Gracias a Dios [the hard stuff]

My mom comes on Saturday!

I am beyond excited to see her :)

I cannot wait to hug her, show her my town, and fall asleep near her.

People have told me that it is hard to have visitors sometimes, 

because it's like your 2 worlds are coming together.

I totally understand that.

It is hard when they are completely separate.

But can't it be more like

my world is finally together.

I feel like I've really tried my best to fill my family and friends in on life here in Jarabacoa.

It's great... and it's hard.

I want them to know the truth, not just the fluffy highlight reel.

When my mom gets here on Saturday, I want her to feel like she is finally IN the place that she has 

heard about and seen on the computer screen for 2 months.  

I don't want her to be surprised it's hard.

[look at those faces... they just scream "this is HARD!]

A friend of mine casually wrote something in an e-mail the other day that caught me off guard.  

She mentioned that my weekend plans had to be fun

because I was living in another country.

Now I know she didn't mean it exactly like that, and I know her well enough to understand why she thinks that.  (love you girl)

BUT life here is not always fun.  

It is hard for me to find joy sometime.  

Lately I've been wondering if I've totally messed up my life.

I tearfully admitted that to a friend last night.

I'm scared I'll never feel fully at home in the states again.

I'm scared I'll never feel fully at home in Jarabacoa either.

Oh dear.

Thankfully I have wise friends.

Kaia reminded me where my home really is.

I don't need to put pressure on myself to feel at home anywhere other than 

with the Lord.

But it is still scary, it just is.  

Do you like how I just squished 3 blog posts into 1?  

I'm about to add another :)

...

A {short} list of some of the hard things I'm thankful for

1. cold cold cold showers

2.  men talking to me on the street

3.  nights alone

4.  no coffee drinks

5.  language barrier 

6.  strange smells

7.  hard nights of sleep

8.  sweating all the time

9.  little and big bugs

10.  loud nighttime noises 

Even though these things are hard, I know the Lord uses them for good.

someway... somehow... these cold showers are for good :)

I hope my life here in the DR does not come off as happy-fun-always great.

It isn't.

It's great... and it's hard.

Thanks for being there for me through it all.  

wow.  that was a lot of words.  sorry.  

Tour [mis amigos]

The people on this island are simply amazing.

I have met some of the most helpful, encouraging, and faithful people in the past 8 weeks.

Can I introduce you to a few of them?

This by no means is everyone, these are just the people I caught on camera.

I will continue to introduce my friends as we go.

{Cortney}

This lady is wonderful.  

We live on the same side of town, so we both walk the Avenida.  

We are so different, but that has really made our friendship greater.

We have spent the past few Saturdays doing something fun or relaxing together.  

{Heather}

I appreciate this gal so much!  

Heather is so welcoming and helpful.

She is nice enough to invite me to join her and her roommates for movies or dinner.  

Heather also gives me lots of rides on her moto 

and will seriously help anyone out!

We have also been running together!

{John}

This guy is a ton of laughs and lots of help.

John will always put others before himself and has proven to be a trusty friend for me.

I feel like I can always count on John!

Laughing, driving me places, or eating croissants... all is fun with John around!

{Sara}

This girl is a winner.  

Sara is on teacher staff for YL and is so inspiring!  

She also gives me tons of rides and is so gracious about it.

Fun, welcoming, and joyful are great words to describe Sara.

{Katie}

I love this chica!

Katie student taught and lived with my host family last year at Doulos.

Right away she was a great friend.  

Katie and her husband have hosted a few great dinners at their house,

and it is always a wonderful time.  

{Lexie}

Such a lovely lovely lady.

Lexie teaches first grade at Doulos and our rooms are right next to each other.

She has helped me so much with answering questions, borrowing supplies, and calming me down.

It is so wonderful to have Lexie next door!!

We have bible study together and run together once or twice a week.

{Katie}

This girl is golden.  seriously.

Katie is someone who is truly there for me. 

I can count on Katie to dig to find out what is really going on in my life.

She and her husband James have been wonderful friends since day 1.

Katie is also my running buddy and she does it is SO well.  

{Lorraine}

Such a find of a friend!

Lorraine is someone who can be friends with everyone.  

She has been available since day 1 with advice, questions, and fun.

Lorraine is always ready to help or give me a moto ride.  

She and her roommates live closest to my host home, which I love!

These are a few of my friends.

Feel free to come down and meet them in person :) 

#DramaticMorgan

I would not consider myself a super dramatic girl.

Although, since moving to Jarabacoa, I have been thinking some fairly dramatic thoughts.

Join me on a small trip through my mind...

[my ears will ALWAYS feel popped while I live in the DR]

[this room will NOT feel like home... ever]

[i will NEVER be able to sleep normal here]

[how can i POSSIBLY make new friends]

[this culture is TOO different from where i grew up]

[i CANNOT wear long pants in this heat]

[liam isn't interested in me over a computer, and he NEVER will be]

[i WON'T be able to teach these kids english]

[i don't send packages, so i WILL NOT get any]

it just makes me laugh now.  

#DramaticMorgan is just working her way through culture shock.

no biggie.

Just let her think what she wants to...

#RationalMorgan knows the truth

[my ears EVENTUALLY un-popped]

[i find COMFORT in my room]

[most of the time i sleep WONDERFULLY]

[i am making friends just SPLENDIDLY]

[this culture has WELCOMED me graciously]

[i wear long pants several times a week and it's REALLY not bad]

[liam LOVES to face time with me]

[first steps of learning english ARE being taken]

[i am humbled EVERY TIME i receive a package]

Have you had a #Dramatic thought today?

Have you told yourself the truth?

I sure hope so.

in my backpack...

I planned on reading "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp (thank you Liza!) during the beginning of my move to the DR.  After the first chapter I was crying, super sad, and missing home.  I decided I needed to take a break from the book I thought would be a "happy read".  I picked it back up a few days ago and have hardly put it down since.  Yes, the first chapter is sad, but it gets much more hopeful and is playing out almost like a mystery being solved about our faith!  

During my break I picked up "Freedom of Simplicity" by Fichard J. Foster.  It was one of the suggested book to read for Doulos teachers.  I am enjoying it.  I'm only about 1/3 of the way through though.  As much as it is full of good truths and lessons I need to learn, the wording is somewhat difficult for me to stick with. (my face might give that away...)  I will keep reading though, because simplicity is something I crave.  

Last week we read "Scaredy Squirrel" by Melanie Watt a few times as the Kindergarten family.  It is quite wordy so many of my Spanish speaking kiddos were lost to the plot, but the pictures sure are fun! I connected with Scaredy more than I want to admit, but I will dive into that later :)

And of course!  my trusty bible, New Living Translation of course :)  

I read Ephesians this summer with our YL BYOC lady campaigner group.  Then as I transitioned from the US to the DR Kaia and I continued to read on through Philippians and now Colossians.  This week we are reading Colossians chapter 3.  #sofull  I CANNOT claim that I read as much as I should, but I will continue to try!

Well, that's what is making my backpack so heavy!  

What are you reading right now?

Thanks Kaia for encouraging me to figure out how to flip my pictures from my photo booth camera :)  

Discoveries [missing]

I am blessed to miss.

I have greatly loved, so I greatly miss.

I have been told and repeated to myself lately, that it is a good thing to miss home.

I have a wonderful family, amazing friends, and a lovely hometown.

What is there not to miss?  

I am not any more homesick right now than usual.  

I would just love to look at what I am blessed to miss and happy to have.  

I miss living near my family.  #obvi

I miss being with them in person, just being together.

I am loving that I am realizing more and more how blessed I am to have such a close family.

I am loving that I am able to talk with them several times a week.

I miss my Sioux Falls Young Life family.

I miss the laughs, tears, prayers, talks, smells and all :)  

I am loving the support I get from these sisters and brothers since arriving in the DR.

I am loving that family doesn't end after a move.

I miss my little Liam.

I miss holding him, kissing him, and chasing him.

I am loving that he interacts with my on face time and seems to enjoy it as much as I do.

I am loving technology for letting me continue watching him grow.

I miss these ladies.

I miss the history we had together and the way we continue coming back to one another.

I am loving that these are the people (young as they may be) who are 

financially supporting my service here in the DR.

I am loving that I am able to have complete faith that we will always come back to one another.

I miss this home and this gal.

I miss intentional talks, dining room dancing, night time prayers, GG in the back porch, 

and so so so much more.

I am loving intentional face time talks and long distance prayers.

I am loving a key that speaks louder than words.

I miss getting together and doing life with my YL girls.

I miss coffee and bookstores.

I am loving giving them fully to the Lord.

I am loving praying for them.

I miss my cousin love.

I miss the beginnings of fall and the GATHERing of friends.

I am loving living on the same island she did.

I am loving knowing family lasts forever.

I miss Hanalei and my mama.

I miss being with family and friends daily.

I am loving that I get to be this little ones auntie :)

I am loving that my mom gets here in 13 days!!!!!

I miss my amazing friends.  

I miss playing cards, drinking coffee, road trips, and walks.

I am loving the prayers that I am blessed to receiving from these folks.

I am loving skype and face time dates.

I miss my SFSD classroom, kiddos, rugs, and lamps.

I miss classrooms with no language barriers.

I am loving knowing that this is where I'm supposed to be.

I am loving that I am blessed to miss.

Discoveries

I've been learning a lot lately.  

Some have been great discoveries!

Others have been a bummer to have to learn.  

But that is just how life is... both the YAY and the YUCK.

(thanks for that Curt, Alicia, & Lexie)

My iPod is gone, hopefully sold for money to buy food for a hungry family...

but that's just hopeful thinking.

All that to say, I no longer have a camera.

So I will have to use the pictures I already had taken and uploaded to share on here.  

This is a {short} glimpse into my recent discoveries...

If I walk to school in tennies I still arrive at the same time, 

and I can not pull off the sneakers & skirt look...

{I know I look a tad on the freaky side here, but I was really excited!}

I have wonderful friends who want to come alongside me in this adventure!  

Sarah created a calendar {w/ velcro!} for me and mailed it to me!!  We love it.

Aileen is a talented artist and she believes I am a "grate" teacher.

I have a much larger gap between my thighs than I was aware of 

and Aileen has faith in my running skills.

This might be too sad for the blog, but I've discovered that my friends are brilliant :)

Several friends wrote letters for different times during this year before I left.  

Jess wrote invitations.  This is my invitation to miss home.  I did :)  

Thanks for the encouragement Jess.  

You can Face Time & Skype at the same time!!  Who knew?  {take that iPod}

I can shop for new shoes at Target w/ Janna 

and ask MaryChar and Nate for their option at the same time!  

Crazy fun discovery!

My room is a hangout room for 2-4 little ones everyday after school.  

And I love it!  

We play music, they read & play with clay, and I get work done.  Win win win!

Miss Sonia is the best!  She is my aid {as of the first day of school} and she is wonderful.

We work as a team well and have fun too :)

What new things have you been discovering lately?  

Gracias a Dios

Things have been good.

They really have.

But sometimes I am catching myself only thinking about the hard things.

The things that are different... hard... gone...

I do not want to live life like that.  

I want to be thankful, fully realizing all that I have.

Today has been hard.  

Really hard.

So here I am, intentionally being thankful for all the good.  

join me?

1.  God is here with me {that is really ALL I need}

2.  Coffee is good here, and it's around everyday

3.  I have not seen many spiders since moving here

4.  I still get to talk {and pray} with my loved ones back home... yes, I peeked

5.  The people back home have showed me great great love 

6.  I've gotten 3 packages since arriving!

7.  I have a computer

8.  I can watch movies and tv for free

9.  Gilmore Girls is loved by many people here

10.  I live really close to the OCEAN

11.  My new friends {and coworkers and family and...} like me and care about me

12.  We laugh together often

13.  This exists here

14.  I have a place to "escape" to and feel like I'm in the US

15.  My coworkers have the same desires and goals for teaching that I do

16.  My students are so cute {this little girl is basically standing on top of me while in line}

17.  My students are great dancers and like to have fun

18.  I teach in a brand new building and my room is really big

19.  I have a fan and a lamp

20.  My room is becoming more and more "mine"

21.  I can sleep fairly well

22.  I have screens on my windows {no bugs, except ants, while I sleep!}

23.  I live in a year round green place

24.  I live in the mountains

25.  Our school is our family  {celebrating Tim's birthday during lunch}

26.  I work on a beautiful campus

27.  There is clean water and pop here

28.  I get to live with this sweet chica and her amazing family

29.  My home is comfortable

30.  I'm learning a new language {crazy when I think about it}

31.  I get to shower everyday

32.  Our house is really clean

33.  I have less clothes, so getting ready is much easier

34.  They sell my shampoo in Jarabacoa

35.  I have an extremely loving and helpful "safe base" {family, friends, sufu}

36.  I feel, for the most part, very safe here

37.  I live in a pretty quiet house

38.  The parents of my students are extremely nice and helpful

39.  I am healthy

40.  I am doing well financially {thanks to you all}

41.  Liam interacts with me on FaceTime

42.  I live in a part of the DR that gets cooler temps

43.  My mom comes in 20 days!!!!

44.  I have friends with cars and motos

45.  I get to be a Young Life leader

46.  I am friend with so many people who can help me be a better teacher

47.  I enjoy the food here

48.  Baseball is popular here and it is a sport I like to watch

49.  People here like to laugh and enjoy life

50.  God is here with me {that is really all I need}

It does my heart good to be thankful.

What are 10 things you are thankful for?

Also, thank you Kayla, for encouraging me to make a list :)