Rain Drops On The Roof

I am sitting on the couch in my living room, listening to the rain pound on the steel roof and watching the Red Sox – Yankees battle unfold. While I am guessing that it isn’t 85 degrees and humid back home and your windows aren’t leaking in the Berkshires, I have a feeling many of you are doing the same. It is amazing how satellite TV can make you feel at home even when you are a long ways away.

Returning to La Ceiba on my second mission trip has inspired me to reflect upon my first trip here in March as I navigate in between familiar and unfamiliar ground. Our Colorado mission team met a couple times after church beginning in late January before heading down to Honduras the first week of March. Our first meeting was mostly focused on logistics and fundraising, but I remember two parts very distinctly because they were when I really felt like I meant to go to Honduras.

The first part was learning the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish. As the only person familiar with the Spanish language in the group, I was asked to lead. I was reluctant as I did not know the people in the group well at all and was not very confident in my Spanish abilities. However, I was coming off a boot sale to a very expressive Catalan man at the boot shop that week. The Barcelona native came into the shop late one evening and spoke almost no English. My boss came to the back where I was doing repairs and told me to have fun. While he was being sarcastic, I actually became friends with the man as I modified his boot over the next week for him. During our frequent choppy conversations, he chastised me for not practicing my Spanish more because “I had it in my head, I just needed to get it out of my mouth” (rough translation). So I went for it. It wasn’t the most fluid instruction, but I was able to get everyone to stress the right syllables. We looked pretty good when we could mumble in rhythm while at services in Honduras.

The second part was deciding what our Word of Execution would be for the trip. Our leader had selected passages from John and Galatians as suggestions and we were flipping through, reading them out loud, and discussing them. I had one of those great moments when you open the Bible not knowing what you are looking for and finding exactly what you need. Looking for Galatians, I ran into Ephesians 4: 2-3 and it just seemed to fit. I read the passage to the group and we had our Word of Execution. It continues to help me on my second go through.

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

My first week in Honduras had many frustrating points. I was told that I would be the tenth grade homeroom teacher for the first three days, only to be told that the position had been given to another teacher. The class schedule did not come out until Wednesday and does not have any lab periods built in. I wasn’t shown the books I would be teaching from until Thursday. The books for the 10th grade chemistry and biology classes have not arrived yet. Tomorrow is the first day.

Humility. Gentleness. Patience. Love. Unity. All these words remind me of why I am here and help me refocus and dwell only on the positive things that I continue to be a part of: a growing school with a fresh coat of paint, caring and dedicated teachers, and a committed administration, ready (enough) to welcome 230 students and commence a year of learning and growth. The rest are just raindrops on the steel roof that make a lot of noise then flow away.

A special thanks this week to the choir for their generous gift and prayers, and for Charles’ great contribution to St. James’ ministry. I certainly miss the music!