Spa Night!

Around Christmas time, some of my dear friends generously donated boxes full of delightfully girly products for the girls in our Hope Program. The dontation was originally for Christmas gifts, but the shipment was detained in Texas and did not arrive in Mexico until after Christmas had come and gone.

Random thought: Isn't it funny how we originally intend for something to be used in a certain way and then it turns out that God has a totally different and immeasurably better purpose in mind? :)

Anyway, back to the story... In the beginning of Feburary all of the gifts arrived and I was so excited to see everything! Lotion, bodywash, deodorant, toothbrushes and make-up... lots and lots of make-up! All of these items are much needed necessities on our campus. I couldn't wait to put together packages for the girls!

Each of the female teens on our campus (there are 11) received a bag which contained something similar to the picture below.

Rather than just drop the bags off at the teen homes, my roommate and I had another idea in mind! A SPA NIGHT! We thought it would be fun to invite the girls over to our house for manicures, pedicures, facials, chololate and a chick-flick! At the end of the night we would give each of the girls their gift!

Kayta (with her gift) getting ready for her pedicure!

I ran the pedicure station! Here is Carolina getting her toes painted...

Here is Becca giving Perla a manicure...

Some of the girls at the end of the night! We all had so much fun!

My favorite part of the night was hanging out with the girls and getting to know each of them better. A special thanks to my friends who made all of this possible! You are such a blessing and God has used your genorosity to bring joy to these sweet girls! Thank you!!

Eeekkk!!!

Disclaimer: If you are not fond of certain 8-legged creatures, then please skip over this post!

It is spring break and the animals have gone wild! Let me show you what I mean...

What in this photo does not belong?

Can't tell? Look again...

Oh! There it is... to say that I was shocked by this spider in my closet would be a slight understatement!

And then there was this "little" guy on my daily commute to school...

My first tarantula sighting! Eeekk!!

The moral of the story? Add Raid to the shopping list.

Baking for the Lord

Every morning my students and I start the day off with a time of prayer. Earlier in the year we began the tradition of praying for other missionaries around the world. I have friends serving in countries all over the world and I wanted to use their stories to show my students things that God is doing in other parts of the world.

One morning, after praying for the audio Bibles that are being distributed in Mozambique (asmtoday.org) my students said, "Miss Jessica, what else can we do to help?"

After a couple days of brainstorming, we decided to have a Bake Sale to raise money to buy more audio Bibles so that the people in Mozambique can have the opportunity to hear that Word of the Lord in their own language. We partnered with a local church and planned the have our sale after their service one Sunday.

To prepare for the sale, my students went door-to-door and asked each staff woman if they would like to contribute a delicious treat for the event. I am so proud of all of the hard work that my kids put into the preparation and how excited they were to be doing something to help people on the other side of the world.

When the day of the sale arrived, we headed to the church to set up for the sale. We had so much fun sharing our purpose with the people at the church, practicing our Spanish and selling out of everything that we brought! Praise the Lord for all the money that was raised! My students raised enough to send 5 audio Bibles to Mozambique! Go kids and go God!

Setting up for the sale...

Working Hard...

Having Fun...

Sneaking a treat...

Happy Spring, From SMCA!

Poet's Corner

For the months of January and Feburary

I did a poetry unit with my students

in our writing workshop time!

Together we grew

in our love

and appreciation

for poetry!

We learned that poetry can be fun,

poetry is all around us,

poetry can be used to express how we feel

or what we see

and anyone can be a poet!

We attempted to bring poetry

to everyone on campus

through our Living Anthology Project.

We turned our campus into a poetry anthology

by posting poems in common places

around campus for people to enjoy

as they go about their daily activities.

We read poems,

wrote poems,

acted poems,

drew poems!

In the end,

each student created a collection

of their very own poems

that they wrote over the course of 5 weeks.

We ended the unit by hosting a poetry cafe

and inviting our parents to a special poetry reading.

March in Mexico

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Picture of the Week:

~The Local Gas Station~

Joy Lies Ahead

"Prehaps you know how it feels to be obedient to God yet not see the results you wanted or expected. You may have met rejection, yet you're still fighting for the results you hoped for-- trying to force a good ending. Is God pulling you forward while you dig your toes in the dirt, refusing to give up? Paul and Barnabas may have departed the city (Pisidian Antioch) believing they had started well (the people honored the Word the the Lord and believed) but finished poorly (P. and B. were persecuted and expelled from the city). They may have felt their efforts were in vain. Meanwhile, God looked from Heaven and saw His Word speading like a blanket over the region. Don't try to judge your own effectiveness. Another opportunity for ministy awaits you. Shake the dust off your feet and move on. Joy lies ahead!"

~Beth Moore, To Live is Christ

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I ran across this quote today and was greatly encouraged. God sees the big picture! Praise the Lord! Dear friend, your efforts are not in vain.

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Please lift up the city of Monterrey in your prayers! :)