My May

Here's an update as to what I am doing and have planned for the month of May. Last week the basketball team I play on (and for the first time in my life, I can say that I'm one of the "starting" players!) placed third in a tournament. We had a lot of fun!
I am teaching English classes three times a week, in our home. The students are mostly middle school and high school age. A few adults. It's fun to have people over. This month only I am teaching swimming lessons twice a week. (Yes, there is a pool here, and lots of people who want to learn how to swim.) Whole families are coming to the lessons. We've having a great time! I am also leading a yoga class twice a week. Needless to say, I am learning to know quite a few people here in Olinala.

Along with these activities, I am continuing to spend time in meditation and prayer, run to the top of the hill behind our house (3 miles), go to basketball practice, and get home by 8am to help get the kids off to school. (Isaiah and I have been riding bikes to school - he has ridden his bike to and from school for the past 3 weeks.)

Yesterday Ana (co-worker) and I went to Teticic for a workshop - just the two of us! I managed to drive the 1 1/2 hour trip on bumpy, curvey, dirt roads in the mountains, in a stick shift, no power steering vehicle. We had a great time and have made plans to go back to the community on Monday to help them plant chilies. Planting season is beginning. Our country representatives are encouraging us to spend time with people in the communities helping them plant. So that is what I plan to do for the next while.

This weekend I am planning to go on a women's retreat in Mexico City. The retreat is sponsored and planned by the Mennonite churches in Mexico City. I am looking forward to this event.

Two weeks from now, I will work with a group of women to begin building stoves (see previous post) that conserve wood and carry the smoke out of the kitchen. I will also be a part of building dry latrines and cisterns in two other communites.

Through all of these activities, I am learning, being stretched, and seeing the face of God everywhere I turn. I give thanks for new relationships and the personal growth that comes with each new learning.

And so begins the month of May.