Lessons

No one enjoys going through unpleasant situations, but often times they are when you learn the best lessons. I've been having one of those experiences over the last few weeks. It all started with shoes....

So, I got back from vacation and was immediately thrown in the fray. We had a group of Americans here, a wonderful group that comes every year. They came to work on building a wall, they brought dentists, and they brought lots of clothes and shoes! Most of my days were filled transporting kids back and forth to the clinic to get their teeth cleaned. In between times I spent sorting and cataloging all the new clothes/shoes. My boss, the director of children's services, began her vacation at that time as well, so that meant a little extra work as well. Anyway, school was supposed to start very soon, so someone needed to make sure that all the kids had shoes for school. So, I began going through each kids' closet trying to determine who needed shoes and who had sufficient. Of course they had all seen the brand new shoes the group had brought, so of course they all told me they needed shoes. Anyway, the point is that it was a bit of a stressful time for me (added to the fact that I was sick and a bit cranky already). So it ended up with a lot of the kids being mad at me. This plus other factors found me at my friend's house one night saying "what am I doing here? Everybody hates me!" Her good counsel, as well as my mom's wise reminder that I didn't come here to be popular, and the director's comment that "great! That tells me you are doing your job well!", put me back on my feet and ready to keep going. Here's where the lesson comes in. This situation, as well as a book I'm reading, helped me realize that I have been basing my success here on whether or not people are happy with me. I know, it sounds ridiculous in print, but that's how it was. I've come to realize that most of the time the kids are feeling the opposite of what they let on anyway. My job is to do what's right, not what makes people happy. This is not to say that I should go out of my way to make people angry, but it's not necesarily a horrible thing. Now all of this may sound like pretty common sense to you, but to me it was a pretty big ephiphany.

I guess the big news around here is that school started again last Monday. It means a lot of changes as always, but it's good I think. Most of them are glad to see their friends again and meet new people. We had 3 of our kids head to college in Costa Rica for the first time. As far as I know they're doing well.

Random fact: did you know that we have missionaries here representing 9 different countries? (United States, Canada, Uraguay, Columbia, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and El Salvador)

Well, I do apologize for not keeping up good communication the last month or so. What can I say, it's just been crazy busy. But I hope all is well with you and I would love to hear from you.

God bless