all we like sheep

Tonight we went to our first "flock meeting"-I guess they would call it a community group in the states. And as I stumbled over the Spanish songs and looked in my dual language Bible I have a new appreciation for all those ESL folks in the states. I suppose here I am an SSL person. Some days I understand a good deal of what is said in the service, and other days it's a real struggle that makes my head hurt. But it's amazing that fellowship can still occur on some level and that people really do make every effort to include this foreigner in their midst. Choosing to attend a Spanish church was not the easiest thing-especially for the kids-but in the long run I believe God will use this to benefit our family.

We talked to a man who is the first in five generations to be raising a complete family-one with a father in the home. He and his brothers attended a christian school in Guatemala and his whole family became Christians as a result. His testimony was an encouragement to us. And we ate beans and rice with queso among a group of people from all economic levels-many of them new christians. This month there will be a mass wedding at the church-15 couples. Some of them have never been married and want to make things right before the Lord. Others were married in a civil ceremony but want to make their marriage an official covenant before God.

This week at school, we will start a full-day schedule again. Tikvah and I will be sad to have the house to ourselves for a much longer time during the day. Things in Honduras are quieter for now and we continue to pray for a resolution to this situation, which is not an easy one. Harold is reworking yet another schedule of spiritual life events which, Lord willing, will occur as planned.

Over the past few weeks we have been able to have many conversations with teachers, students, pastors....and we are just beginning to connect some of the dots in understanding culture, relationships, and such. True, we've lived in another culture before, but whether that's a benefit in the learning curve or not I'm still not sure. It's hard not to compare the two. As a Mom, I feel for my kids as they often struggle being odd man out. It's not always easy to demonstrate grace in these situations. Thanks so much for your prayers for our family.