Month one: Jan./Feb.

I am going to start with this most recent week. School is tough. It is rewarding, but a lot harder than I imagined it to be. When you are a teacher, school is never over. There is homework to prepare for the next day, discipline issues to sort out, and a lot of praying to do. I love my students. They are smart, funny, they love to laugh, and talk a LOT! Discipline is hard for me, because I would much rather just have fun and be really nice. But, that won't help my kids. They can't learn if I am easy on them and let them do whatever they want. The teacher community here is like a family. We help each other, and we listen to one another. Some of us have the same kids as each other, only in different subjects. We know or are getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of different students. I am the youngest teacher on campus, and the other teachers treat me like a daughter, or a sister. They love me, and advise me. I am so very, very grateful for them! They are each a gift from God. God is breaking me and molding me into His new creation. I have down days. Days when I am so frustrated because one student won't listen, or another can't understand my Spanish. I just want to sit down, cry, and give up. But this is only the beginning. God is not finished with me yet. He brought me to Ruach Academy, to Comayagua, Honduras, for a reason. And He gives me the strength and the motivation for each new day. It's amazing how the morning after a hard night can look so much better because I know the Lord goes with me wherever I go. I have victory each day in Christ! Now, I can say all these things, and not really believe them. I can say all these things, and not act on them. But I truly believe them. Each day I rely on God to give me wisdom and guidance to teach my students. I cannot do it without Him. I have hope at the end of each day, even if it was a hard day, because God already knows what I need for the next day. Now, back to the beginning of this journey. I woke up on the 27th of January thinking, "I feel like it's my birthday!" I was so happy and excited. After a year and a half, I was going back to the country that I had fallen in love with. I almost get the chills even thinking about it. I'm in Honduras. I'M IN HONDURAS! Sometimes it's not really real. I have a coconut and mango tree in my backyard. I eat beans almost everyday (YUM!!!!). I am so blessed to be here!! The first few weeks were getting settled into my home, learning my surroundings, and getting to know my new Honduran family who lives with me. I went to La Villa de San Antonio for church one evening, and saw many familiar faces that I hadn't seen for over a year. I love La Villa! God is doing great things there, breathing life into a beautiful community. My second week here I had training, learning the school curriculum system used in the school, acting as a student to learn what my own students would be doing. It was grueling, but two other teachers from my school had to go too, so I had good company :). Near the end of the third week, we started school. On that Thursday and Friday, we had two half days. It was casual, I got to know who some of my students were going to be, and had a lot of fun. Then coming to this week, five full days of work, work, work! :). I could use prayer, and would appreciate it so much! Prayer for my own heart and soul, to trust God even when days are really tough. Prayer for my students, that they would open up their hearts and minds fully to learning. Prayer for me to continue to be consistent in discipline, and to do it only out of love. I have a note on my mirror, where I keep prayers. If you would like me to pray for something, please let me know, and I will try to put it up there immediately! We are all a family in Christ, and we need to pray and look out for one another. Many blessings in CHRIST/CRISTO, Delaney <3