Curve ball. Going down swinging.

What a week! A mix of emotions, plenty of sun, a plethora of mosquito bites, baseball and English classes has put my mind and body on overload. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving every minute of it, but did you ever imagine that things would be one way and they end being completely different?

The first day I got here I felt aweful. The heat was a little overbearing compared to the cool, rainy weather in Seattle. After such a long day of traveling, adjusting to the time difference, feeling as though I was living in a sauna, and getting my system used to Dominican foods, my body went into freak out mode. No bueno.

After a true sabbath day of rest, I felt better and ready to take on week 1. But my, oh my, did I have any idea of what the Lord had in store for me here.

I was so excited to see the boys! They didn't know I would be coming and they were so surprised! Thier smiles were brighter than the sun and they sounded ready to begin English classes.

Once we got started, they seemed eager to learn and their assessment exams went better than I had hoped. But after a few days, the teenage boys started acting up. I guess there is a part of teaching that I hadn't thought about; the discipline part. I think I've managed pretty well so far. I've set some rules and had to make a few kids give me some laps around the field. But I can see some respect developing on their part. They raise their hands instead of shouting out answers. They call me Senora Garza during class and Dulce outside of class. They pay attention when I'm speaking. Learning is happening.

The organization is in need of some serious prayer. My team has had daily meetings about what we can do to better the program, keep people accountable, and develop some structure, but this is an incredible curve ball I didn't see coming. I'm going down swinging, no doubt, but I know I can't do it alone.

I'm excited to keep working. I'm anxious to see change. I'm praying for strength and wisdom. I've said before that God is big and I believe it, wholeheartedly. But when I experience some big obstacles, have times when I realize that the world's problems are so much bigger than me, that's when my faith becomes real to me. That is when God's purpose starts to make sense to me. That is when God is God.