Bunnies and Bracelets

Next week is semana santa which means a whole week of freedom for everyone in central america...lots of places close down (including schools!) to celebrate easter, whether religiously or well...not so religiously. I am heading to a nearby country to visit my college buddy william who is serving in the peace corps in the agriculture field. Which for most means, that he lives in the very rural area and smells of the campo. Needless to say I am happy to be on the road again and get some reading and bracelet making in.

So yes, my new obsession is making necklaces and bracelets. I have taught the trade to a few of my friends here in sigua and we are attempting to sell our handcrafts. Each day one of us teaches the other a new type of knot or style that we have made. It is almost a competition: who sells the most, which one looks coolest, etc. After a little more than two hours of work last night, I have a new version which I think is BE EE A U-tiful. But I do have a tendency to fill myself up with a lot of pride. I will try to get some pictures up soon. My kids are all excited about the jewelry Im making which today meant no science class and taking orders from them about what type they want.

On Friday we have pool day here at the school which will officially mark one year of my presence here in Honduras. It´s a rather strange feeling, for I am a nomad and have a rather difficult time committing to anything, and therefore one year being in one place...well is rather exciting. I might just celebrate by, hmm, going on a vacation. Pool day means no classes and lots of kids getting wet. In addition, an easter egg hunt followed by children smashing the eggs found on the teachers head. (there will be sprinkles inside). Should be loads of fun.

I went camping this past weekend and spent the night right next to a trite river underneath a good size tree. After machetying the area, we set up camp, and had a blast once again with nature.

I doubt I´ll have another chance to write for a while, so happy easter to all, and I hope admist the craziness that holidays can bring, we can remember the words of the psalmist and be still and know He is God. The most amazing love is the unmerited love that God chose to offer us. By His blood I am healed. By His blood I am saved. By His blood I am a child of God. May the sacrifice Christ made on the cross only push us to sacrifice our selfish desires in order to love stronger, deeper, and more authentically.

happy bday jor! tanti auguri!!

Che's dad

"Christ was the greatest man on earth, but the Church ruined his preaching. The church is the biggest business ever invented by the Jews and managed by the Italians." -Ernesto Guevara Sr.

Vivo

As much as I want to be a journalist, being a teacher has that same real rawness that draws me to the field of journalism. I have had people ask me what real difference I can make as a journalist. I suppose in a way, everyone has to struggle with their line of work and whether it is making the type of differences they want it to. Regardless, as a teacher, as a student, as a journalist, as a friend, I am learning and re-learning valuable lessons. My faith is a consistent reminder of this. For in teaching, I see God in a new light. I see him as a teacher and me the student. I pray that by some mysterious miracle, I can portray to my kids the love Christ has for me. I see Him over and over again in the classroom setting, in the depth of my heart, in the bar, on the beach, in my notebook, on the bus. For he is everywhere, within every atom. If I try to hide in the depths of hades, you are still there, says David. And how true it is, for whether or not I read my Bible every day. Whether or not I go to church, He is softly and subtly chasing me down in the movies I see, in the books I read, His story is the story of redemption that exists within every form of entertainment, within every house...whether one with a wooden door or fabric door...He is coming after me with his bold love that begs me to treat others with kindness, love them as I love myself, to judge them not, to help the widow and the orphan, to share the truth of who He is. It is a truth that no church can give, that no book can clearly portray. It is the truth that will forever be revealed in the midst of relational people. A supreme truth that can only fully be expressed between a mother and a daughter, a teacher and a student, a boyfriend and a girlfriend, a grandpa and his grandson. For words on a page can only push us to act, a preacher in a pulpit can only desire us to move, lyrics of a song can only challenge us to understand. It is the daily movement, the routine, the ugliness and prettiness of actual relationships that really hold the power of the cross, the power of redemption.

...living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword...