Buzzed my head. I feel ten pounds lighter and ten degrees colder. Ahh…comfortable…

I have to say that the training program we shared in this week was really enlightening- lots to learn and lots to think about in the future as well. We spent about eight hours a day together from Monday to Friday, studying a range of Biblical and cultural topics. I feel that it has sparked in me a greater desire to be a disciple of Christ. Learning more about living a life of evangelism and deepening my understanding of the church and the kingdom has been profound.

I feel like God wants to do a lot of work in me yet. I want to find my identity in him rather than in materials or looks or knowledge. I think this has become much more apparent here- where there is a higher risk of having things stolen or broken. I keep thinking: what if someone takes my computer- or my camera- or my money? I think my motivation for doing fitness training is to look better. I have become angry on a few occasions when people try to show me I’m doing something wrong or treat me like I don’t know much.

I think about these things and how they reflect where I get my sense of worth or identity from. I feel like God has been saying: I know who you are. It is so meaningful to hear such things and I want to embrace the truth of who I am in Christ-more sinful than I ever dared imagine, yet more loved than I ever thought possible.

This is the key to living the way God created me to. Chesterton says it well:

“Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly…The tattered cloak of a beggar will bear him up like the rayed plumes of the angels. But the kings in their heavy gold and the proud in their robes of purple will all of their nature sink downwards, for pride cannot rise to levity or levitation. Pride is the downward drag of all things into an easy solemnity. One ‘settles down’ into a sort of selfish seriousness; but one has to rise to a gay self-forgetfulness…For solemnity flows out of men naturally; but laughter is a leap. It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity.”

We have witnessed some serious rain storms towards the end of the week. I got a cold on Thursday from running around in the rain with Tracy, Alexis and Elizabeth. It was crazy…the streets in the barrio became more like rivers. We ran around in the baseball field until everyone was tired. On Saturday we set out to hike up the mountain La Travasia, but- sure enough- it poured on us again. My stuff got soaked and I was forced to think once more about where my identity is at. I want to be able to surrender everything- even if it’s simply a wet Bible or camera- to him.

The Child Sponsorship Program has been on and off. The TEARS website is in transition, so there’s been a lot of work getting everything transferred, looking at marketing plans, and making sure materials are coordinated with the new TEARS logo and colors. We have started up a TEARS School blog that will be a part of the new site. Joy and I are working on sending out a ‘Sponsor a Teacher’ form to school supporters, but there have been enough complications to fill a warehouse. I guess that’s the way it goes down here; often there is no power or internet to use, and when there is internet the attachment won’t work, and when the attachment gets through it is the wrong format, etc. Then there’s trying to find contacts and addresses to send the letter to. But anyway, this is our priority- to get the teacher salaries covered.

Tomorrow I’m off to the capital- Santo Domingo- for a day. Should be cool. I am also excited for how some key aspects of the Child Sponsorship Program will come together in the next week. Thanks for all your prayers and support back home. I miss you guys.