Why I'm here

Tonight was such a fun night! Bonita and Linda had their first music recital, and they were great! It was literally the first time the girls have ever performed on stage, and although they were really nervous, they absolutely loved it. Their mom went with me to the concert, which was so wonderful. She seemed to have a lot of fun and was very proud of her daughters. I was so excited that she came!

I am realizing more and more how special those girls really are, and how unique my relationship is with them. They consider me a second mom and love me SO much, but they still call me Ms. Trish, which I take as a sign of respect. They are polite, well mannered, sweet, gentle, loving and literally are never a problem. They never talk back to me (anymore, haha) and are always willing to do what I ask, even if they don't really want to. I'm still working on some attitude issues with them, but they are so much better than they were, and are getting better every day. They don't do as well in school as I know they can, but they are getting better, and are starting to realize that they may just be as smart as I have been telling them they are. :) I enjoy being around them SO much, and miss them a lot when they aren't with me. I used to have to bribe them to come to church, but now they want to go even when I am out of town. They are becoming their own people, and the women they are becoming are astounding. I am so in awe of God and the incredible work He is doing in them. I feel so privileged to be a part of their lives!!!

Last night was really fun too as I got to go to the Preteen Christmas Party. We have Kids Club every Tuesday night and we separate the kids into 3 different groups: 5-6 year olds, 7-10 year olds, and the Preteens (11-12 year olds). This is the first year that I have ever gone to the Preteen party, but Linda and Pedro are now both Preteens, so I wanted to see them get their presents. It was SO fun! They had tons of help, so I didn't really have any responsibilities other than being excited about kids' presents...which I must say, I am quite good at. Linda didn't pick the present that I thought she would (I guessed Pedro, Miguel and Linda's presents all correctly), but she did look at every possible gift before picking hers. Pedro actually did the same thing, it was killing me to watch them! I'm still getting used to the fact that they are Preteens! This time next year I will be getting ready for them to join God Squad. I don't think I am ready for that!

This week has been pretty busy, and I didn't handle it well at first. I have been running all over the place trying to get stuff done for after-school, the Christmas parties, preparations for Africa, etc. and I haven't taken a lot of time to spend with the Lord. In the mean time I managed to get myself all worked up about things that weren't a big deal at all, which led to a lot of stress. Thank the Lord for good friends! I got to hang out with my friend Elizabeth today and we spent some good time in prayer, where God really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I have been focusing my time and energy on things that either I think need to be done or things that I feel like other people want me to do and not spending as much time on the things that I feel like God has called me to do.

Carisa is reexamining her ministry priorities and making some changes, and I think I am going to do the same. Thankfully, she and I are very different and we tend to be a great balance to one another (though we are both pretty organized people, which is very nice). We are both seeking the Lord for what adjustments to make, but I am pretty confident that those adjustments will compliment one another. I am not going to make any decisions until I know what Carisa's decisions are, but I am really seeking the Lord for where my heart and gifts really are, as well as where our needs are. For example, I love administrative things, and it appears that our church treasurer may need some time off...so is the Lord leading me to do that? I LOVE working with the teen girls and very soon we will lose most of the female teen leaders...so is the Lord wanting me to pour more into that? I have found myself enjoying Kids Club more and more every time I go...so is the Lord wanting me to focus more on Kids Club? I absolutely love my Sunday School class and I love the relationships I have with the girls in that class...so is the Lord leading me more towards that? The good thing is, I don't feel like God is wanting me to narrow my ministry focus at this point; I really like having a lot of variety in my schedule. However, I don't want to get to the point where I am stretched too thin, so I really need to constantly seek the Lord for what He wants me to do. I don't necessarily think these changes will make much of a change in my day to day life, but knowing where my heart is and where God has called me will really help me know where to pour out my heart. For now, though, I'm just going to seek Him and try and listen.