Am I Really Pregnant?

I was 4 days late for my period. Nothing too crazy to signal a red flag, but not all that normal either. I decided not to get my hopes up that I was pregnant, so I kept waiting. Another 3 days went by & no period. Here's where I finally mentioned something to Kurt. I didn't make it sound like a big deal, & I wasn't about to waste a pregnancy test. So... we continued to wait, one more week. I figured another week, & I could be sure of the results of the test.

There's no such thing as the Tooth Fairy

Just last week, one of our kindergartener's, Yafreydi, stood up & came over to me during mat time - which is when everyone should be sitting on the floor. She whispered my name & opened her hand. Laying in the middle of her palm was a tooth! Obviously, my first question was, "Is that your tooth?" She smiled & nodded her head yes. Not knowing what to say next, I said the only thing that came to me, "What do you want to do with it?" As you can probably guess, I hadn't processed the number of terrible responses she could have given. Fortunately, all she wanted to do was throw it up in the air. "The what?!" Yes, she made the motions for tossing her tooth into the air. I'm still not exactly sure what that was all about, but I gave her the go-ahead. She then proceeded to walk down the steps to go outside. I figured that would take too long, so I just told her to throw it out the window. And, she did. Bye-bye tooth. Out the window, and onto the ground.

Why Am I Sick?

I remember the first time I felt "Morning Sickness." We were with the second McGill group enjoying a nice evening at El Concon. I was about to partake in a very delicious chicken alfredo pizza when I knew there was no way that it would go down. I felt awful! I was also very disappointed because it's probably my favorite pizza here in the DR. Some of the ladies from the group jokingly said, "You must be pregnant." Of course, I replied very confidently, "No, I'm not." Obviously, I didn't get to eat my pizza that night, but I made sure to take it home & devour it the following day :)

Ministry Update

Once a week, Kurt does music with the kids. We're singing
"This Little Light of Mine" & "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."

We welcomed Mery to our team this year. She is a certified
Dominican teacher who is now employed by Freedom.

School has been outside the last 3 Fridays because the church is being used.
We've all learned to do our best with what we have, but
Please, help us build that school! :)

Forever and a Day

Wow! That's about all I can say about my ability to blog once a month. I've been awful, to say the least! I could always blame it on the crazy school schedule: 

5:00am - Get up :)

6:10am - Leave the parking lot.

7:45am - Finish the bus route & arrive at the school.

8:00am - Start class.

12:00pm - Finish class.

1:15pm - Arrive at home.

** Of course the work doesn't stop at 1:15, but it's a different type of work. I would say it's a little less exhausting :) **

However, no matter how crazy that schedule is, I wouldn't give it up! Kurt & I are currently working in the Kindergarten class with Angie (another missionary). Our job is to help the teacher and manage discipline. It may seem like a simple job, but it requires a lot of patience, energy, and love. Each day is a new experience (and not always a great one, I might add). We've enjoyed watching the kids as they continue to grow. Their understanding of English, ability to listen to directions, and acceptance of discipline has gotten so much better, even over the last 4 weeks! It's been fun to be a part of the Kindergarten class. 

Next week, we start a rotation with the Preschoolers. All I can say is that it will definitely be a change! Good thing kids are cute because otherwise... 

 Pictured above: Estefani, Chiquito, Nika, & Achuchu are coloring their morning paper.

Theives in the Night

Who would have thought? Well, I suppose I should have guessed, but I just assumed nobody would try. I was wrong.

Less than a month ago, Kurt & I got a call at 12:00am. Half asleep, I walked to the phone to find out that it was Toni calling to say that Jason & Josh needed Kurt to meet them downstairs. They were headed to the land because someone was stealing our rebar. I woke up Kurt with the news, and he quickly dressed & ran down to the car. As I stood by the door, I prayed that everyone would stay safe. I'm not sure anyone knew exactly what to expect. Especially the guys as they drove out to the land.

When the arrived at the land, they were told that it was a group of 3 or 4 guys. They came onto the property and threw rocks at the house threatening harm if the family came out. Then, the proceeded to steal over $1,000 of barb wire. Nobody is exactly sure how they were able to do it so quickly & walk away. There was not a lot anyone could do that night, but it started a long process of trying to apprehend the criminals, & even more work for our team.

Freedom decided it was in the best interest of Pica Pica & his family to put up an 8ft fence around the house & our storage building. So, not only did those robbers cost us the $1,000 in stolen product, but the amount it cost to put up the new fence. Jason also had to make several trips to the police station to report the incident, to get them to talk to suspects, and to keep the process moving forward. We don't really expect to see anyone prosecuted, but we didn't want people to think it would be easy to steal from us. In all, it was a lot of extra work & time, but I'm glad everyone stayed safe through the whole ordeal. I realize that it's for the best that everything is more secure out there.

Trouble in Paradise

Last week ended with a bang.

On Friday, during preschool, some Americans in another area stole several children on their way home from school. Of course, we didn't know anything about it, but the parents in Campiña & Cabeza de Toro heard the news before their kids came home. Many of the parents were scared for their children. They were worried that somehow (although I'm not exactly sure why) it was their child that got kidnapped.

The Simos family took the brunt of the frustration when they dropped the kids off at the end of the day. At both Campiña & Cabeza, there was a large group of parents waiting to make sure that their child got off the bus. It was quite the scene! The parents started talking about how they wouldn't be sending their children to school on Monday. "It's too dangerous," said one.

You could tell by the way they were talking that their minds were being filled with "what ifs." However, this fear lead to great conversations. We were able to share with all the parents about the importance of putting your confidence in God. We stressed that you can't stop living or doing good things because you're afraid of what might happen. Kennedy, our bus driver, also reminded the group of parents that dangerous things can happen while their children are at home, as well.

It was an interesting time of sharing & hearing the concerns of the parents. I was reminded that they do care, even if many times it doesn't appear so. God was in control of the entire situation, from beginning to end.