On Top of the Roof

Where to go and think? top of the roof. to sit, think, reflect, and just be still. Listening to the crickets, looking up at the stars, and my favorite night is when the moon is full and you don’t feel like you are in complete darkness. But my all time favorite thing is, to get to the moon, the cross of the chapel illuminates the sky. Especially when there is no moon, when there are clouds and no natural light from up above, there is the cross. The cross on top of the chapel is hope. It’s faith knowing that there will be light again tomorrow. That when the days get rough, that cross will always be there, lighting up the sky, even during the darkest nights, it’s always there. But to get to the moon, you have to look for the cross. You have to have faith to get to something so beautiful, so serene, and to arrive to that place of peace with the light of that cross. 

So what’s been going on here? Same ol with work, along with some serious quality time with my boys but balanced by talking to family and friends from home. i.e. ‘me time’. 

Avriel is home! Vacation got the best of her but it’s so great to have her back. Best Valentine’s Day present ever! Well, okay, yes- BUT funny story. It’s 730am. I am running to get to my boys house before they head to school. I get there, out of breath, and ask, ‘WHO HAS A GIRLFRIEND OR A WOMAN OF INTEREST?’ *all kind of looking around, staring at me like yeah right am i going to tell you* ‘Listen- women LOVE chocolate. I have chocolate. Now, who has a girlfriend or woman of interest?’ .......ME! ME! I DO! I HAVE ONE! MAGDALENA ME! so we made little baggies of chocolate kisses and tied it with a pink ribbon for the boys to give to their valentines all in a span of 15 minutes. awesome. 

We just had an awesome group here from Washington. It was so nice to have such a great group, one in which interacted not only with the kids in such an independent way, where they wanted to actually got to know the kids, they worked hard during the day, but not only that- they got to know the volunteers. They took the time to know us, who we are, and our purpose of being here. That really meant a lot. Something not many people do when they come down here. I mean, for good reason, we are here for the kids, but it just felt nice to have some good company. 

Not much else to report. Regis is coming down for their Spring Break to do a service learning trip and they invited me to join them. I am really looking forward to it! It will be a small dose of home and much needed time away. Also, a close friend of mine, Hannah, will be coming down here to with her friends to spend some time to relax and I am going to visit her on Sunday. I am really looking forward to seeing her, catching up, it’s going to be a fun couple of weeks. Really excited! 

Sorry it has been so long. I have been taking a lot of time to think, that time to relax, and that time to process. Wherever it may be, find your place, find an outlet, and look at the moon. Through the darkest of nights, there will always be something that lights up the sky, it’s just up to us to find it. 

Go & Set the World on Fire

"In 1535, St. Ignatius Loyola founded the society of Jesus. A man of tremendous vision and unflagging zeal, Ignatius called for a clear awakening in the Catholic world to respond anew to the call of Christ. In the midst of the Counter-Reformation, he expressed his vision with such uncompromising clarity that many joined him in his missionary efforts, eventually making the mission of the Jesuits one of the largest and most far reaching missionary efforts in all of Church history.

Whenever Ignatius would end a meeting with young members of his Society or would sign a letter to missionary priests in another land he would nearly always close with the charge to, "Go, and set the world on fire." This fire is the most potent force on earth: love. Like fire, love expands and grows; it changes its environment and gives light to the darkness."

So, where is this going? Where am I going with this? To be completely honest, I don't really know. It's just something to think about and something to reflect. It's such a powerful passage in such simple words, but words I feel like no one really ever puts together nor takes the time to think about.

This past week has been a little crazy, but also really fun. My boys and I did our discrimination activity, the one I mentioned months ago in regards to racial slurs, and it went really well. The boys were divided into two groups, one group was superior and the other, inferior. The superior group had all of the power, they were the 'kings' while the inferior group was garbage. The superior group, or the green group, could eat outside, go to bed later, couldn't do the purple teams (inferior) dishes because they were disgusting and didn't want their germs, etc. You get the point. Well the next morning, I went to the house at 6:30 before school and told the boys that during snack time, the inferior group (purple) changes to the superior group and you guys are the kings, while the green group is the garbage. We did the activity until Friday night and finished with a pasta dinner while we reflected on how the activity went and what we learned.

Surprisingly, the activity went really well. I told them, if you don't want to participate, don't. It's your choice. But for all those who took part, will enjoy the dinner tomorrow night. I mean, they are boys. Food= everything. The other thing was that they could not do anything physically. It was a huge risk, the boys could have been really mean, really awful, but I was really impressed on how the activity turned out. How the boys did and handled the situations they were in.

Following the activity, on Saturday, Kristen & I took 42 kids to a farm a little outside Santo Domingo. Hands down the best excursion with children. Kids from every house went, the older kids were given more responsibility caring for the younger ones, and let me tell you- they had them on LOCK. It was SO cool to see. Everyone just enjoyed their time. We went to a bee and honey farm where we watched the cows get milked, were able to pet the baby cows, see HA-UGE horses, saw bees, donkey's, the kids were able to ride the horses, and the older ones had the same amount or even more fun than the little ones. It was just so fun.

Those are the highlights of the past 10 days. Work hard, play harder. We work, we play, and through it all, we love. Which goes back to the passage- Go and set the world on fire. Simple words, but what does it really mean? The last paragraph in the journal says, "Ask yourself: Where is the kindling in my life? Where- in myself and others- is there lifelessness that should become something vibrant? Where are the souls ready to hear the truth? Where do I find my courage lacking? Do I live as though life is just one pointless trial after another, or as one fleeting pleasure followed by the next? How does the Lord want to fulfill my deepest desires, to fill my heart with His desires, with His Love?"

Go and Set the World on Fire this week. 

Big shout out to Jen Kerrigan- She is the one that gave me the journal that had this passage and has been wonderful support. xoxo

relay race

Knuckleheads

4 days old! 

learning moment

wittle baby cow

Horses were HUGE!