A Full Heart

My heart is full.

I've been back in Panama for about two weeks, and we are only three days into school starting. And already I'm in love again.

Seeing the students' faces, receiving hugs from my sweet 7th grade girls, and praying together as a staff the morning of the first day back, set the tone for the quarter and reminded me why I find so much joy in this unique community.

Since then, there have been many opportunities where, as staff, have gotten together and encouraged one another, whether through somewhat spontaneous communal dinners or gathering together to play volleyball in the park. The new teachers, Erica and Grant, are adapting well to Panama life and are already hitting their stride an building solid relationships with their classes. Not only are we there for each other {John has lent out his car; I translated at the veterinarian's office for Emily; we lend each other cleaning supplies and do airport runs}, but we highly enjoy being with each other. Game nights where we laugh hysterically and share stories long into the night are some of my favorite times, and, since we live close to each other, we'll hang out on the balcony or the back porch and enjoy this gorgeous dry season in Panama. Often, we'll send out the memo that we're going for a run, and others will join in. We've joked that we've started a Clayton Running Team. So motivating and fun!

Today has been one such glorious, hilarious, joy-filled day.
For one, it was a Wednesday, and Wednesday's are my favorite, because they're half days and there's chapel on those days. Here are some other memorable moments:

Hilarious moments:

• Making up funny cheers and joking with fellow teachers at a student's basketball game
• When rows of elementary kids are laughing hysterically at a KidPresident video, it is the cutest thing
• When on an assignment that asked students to name "1 Christian site mentioned in the video [about Holy Sites in Jerusalem]," a student wrote the name of the website where the video was from.
• Having my 8th graders in one section guess who in the other section wrote which assignment, just by reading the assignments aloud. I got to impersonate them a little bit, and usually they were able to guess who the writer of the assignment was right away. Hilarous.
• When the school received a notice that quite possibly the electricity in our whole sector of the neighborhood might go out at 9a or 11:30a and that the school day would be cut even shorter and parents would come pick up the kids. Gotta love Panama and unexpected surprises like this. It turns out, fortunately, that we made it to the end of the day with electricity intact, but it was a fun twist to wait to see if anything did happen. Still crossing our fingers for another Panamanian "snow day."

Glorious moments:

• During staff devotions this morning, Allison shared pictures of the Andromeda galaxy and verses about how God knows each star by name. Not only that, He knows how many hairs are on our head. We are not insignificant. We have an all powerful, perfect creator God who reaches through space and time and LOVES us. This message resonated in my heart all day. I just desperately want all the students at CCA to be able to grasp this. Wow!
• The chapel worship team ROCKING the music through harmonies and interspersing rounds and rap (I have to say I think I like their version of "This Little Light of Mine" and "So Good to Me" better than the originals. They are soo talented!)
• Singing worship songs alongside the entire school body: what a privilege!!
• Praying for Jerusalem with my 6th graders
• Discussing Judaism, Islam and other world religions with my 6th graders and having them be fascinated and curious at the same time, wanting to know more about what people believe. This is so close to my heart, because my desire is to give my students such a foundation and understanding for other cultures, that they love them in a way that allows them to speak the truth about Jesus to people they meet, in a way that speaks directly into that person's worldview.
•  My mind being rocked again during professional development, where we've been going through the Truth Project series. Topic of the day: the relationship between God, the King (government) and the citizens. Whew! Lots to contemplate and process and so many tie-ins to what I'm teaching right now!

Joy-Filled:

• Throwing "cebollitas" (poppers) and setting off a row of firecrackers outside as part of a student's World History project on the Chinese achievement of gunpowder. What a blast! (pun intended)
• Getting to cheer on a former student at his basketball game on his birthday (so proud!!)
• The fact that Izzy cooked me dinner and Esther came over to share in the surprise
• The fact that Esther and I were laughing so hard that Brennan came downstairs to find out what were were laughing about
• Having had the chance to plan ahead, so I can enjoy a relaxing night and blog about my beautiful and blessed life in Panama

Thanks everybody for all the prayers for CCA and what God is doing here.
God is faithful and He will do it!

Back to Panama and Answered Prayer

Dear church family,
Thank you for praying!
I arrived safely into Panama yesterday night, and all luggage made it without a problem as well.
Praise the Lord!

Thank you also for praying for my 10 year old car.
This morning I went out to run some errands and was doing a once over of the car. To my dismay, one of the tires had overinflated and burst because of the heat and humidity.

It looked like it was okay to drive the very short distance to the tire store, and my neighbor friend, John, agreed to drive with me to the shop. I was so grateful and glad he had offered to come with, especially when the tire popped and he ended up needing to replace it with the spare. There was barely a shoulder, so I stood on the side of the road between him and fast approaching cars, motioning cars to move to the far lane. Praise The Lord for His sovereign protection and for providing John to help!

We were finally able to get to the tire shop, and he negotiated for me to get the right tire size.
So incredibly thankful! 1) that I was able to get new tires, 2) for john's availability and willingness to help.

Thank you all for your prayers!
Continue to pray that God would sustain my car (and tires!) and for protection driving around Panama City.

-Laura

2014: Year in Review

Happy New Year! 
Looking back over the year it's amazing to contemplate God's faithfulness and how He continues to work in Panama. Thank you friends for all your prayer and support this year; God has answered and provided in amazing ways!

Click on the link below to view the PDF:

Laura's 2014 Newsletter