Busy-ness

It is amazing how busy the life of a teacher is. I am currently teaching six classes for four different departments: English 4 and Family Relations to the Science of Education department, Philosophy of Education to Nursing, Pre-intermediate English to the English Academy (of which that is the only class), and English to Fifth Grade and Sixth Grade (separately) at the elementary school. This week is time to turn in monthly grades, and I am working furiously to get them ready.

In addition to all this, of course, I dedicate part of my time to my girlfriend, and I also try to relax some. Balance of this nature has never been something I’ve been particularly good at. But I thank God (literally, of course) that I’m getting better.

The trip to Peru is still in the plans, but it has been moved chronologically. Now we are headed to Peru this December. We’re also planning on taking some time during that trip (about three weeks is the plan) to visit Machu Picchu, partly because even though it is an internationally-known and important site of Peru, she’s never been there either. So we’re saving up money for the December trip and planning to save up more in the spring for another trip and a wedding. A tentative date is July. Note the word “tentative,” meaning “Not fully worked out, concluded, or agreed on; provisional; uncertain; hesitant” (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=tentative).

I hope everyone who reads this has a great day!

Evening program

Yesterday evening, Yesenia and I went out on a date. We went to a program that one of the departments provided. It included a short play, called "Studio Q," two dramatic recitations of poems, and one performance (three songs) by a classical guitarist. His name is Saul Vera and he is truly a master of his art. The drama performance went well, but because the sound wasn't working well we couldn't hear much of it. The guitar went extremely well, as we knew it would. He is a friend of ours. One poem was recited by one of my students (Antonio), and it went very well. The other, recited by a woman I don't know, was very difficult to hear because people were talking during it. Overall, it was a very nice evening.

Plans and more plans

It is interesting how things change over time. I wasn't planning on coming to Mexico until August, but my girlfriend talked to the university president here, and they decided to pay me enough for me to pay my debts to my university, so they told me at the last minute that I could come to teach English again this summer. So I asked my brother to buy me a plane ticket and I flew down here. Here I am, teaching English, busy as ever. I don't have a lot of time because I have books to grade. But I also wanted to mention the plans Yesenia and I have for the future. We would like to work here in Mexico (maybe at this university if they want me) for on academic year. Actually, the director of the English Academy is leaving the school, so possibly I can fill her position for next year, but we'll see. Next summer we would like to go to Perú so that I can meet her family and talk with her parents directly about marrying their daughter. Sometime not very long after that, we will probably get married (Perú seems a likely location), and when that happens, I'd like to go back to the US and get my master's and doctorate. Then it will be in God's hands where we go (as all our plans are now, of course), but those are our plans for now. But tonight we were talking about our plans, and we had a midweek service, and while the preacher was preaching I had what I might call a vision of what the future might be. I see myself working here, possibly for a long time (maybe after I have my master's or doctorate). I may also end up teaching classes in theology, not just in English. Everything is in the Lord's hands. God bless!

The sooner the better

My girlfriend told me yesterday about a conversation she had with the president of the university in Mexico that she works for, and he told her that I should come and teach English for them in the Academia de Inglés in July. I don't know for sure how much they'd pay me, but it sounds like they would certainly pay me more than last summer when I was there as a student missionary, and he probably has some idea of how much I need to be paying to my creditors here. If I can work it out, I would love to go to Mexico a month earlier, as you can imagine. I miss my girlfriend so much. But there are still some things in the way. I may not be able to leave my work here earlier, they may not be offering me enough (he had to go somewhere far from the school right after their conversation, so we won't hear from him for a while I guess), and there are some other questions as well. So it is still up in the air. Here's hoping.

My girlfriend last Christmas 

Thankful

As my imood says, I'm feeling especially blessed right now. I'm thankful for all God's blessings, from a place to stay and a job to my awesome girlfriend who I'll be seeing soon. God is so good. I want to grow closer to Him every day. I want to become more like Him and show His goodness to everyone around me. I want Him to change me into what He wants me to be. I am unafraid to go anywhere or do anything that He wants for me, becuase I know that He will be with me and will give me the ability to do it. My girlfriend and I both want to be missionaries. But whether that ever happens or not, I can't wait to see what God has planned for us!

My beautiful girlfriend

Work, etc.

I have found work at a bookstore here in town, and I'm really enjoying that. I'll be working here until sometime in July, and then I'm headed for Mexico, where I hopefully will start teaching English this fall. As I mentioned to a friend tonight, I've never had a permanent residence outside the US before. I can't wait to see my girlfriend. I'm uploading a pic, for all of you who have expressed such great curiosity.

Going to Mexico isn't exactly the most popular thing with my family, since they may not see me for some time, but going there fits my plans both personally and professionally, and they know that.

News and job

I just graduated with a BA in English and Religion. Now I'm looking for work in Keene and online. I signed up as a freelancer with an online thing that brings freelancers and buyers together. I finally won a bid a few days ago, and now I need to come up with 1000 original pickup lines (3-10 words) by this Saturday. I've worked on it for just over an hour, and I have about 80, so as you can see, it is taking me forever. If anyone would like to help, feel free to send me what you can come up with. Remember, it must be original. If it is something you've heard before, they likely already have it.

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I haven't time to say much, but I wanted to tell everyone that I am under more stress than I ever have before. I am almost falling apart from stress. These papers and other things are killing me. Please pray for me. I need it.

Busy Life

I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone. I just got back from spring break. I went to Mexico on a mission trip, where we had 6 evangelistic series, with VBS (Vacation Bible School) at each, built churches, painted others, had English classes (which I unfortunately was unable to participate in this year, because I had other priorities), and had a wonderful time. For me, the best part was the fact that my girlfriend came up from southern Mexico to see me. She was able to be a part of the group and worked with us the whole week. We were practically inseparable. What bliss, after almost five months of no closer contact than phone calls, email, MSN Messenger (with webcam for part of the time), and a few letters! To be actually face to face with the woman I love! It was truly a dream come true. I spent a lot of time translating for her, since she speaks almost no English and most of the group spoke only English, plus the worships and stuff were all in English. All our conversations were in Spanish, and I got the chance to meet her uncle and aunt and two cousins who live nearby. That was awesome. And I even got a few minutes on the phone with her mom who lives in Peru. I couldn't hear very well and sort of bumbled along, but I was very nervous, so I must have sounded like I didn't know much Spanish, though after this trip my Spanish (which was fairly good before) is much better. The preacher at the site where we were was very good. Even though my Spanish isn't perfect, I could understand everything he said. It was a very simple message, but very powerful, with lots of illustrations, especially from his own life. I could say a whole lot more about all that, but I'd better move on to other topics.

Now that I'm back here at school, I miss my girlfriend far more than I missed her before the trip, which is mainly because I feel so much closer to her now. We are very much in love. I got back from the trip last night at 7 PM or so, and we have already communicated twice: once by phone last night, and once by Messenger today. But since she will be traveling back to southern Mexico soon, she won't be able to contact me until Wednesday night, which will be our five-month anniversary. And a great five months they have been, despite the distance.

As far as school assignments, I didn't get anything done during the trip except a little bit for like an hour on the way back. So my stress level (which went from very high before the trip to very low during the trip) is creeping back up again, but slowly. If I can get my honors thesis done, that will be a big relief, and everything else will be doable. The Lord is good.

As far as future plans go, I must finish this, my last semester of school, before I can see her again. If I can find a way to get my loans paid off quickly, I'll head straight to Mexico to find a job near her, hopefully teaching. This summer she will be starting her master's program at a school fairly near the US border, so if I must work during the summer here in the US (since money in Mexico is worth so much less, I probably couldn't pay my loans if I tried to find work there first), if I can get a job down near the border, I may be able to visit her a few times. Then when this summer's over, if I must continue to work here, hopefully we can get her a work visa to come to the US, so she can be here. Neither of us believe in premarital cohabitation, which harmonizes with our ideas on the immorality of premarital sex, but to live near each other and see each other every day is the plan. One way or another, we want to be together, and it doesn't matter to either of us whether that is in Mexico or the US.

Even though we are definitely in love, we don't want to rush into anything blindly. For that reason, we want to spend some time (maybe a year) in the same location before making any greater commitment. Sure, you can learn a lot about a person by email, etc., but there are many things that you can only learn by being around that person. We want to know those things beforehand.

Of the several gifts my girlfriend gave me, my favorites are a film canister with a little of her perfume in it (I gave her some of my after shave, too) and a green, star-shaped pillow with Tigger asleep on it and the phrase "Sueña Conmigo". That means "Dream with me." She also sprayed some of her perfume on that too, so when I went to bed last night, I could smell her scent all night long. I know I'm sappy and sentimental, but I'm a hopeless romantic: It's who I am. Besides, that's the way my girlfriend likes me, so that's the way I'll stay.

Hopefully, I'll be able to put more info on here soon. May God bless you.

Potentially changing plans

The night that I was able to call my girlfriend we talked for quite a while, and we came up with an alternative plan to my going to Mexico after I graduate, because of the finances issue. Even though the other is still a possibility, a more likely plan is that she will come here to the States to be with me, and I will work here, where I won't have to worry so much about being able to make payments. We are praying about the ultimate decision, which is in the Lord's hands, but the latter seems like a better idea at this point.

Thoughts on God

Here is a slightly modified excerpt of a recent email to a close friend of mine, but it applies to everyone:

It is vitally important to have God as the center of your life and also your relationship. When that is right, the other things may not be perfect, but they tend to be better and you can handle them better (because you have the right attitude about them and have your priorities straight). Remember, Christ would have come to earth and died on the cross even if you were the only one who would be saved by that action. Your true value has no relation to your abilities or deficiencies, your victories or failures, others' opinions of you, not even your opinion of yourself. You are a valuable person because God says so. What He says goes because not only did He create you, but He wrote His love and value for you in His own blood on the cross. He died to save you, and all you can do to thank Him is to constantly seek to be closer to Him and more like Him, which is something that He wants anyway! :D Isn't God amazing? He has already take the first step, and even several more steps, on His way toward us. He has done everything that could be done for us without removing our personal freedom. And he is EAGERLY waiting for us to make the slightest move His direction so He can save us. Just as the Holy Spirit takes our small prayers and transforms them into something more before the throne, so God is waiting for us to do anything that He can transform and take as an excuse to save us. I don't even think that He is patient about it! I think God is waiting *impatiently*! That is not to say that he is angry or upset about the wait, but simply that he can't WAIT for us to come to Him. We don't even need to reach out to grasp His hand. He will seize on the very IMPULSE to call on Him. And the more we open ourselves to His influence, the more we remember that this world is not our home and focus on the heavenly things rather than the earthly, the more we turn our eyes upon Jesus and the things of this world grow strangely dim, the more time we spend in the Word; the stronger His presence will be felt in our lives, the more amazingly He can use us, and the clearer His will for us will be.

Events

So many things have happened since my last blog, but most of them in the last couple of weeks. This semester I have taken another on-campus job: ESL tutoring. Because after I graduate I plan to work in Mexico teaching English for 1-3 years, it seemed particularly appropriate that I get some extra experience doing that before I go. I'll be working in that job about 16 hours/week, in my regular English tutorial about 4 hours/week, fitting in as many appointments as I can in my independent tutoring, and also doing freelance work online, mostly proofreading.

The main reason I am doing all this work is because I am going to work in Mexico, and I want as few loans as possible, since I probably will not be making very much money down there and will have a hard time making payments as it is. If I can pay off my bank loan before I go, that will leave only my two Stafford loans, which I've only been getting this year.

I'm finally registered. I was a bit stressed when I came to finances and realized that I would need $2300 I didn't have just to register. But I talked to my brother and a good friend, got a few private loans, and I've been able to cover that, plus I will not have to pay back those loans until I can, with no interest, of course. So I did register late, but still early enough for it not to matter. Plus all my classes are 400-level, so I was sure I wouldn't have to worry about them being too full.

Speaking of classes, I have fewer hours this semester than usual (about 14), but it is going to be a hard semester academically. I have three upper-division English classes (essays galore), one upper-division religion class (which I need my Greek for, and for which I must write 8 sermons), and I have to write my Honors thesis and present it. Lots of reading, and lots of writing. Add to that my work schedule, and you can see that it is going to be a hard semester. Pray for me.

There are a couple of things I am excited about, though. I will once again be in the play this year. I am not the hero this time, but I am still a major character. I am Leonato from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. I am very excited about that. But the best thing that will happen this semester (possibly excepting graduation) will be during Spring Break, when I go on the mission trip to Mexico that I went on last year. We are going to a different city this time, but we will again be building a church, holding evangelistic meetings, inviting people in the streets, and having VBS. I'm guessing that once again I will be the unofficial song leader at our worships as a group. That was so much fun. The main difference for me this time will be the fact that my girlfriend will be coming up from Southern Mexico to see me! I'm so excited about that. I can't wait to see her. I haven't seen her since last summer, which was before we started dating. I miss her so much.

I was very excited when I received my Christmas present from her, but she didn't let me see all of it. I had to get out certain things without seeing the rest until she tells me I can. But one of the things I got out had $25 in it so that I could buy a phone card to call her! Isn't she awesome? And I'm going to call her tonight. :D

I hope you have as great an evening as I'm going to have.