Joy and Contentment

I want to say thank you to my church family for being so supportive and loving to my family through the 15 years that we have been at Catonsville United Methodist Church! I heard it was a beautiful party last week, my parents and siblings were overwhelmed. You all are a blessing to our lives and we are thankful that we’ve been able to spend so many years growing with you all! 

I am in the process (already) of making a list of students for the year 2014. I have been feeling the Lord pressing on my heart to work with University students, and have scholarships for those desiring to study in college. So far there are 3 students in mind, two of them have to pass exams to enter and the other I am going to meet with next week to see if she is a potential candidate. College in Guatemala is relatively expensive and for many teens who graduate, they don’t have the opportunity to go. I am praying that God leads in this direction if it is what He wants, and I know He will certainly provide the students! For those who are interested in sponsoring, we will have the option of half sponsorships, since it will be around double what a monthly sponsorship costs. Ana Garcia, (on left in the photo), is one of my English students and hoping to be in the program. She already has her sponsors lined up, and is in the process of studying for exams! She has been saving for about 4 years working at a local coffee shop to enroll and was going to continue saving money for many years to come. Say a prayer for her.

I will be coming home for 2 weeks in July! My visa expires in August and I was planning on taking a trip somewhere, and after some thought decided it would be very worth to be home and visit with family. My heart has been missing my family so very much; it always does but more recently since here has become my permanent home for the time being. I don’t have to mention again how much I love and appreciate my family; I’ve mentioned it many times before! I’ll admit, there times, especially when I see photos and videos of the younger ones, that I wonder if I am doing the right thing? In missing part of their childhoods, have I been making a mistake? After thought and prayer, I know that this is where God has me, and almost all of the time does He require some kind of sacrifice. He knows what He’s doing when He calls us to something. But He gives us JOY and CONTENTMENT through it all, and a peace in our heart that allows us to continue on, even though it may be painful. There is always reason to be thank HIM!