Lots of lessons and blessings!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post! It feels good to have my laptop back in commission. God is still in the miracle business, and while He may no longer multiply fish, He DOES multiply small things like a check for shipping costs, into big things- my $800 motherboard for free under the last 3 months of my warranty! I think God does things like that just to: A) remind us He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, B) He still controls our vastly complex world down here on planet Earth, and C) is intimately acquainted with the minute details of the lives of His children (wait, didn't I just say something like that a couple months ago? God just continues to amaze me with His personal touch)

As to my work, I think I'm about 2/3 of the way through the Spanish courses, I just finished a 25 lesson series on Thursday and started in on a 24 lesson series after that. I feel a little bad for the Mexican gal doing my proofing- she has quite the mountain of lessons printed out and stacked on her desk ready for her to read. It appears a 3 book- 9 lesson course called "Spirit World" will be the first, officially print ready course in Spanish- a good feeling for me! I'll back up a second here- 2 weeks ago our proofer arrived, a really nice 23-year old girl from Alcupoco, Mexico named Iris. She went on a cruise for her 15th birthday and met her ex-boyfriend who witnessed to her and eventually led her to Christ and then encouraged her to come to the U.S. for college where she attended Pidemont Baptist with a major in missions- isn't it great how God works?! Please pray for Iris, she has to make A LOT of decisions in the next 2 weeks as to whether she is stayng and starting deputation or if she will seek ministry opportunities elsewhere. I hope she stays longer because I need a proofer for longer than two more weeks!

I also had the exciting opportunity just this past Thursday to teach a private art lesson to an 8-year old girl named Melia! She is the Busenitz granddaughter (the couple I am living with). I was invited to a family gathering two weeks ago and since I'm not sports inclined, I started drawing the old brick pump house in the backyard. Her mother saw my sketches and her daughter's interest and called me up! It's neat to me to see how that worked since I've been wanting to teach lessons but running into the roadblock of where I was going to do it. With Melia being a family member, it is logical for her to come over here. She's a bright little girl and she will catch on fast. Consequently, she's also left-handed, which makes teaching easier for this "southpaw" gal!

For those of you who know about my musical interests, fear not! Christmas cantata practice started at the church I'm attending down here and I plan on singing with them. The musical is called "The Road to Bethlehem" and I already have a few of the songs stuck in my head- a mark of a good cantata in my book ;) I've also decided to branch out and I'm going to start assisting the Sunday School teacher for the 9 and 10 year-olds at church. I'm anxious/excited to start, it will be interesting to see what God is going to do through that. One thing I've noticed since being here is that without being in constant contact with the world (actually, more like zero contact) I don't have the opportunities to exhort people and witness conversationally like I once did, so I'm hoping in at least some small way helping out with Sunday School will fill that void in my spiritual life. And speaking of church, it's almost time to leave! I love you all! God Bless.