a saturday a pen a coffee

sometimes its just good to get away by yourself and drink some coffee/ do some reading/ drown out all other noises with caedmon's call in your ears. i rediscover how much i love this band each time i listen to them. its just encouraging and deep and relaxing and all things good for you, wrapped up in melody. 

i am about to tell you something that may surprise you...

..i am currently sitting in a starbucks. see that one coming? now either you are feeling one of two emotions i am about to describe or you are the unpredicted and unforseen variable  and well, irrelevant. just kidding you arent irrelevant, just in this paragraph. since i have had people ask me about my 'village' here in peru i imagine there is a group of you that are struggling imagining a starbucks in the middle of a forest of huts. i commend you for your imagination. then there is a group of you that are saying, why are you in a starbucks? to you i say reread this blogs introduction. im getting in some good reflection time. two days ago marked my first month here in trujillo, and so much has happen that it truly feels as though i have been here so much longer than that. although, i would also venture to say that i may set aside time to 'reflect' but i think i am reflecting and growing and reflecting and growing all cohesively in each moment im blessed to spend here. 

one of the things that i have become more aware of teaching esl in a foreign country is the meaning behind our words. i think a lot of the time we just get so content with what we know our words to mean that sometimes we forget their meaning and we become nonchalant with the way we understand them and use them. (im so sorry if that doesnt make sense) im fortunate to have on my mac this wonderful dictionary program that is full of all sorts of  helpful info and ideas when trying to describe the meaning of a word. ive noticed that probably my most used way to explain meaning has been through example, which is probably especially true since i dont speak the language yet, but even the best example has its own faults. because one example doesnt explain the meaning of the word in entirety and other examples are necessary. which i discover over and over when i describe a word to a student only to have them look more confused and i look at the sentence they are reading and add "oh but in this sentence it means... " haha, oh how i must confuse them. 

anyway this observation has bled somewhat into the way i read my Bible or think about my devotionals. and its made me seek out the meaning of words which i 'know' but help me to understand more deeply if i take the time to think about them a little more than giving the verse a scan. i think taking a moment to look up a definition in a way is helping me to stop and consider further what i am reading. im sure that there is some technical term for this which i cannot tell you, because im not really a technical knowledge knowing kind of gal, but i would like to encourage you to give it a try yourself. 

being in Peru has/is truly being an eye opening/growing experience for me in ways that surpass the typical surface changes that are more obvious. its a time in my life where literally everything is new and the only thing the same yet still growing and changing is my relationship with God and my faith in Him. im overwhelmed with thanks for the experiences i get to share in here and the way that they are molding the woman that God created me to be. and I am oh so thankful for each of you that made it possible for me to be here. there is a lot going on in Peru Mission now, such as SALI, where i teach reaching record numbers of students. As I become more understanding of the way things work here i will keep you updated, but please keep our ministry here in your prayers as it continues to grow and change.