I have to go take an accuplacer  test and schedule classes for college, and we're going to have a friend moving in! Exciting stuff.. I hope everything is well with you guys! We miss you!!! Leave us a comment on any recommendations for our blog!

~Jessica

Job Shadowing

As some of you know, I am aspiring to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) in Honduras after college. This all plays into the Honduras thing. Well, Monday I had the chance to go to a local elementary school and shadow the ESL teacher there (whom I will be referring to as Mrs. Teacher). It was a very interesting experience, I learned a lot and really got a good feel of what this career could look like. I want to take you through some of the highlights of my day, and some of my thoughts as the day went on.

5:45 a.m: Wake up and attempt to get ready by 6:45. The "attempt to get ready" part had nothing to do with only having an hour to get ready. That's the easy part. The hard part is getting out of bed AND getting ready in an hour! :) I can't help it, I like sleeping in!

7:15 a.m: Get to the school and check in. The teacher that I was job shadowing, I had never met before. But, thankfully we hit it off great and we got to go over the schedule for the day and report to "duty". We had to hold open the doors for the kids as they got off the bus and came in the school, it was so awesome to see all of their smiling faces and the pride that Mrs. Teacher took in greeting them and hopefully helping to start their day off on the right track.

Next: I'm not really sure what time everything else went down, but I'll try to guess! After "duty" we had planning time. We went over the schedule some more and talked about all of the different aspects of Mrs. Teacher's job. We talked about the different kids, and at this point I realized how much more than a teacher this lady was. She was practically a guidance counselor in addition to an ESL teacher! I also helped her to be able to expand the ESL program, we talked about what the ELL's (English Language Learner's) struggle with the most and how to pinpoint those needs.

8:20: We had two Kindergarten aged kids come in. They were SO cute! They were both dealing with some family issues, so we read a book to them (in English) about a family and we talked about the different parts of a family. They were so much fun to talk and play with. After reading, they got to draw a picture of their family on the wipe-off board. While this doesn't sound like a very solid lesson, the whole time that they were talking and playing, Mrs. Teacher pointed out different English words to them. They were pretty fluent, they just had some trouble with the little details of English.

Then: We went into a classroom with a little girl who was in 2nd grade. I sat in the back of the classroom as Mrs. Teacher helped this little girl during her class' English time. It was pretty laid back and more of a tutoring type of thing. If the little girl needed extra help that the normal teacher couldn't give her Mrs. Teacher was there to help.

Next: We went into a classroom to teach Spanish. The first class that we taught Spanish to was practicing for a little performance they would be putting on of either Goldilocks or the 3 Little Pigs. I didn't get to see any of the performances, but it was interesting to watch how the class interacted with each other, and it was really easy to see who the class clown and class control freak was. :) I was probably the class control freak at that age. After this class we went to another Spanish class and taught them. During this time I got to see more of a 'teaching' experience. It was a class of 3rd graders, I believe, and they all worked together to read a paper about the Galapagos Islands together in Spanish and English.

11:40??: Lunch time! I got to eat a school lunch, which I was familiar with last year, consisting of  a chicken patty sandwich and some tater tots! Yum! We went to the Teacher's lounge to eat and I got to listen in on a few conversations about classes, which was interesting. Not too much else happened during this time, though.

Then: We went to the Library to help out a little boy in the class. It turned out, though, that the class was watching a movie. So, we stayed in there for a couple minutes and then left to do something else. We checked on one of the first kids that we met with to see how he was doing. He was in art class at this time, so I talked with a little boy there and helped him color a picture while Mrs. Teacher was dealing with some behavioral issues. We didn't stay in the class the whole time, so we went back to Mrs. Teacher's desk and worked on developing the ESL program some more.

Lastly: We went into the little boy's class that we met with the first period and the period before while he had play time. We helped him to make up a story and draw and I talked with a couple of other kids in the class as well. During sharing time the little boy got up and talked about his story very well. Meanwhile, there was another kid in the class who kept smiling up and me and scooching closer. Needless to say, he was very distracting!!

Overall the day was very laid back and I got to see the more personal side of teaching in general. I think most teachers would agree with me that teaching is more than the classroom. It's about cultivating relationships with kids who you see 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

~Jessica

Just another quick update...

We've had quite and eventful week as you can read here. But there are a couple of things that have come up that are really exciting for me that I would like to share! So read on to hear more...

1. We have raised enough money for one ticket to Honduras so far!! Yay! Cookie orders are coming in steady and I'm still getting some more support letters back. Pretty much my week has consisted of baking and more baking (see here), which I am fine with as long as I see an outcome, which I have! We have until June 17 to raise $5000 and we're about halfway there.

2. I have an appointment with the local community college tomorrow to talk to an advisor about starting classes in the Fall, if not Summer. I am planning on starting college in the Fall, maybe a course or two in the Summer and then taking my GED when I turn 16 in the Fall. I could get an Associates degree from the community college and then transfer to a 4 year school. That's been my thought for my whole Sophomore year and now that I'm finally going forward with it, it's scary!! So prayer for that would be so greatly appreciated!

I don't have a whole lot to say, as I've been swamped with baking, school, and other things like that. It's really been hard for me to sit down and just write. I hope you all are having a great week!

Thanks, Jessica

Mid-week Marvels

Hey friends, we're halfway there!!  To the weekend that is.  I don't usually countdown through my week to the weekend but this weekend I have something really big going on and I'm kinda worked up in a nervous and excited way!  Some of you already know what that is, but what about the rest of you?  Wanna know??

Okay, here it is........a tea party!!!!  But not just any tea party - this is a really special one!  Our youth group just completed a 10 week study on Purity!!!!  We had over 20 guys and 20 girls come out for 10 weeks straight to learn how to pursue a life of purity (they met in seperate locations and the boys used a different book)!!!  What a blessing it was!!!!  We used the book by Dannah Gresh called "and the Bride Wore White".  It was really amazing!!  So, as a way to officially end the book study we are treating the girls and their mothers to a really special tea party!

You may not know this about me, but I LOVE TO PLAN PARTIES!!!  I don't do it often enough, but when I get the chance I have trouble controlling my ideas, they start our very grand and then over time they water down to fairly grand but do-able!!!  I'm semi-freaking out as the week hits mid-point because we don't have a headcount, I'm hoping that we have enough food planned, will the decorations work out, will it all gel together??  I could make myself insane worrying about all of this.  But there's a still small voice whispering in my ear, telling me that it will all be fine, amazing, perfect, etc.  I don't need to worry, I need to rest!  Rest in His ever-loving arms and do this all for His glory, not mine. 

So here are some of the mid-week marvels....I probably shouldn't share them before the party, but we'll call it a sneak peek!!!!  I'm so excited!!!! 

First up are these:

I made these with items from the Dollar Store!!!!!  So super easy!!! When I came across these trays the other day I fell in love with them!!!  I didn't buy them on the spot though.  I wasn't sure they would work with my overall scheme!!  But I worked it out in my head and realized we couldn't go  on with out them and had to go back for them!!  I know, I'm being somewhat dramatic here, but if you've ever planned a party, you certainly understand <3 

They really are as easy as 

ONE

TWO

THREE!!!!!!!!

  

Next up are these little cuties, they may or may not be filled with wonderful treats!!! hee hee hee

And then, these, which are, I think, my favorite!!!!

I have to thank Pinterest for all of their amazing inspiration!!!!   There are so many other elements to this tea party that are going to be spectacular- I cannot wait until Saturday and until I can share it all with you!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I hope that, maybe you found some inspiration for your next event or even for your day to day life.  Wouldn't life be sweeter if everything we did had a little element of doilies and paper flowers?

Have a blessed day and rest of the week!!!  Tune in tomorrow for Jessica's I <3 you post and then Friday for our Favorite Five!!!!!!  I'll apologize now for things that you may see that are repeats : )  I am loving the stuff that I'm working on this week and they just may end up back here again on Friday!!!

And a special thank you to all of you who are helping to support Jessica on her quest for Compassion-Honduras.  Our house is smelling like a sweet, sweet bakery and due to your efforts of sharing and posting, it will continue to smell this way for weeks to come!!  God bless you all!!!

With love, tissue paper, cookies and affection <3 Lorraine

Cookies galore!

Hey everyone! Jessica here, as you all know I'm going to Honduras in October and I am in the midst of fundraising! We have to raise $5000 by June 27. One of the ways I am fundraising is through cookies! I am making the best chocolate chip cookies in the world (I'm not being conceited, it's my mom's recipe and anyone will testify that they are awesome!). This is a quick post asking you to search "Cookies for Compassion" on Facebook where you can find more information about this endeavor. If you don't have a Facebook and would still like to support me or find out more information you can email me at jessica.paige27@yahoo.com! Thank you so much for all of your prayers!!

"Where you go, I'll go"

Hey gatherers - I just wanted to give you guys a quick update! I am now officially going to Honduras in October! You can see my first post about Honduras Here! I am very excited to be going on this trip with Compassion International and being able to meet my sponsor kid, Samuel. Although this trip is an awesome opportunity to be able to meet Samuel, I am very excited about the overall trip and being able to go on my first of, hopefully, many short term trips there! I started fundraising a couple of weeks ago, when I officially signed up and I'm excited to share that I've already raised about 1/6 of my goal! This is a very scary, but exciting, opportunity I have. While I'm not scared about the trip in general, I am a little nervous because if this is God's plan, doors will continue to open up in this direction and it's kind of scary to follow God's plan. While it is frightening, I know that God has it all planned out and that I have nothing to fear. I will continue to strive towards following God's plan in all aspects of life!

Answers

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer" - Matthew 21:22 (NIV)

I asked, and boy... I received! I've been praying pretty consistently for a couple weeks now for something specific. For an answer. For an answer about my future. I had considered a couple of different careers.. nursing homes, financial manager, ICU nurse, but never this, at least not for awhile. When I was a kid I pictured the adventurous stories of the missionary. But those thoughts soon got pushed out of my head as images of "The American Family" replaced them. The husband, kids, chicken roast, and laundry soon took their place. But once again the meaningful life and adventure came back and stronger than ever. The thought didn't suddenly appear to me as I awoke one morning. I didn't have a revolutionary dream with 12 fattened calves. It just all seemed to piece together for me.

I love teaching Spanish to my 3 younger siblings; but teaching in a public school to American teenagers just didn't seem like enough. Nothing against American teenagers, I am one myself, but they just don't know the value of knowledge. My answer didn't come as a mission opportunty at first, but more of a teaching position. To teach English to the people of Honduras. But the more I thought of it, the more I considered a missionary position. Whether I'm supposed to call this a missionary position or a teaching position that I use to share my joy in Christ, I'm not sure.  I'm still praying for direction and I'm requesting your prayer as well.
              -Jessica