Springtime in Bolivia

Our winter has ended. Thank goodness, I was just freezing with those 20 degree days.

Ha! Well weatherwise, it has been anywhere from high 30s (mid forties is the REAL FEEL), to mid twenties, which is my favourite now. And I have mastered the art of sleeping in 35*C with no A/C, this is wonderful. This also means I will probably freeze into a solid ice brick when I step off the plane in Winnipeg.

Our 3rd bimester just ended on Friday. This past week and weekend have been busy with marks and reports, as well as a couple special programs that happened (Santa Cruz Day, and a healthy food/nutrition seminar where I attempted to talk about food groups and nutrition in Spanish), and now we're starting the last bimester.

Life here has been pretty hectic the last month or so, on top of normal school prep and reports cards I just keep on acquiring more piano students, and actually I got 8 guitar students a few weeks ago too, which is crazy because my guitar skills are not really skills. But enough to teach them the basics! I practice lots on my own so that I can try to keep up. I also have started conducting a choir (I may have mentioned that in a previous post) which meant that I spent many hours writing out some songs for them to sing, because we are singing in PARTS - not a common thing here at all. In fact, it's the first time for all the people in the choir. We are singing Stelle Nacht/Silent Night in plaut dietsch, Der Friedenfurst in high german, A Hallelujah Christmas in English and Amazing Grace in english, currently. I need to add a couple Spanish songs and maybe another Plaut Dietsch to that repertoire but it's been hard to find and time consuming to write. It has been quite enjoyable to have this choir, I really love it.

My roommate here, an English teacher, has been housesitting at a friend's place for the past few weeks and will a few weeks more, so I've been living alone. One good thing about this is that there is a TON of fruit and veggies in the house. This past Friday I bought a kilo of tomatoes, a kilo of onions, a bunch of peppers, a zucchini, a kilo of string beans, three watermelons (not the super large kind), a kilo of grapes, a large papaya, a pineapple, and a bunch of bananas. And it will barely last me till this next Friday:) I love it. And it's all ridiculously cheap, other than the grapes.

It's the last stretch so teachers are pretty tired, including myself. I'm exhausted almost every single day.

Today (a Sunday) I played in church - songs that I didn't know so I felt terrible about it; I read Anne of Green Gables - surprisingly refreshing; watched a movie, went for a relaxing one hour run, and now I'm catching up on last minute things.

Praise:
fruit and veggies that are oh so available and delicious
a group of friends to have Bible Study with and play BOARD GAMES with here (we just started!)
people chatting with me and praying for me from home
relationships built with the people here, especially the students. I really love that part
choir!

Prayer:
that I would really commit my path to God as I continue to make decisions
continued wisdom and patience in the classroom

what does serve really mean

The topic last week in Bible Study was 'serve.' Now I'm a person that easily thinks of things as cliche or wow I've heard that a thousand times.. and then it goes over my head and I don't hear or even try comprehend any of it. When I'm reading something that I've read many times, or someone is telling a story I've heard many times, I tend to zone out, or think "what a churchy word!" and then zone out. It's not a good thing, I'm not proud of it, and I'm definitely working on it, but it happens. To me, "serve" is one of these words. So when our video series with Andy Stanley* said Serve, I wasn't leaping over the moon with anticipation.

Alright, what does serve mean?

1. Webster's Dictionary from 1828
- to bestow the labour of the mind and body in the employment of another
- to attend to, to be subservient to, to obey and worship (that's the spiritual one)

2. www.dictionary.com
- to wait on or attend to people
- to be of assistance

We are told many times in the Bible to serve God, that we cannot serve two masters, to serve God only, that we should be serving, not the ones being served. 

Luke 22:25-27
Jesus said, "the kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the great among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 



We can all agree we have heard this many times! But what does this mean for everyday, messy and chaotic life? 

It means Christians should all be waitresses and waiters in restaurants and serve food.

Kidddding. Ok here's where Andy Stanley* and his video series comes back in. He talks fast, but he's interesting to listen to with some solid, usable, biblical points. Here's what I think I learned. He used the passage Galations 5:13 +14 to start it off.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: Love your neighbour as yourself.


If you love God, you love people.  So then my question becomes how can I love/serve the people around me?

Andy (first name basis here) said something that stuck in my brain.

"See a need - meet it. See something that needs to be done - do it."

Serving doesn't need to be a really churchy word, meaning only when it's Sunday and there's a potluck and I serve by washing the dishes after the meal. Or that we have a service opportunity and go sort clothes somewhere or serve food at a homeless shelter. These are ways to serve but serving can mean SO MUCH MORE than that structured, scheduled service times.. Serving is EVERYDAY. At home. On the street. Work, school, church, people you like, people you don't like (but you still love them!). 

Rather than putting off something that you, or someone else, can do later, do it now. You see a mess, why not clean it up (yes I'm mostly talking to myself here). A student is standing all alone at recess (the need being she is lonely), why not go chat with her a bit (I help her loneliness a little, and show some love!). I had a student who mentioned he didn't want to go home because it was boring, and he's someone who is.. distracted.. in class, and so we had a mini guitar lesson after school, which was definitely a way of showing love in HIS love language, and encouraging a spark of interest in music. There are probably a thousand little ways that we can show love and 'serve' the people around us, every day. Let's be creative beyond washing dishes and spread the love! Actually, washing dishes is a great way to serve. But let's do more

 

(insert cliche quote above) 

 Let's be people that make it beautiful.



*the Andy Stanley video series I'm referring to is Life Rules.