Samuel's Adventures: Highs and lows

A lot has been on my mind lately, especially these last couple days because of things that happened here and also at home. This post might be a bit lengthy, but I'll try to keep it concise. :)

Lows

Difficulties with some of the children while Nata's are gone.
Beatriz needing to miss school, because her father has started drinking again. The family went away for awhile until he calms down a bit.

Highs

Making better-than-usual progress with my students, especially the youngest one, Jairo.
Being around the Ramos family every day. They agreed to stay here three weeks as houseparents while the Nata Aguilar family is in Mexico.
Texting with my mom(!) after convincing, or conniving :), my dad into getting her an iPhone so she can iMessage me since I'm using an iPhone down here.

Now you might think, "Wow, you have twice as many 'highs' as 'lows'. Isn't that good?" Actually, it is and I would like to praise God for all the blessings He has so generously bestowed on me, but you know how sometimes a few problems seem to somehow engulf and make you forget about all the blessings? However, to make sure I'm not misunderstood, this is not a post meant to complain, whine, or blame God for anything. But, sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves, because, let's face it, life is not all sunshine and roses. The purpose of this post IS to inform you what's going on in my life down here in El Salvador, whether it be good or bad, and to enable you to join me in petitioning God for the 'lows' and enthusiastically praising Him for the 'highs'. Ultimately, we know God will triumph, and problems won't last forever. God can and will use everything for good. Satan will not prevail. I especially had to think of Jeremiah 29:11 these past couple days. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future'".

It's been over a week since we sent Silvia home. Ever since Nata's left for Mexico, Silvia started acting up like you wouldn't believe. Throwing things. Ignoring people trying to talk to her. Hitting and punching. Crying and refusing to co-operate. This all took a toll on Andrea, Melody, Pauline, and all of us, but especially them. Weekends when she went home seemed far and few between. Nothing seemed to help Silvia's behavior and it was obvious something needed to be done. After the first week was over, they had a good talk with Silvia's mom. Her mom is a HUGE blessing to us. She supports any punishment given to Silvia, and sometimes even thinks we're being too easy on her. Anyway, her mom told the ladies that if Silvia gave any more problems, she would come and bring her home where she would stay until Nata's come back from Mexico. And Silvia was told all of this as an extra incentive to behave. Monday started out well. She was cheerful and a pretty good student. But sometime in the afternoon she changed back again. She was taken home and she won't come again at least until Nata's come back.

On Sunday, we found out that Beatriz's dad has started drinking again. If you remember, her dad had been a drunkard before, but had stopped drinking for over half a year. But on Friday, he had been drinking and the family didn't feel safe at home with him, so this weekend everyone packed up and went to be with some relatives. They still didn't feel safe coming back on Sunday, so Beatriz wasn't able to come to school today. Her coming to school tomorrow will most likely depend on her father bringing her, and who knows if that will happen.

On the bright side, school has been going exceptionally well this week, for which I am very grateful. Jairo normally struggles a lot with math, but this week, with the help of some new techniques I've been trying, he has been noticeable improving. I think he was bored with the same old practice, so I decided to spice it up for him by teaching him in different ways. And it's worked!

Teresa, Ana, and Paola trying to see how fast they can maneuver through
the maze of numbers that I created to teach Jairo number sequences.

Having the Ramos family around here all the time has been a lot of fun already. Talking, playing games, hanging out--you name it! I'm gonna be sad when they leave this weekend. During the week Kendrick sometimes visits my classroom and helps me teach which is a great help. In the afternoons we have unicycle races (yes, I can ride unicycle--can you believe it?!) and sometimes he goes with me to town. The rest of the family sometimes comes down to play games or talk in the evenings and weekends. Lot's of visits to the local coffee shop as well. And Jumbi (is that how it's spelled?), Susanna's parrot constantly keeps up a stream of squawks, just so we know he/she is there. However, this is their last week here, and I'm sure they're about ready to go back to their own home. I probably would be! It's been a real blessing having them here.

BREAKING NEWS: Linda Stoltzfus, a formerly Amish lady from the Lancaster County area in Pennsylvania, has gotten an iPhone, witnesses say. It is uncertain how this was possible, but apparently a son, living in El Salvador, had something to do with it. Sorry, Mom and Dad, but I just had to say something. Still can't believe my mom actually has an iPhone. But, in all seriousness, I now have text conversations with my mom and dad (and my sister if manages to borrow an iPhone) during the day which is so cool!

Some other highlights include Skypeing with some of my friends and family and getting snail mail and emails. I am blessed by the support and prayers of y'all. I know I keep saying that, but I don't know how else to say it. May God bless you!

So, yeah, there you have it. My last couple days in, I guess sort of, a nutshell. And, since I more or less have my prayer requests at the beginning, I won't repeat them here. Thanks a lot for praying!