happy packing

so much packing! court's so far ahead in the packing that she's even been packing MY stuff because she just wants to be done and outta here.
packing boxes.
packing paper.
packing tape.
packing peanuts.
packing air.
packing tissue.
what's worse, packing or UNpacking?

janitors are people too

jose maldonado. 21. student at the university of puerto rico. hilarious. girlfriend michelle. he's puerto rican and is the janitor at PRCS. he also preaches about once a month at Toa Baja Christian Church. good friends with anna and brian. hung out with him A LOT while in PR. get to see him at rainbow christian camp this summer. good times.

thesis

yay! all done with the thesis. for sure. that's a huge weight off my shoulders. it's like i'm checking things off, one by one. what a great feeling. :)

victoria

meet victoria. she's probably the most beautiful puerto rican that i've ever met. she is the youngest of three, the daughter of my mentor teacher during my stay in PR. she was in pre-kinder and because she didn't have class in the afternoons, she spent most afternoons hanging out with my class. she quickly became my little papoose. speaking little english, she would simply point for awhile. she often repeated the words that i would say in english. when my dad saw her he said, "look how sparkly her eyes are." i couldn't have said it better myself. one day at lunch, she sat across from me and said, "miss maple. you my best friend," in her very best english. another day she pointed to me and said, "mother," loudly and clearly. i will always have a special place in my heart for this wonderful little girl. she's another one of those people that i'll never forget.

harry

i promised betsy a post about harry, one of my favorite people from puerto rico. :)

many of the people in anna's life are like characters out of a book, and harry is definitely no exception. harry is blind and also has a little bit of difficulty getting around, and so he walks with a cane. he attends church at toa baja christian church with anna and about a year ago, lost his wife. harry's a sassy old man. there was one time when we were sitting at church, he walked in the room and said in his new york/new jersey accent, "hey guys! i'm here! the party can start now!" he's always giving robert a hard time, especially while robert is preaching - harry makes no bones about adding his own commentary.

my favorite thing about harry is his moves. yes, that's right, his dance moves. at 80-something, he can still work it. harry can't see a thing. nothing. so during worship, until he has heard a song enough times to memorize it, he is unable to sing because he can't read the words on the screen. but oh can harry dance. his hands are in the air, waving back and forth and he's dancing all around. (sometimes even in front of the projector so no one else can see the words either!)

it warmed my heart to see his old bones dancing for Jesus. and he didn't care a bit who was watching.

3 more weeks.
raise your hand if you're ready for the next phase of your life.
(that's me, arms flailing about wildly.)



i'm SO ready.

made to worship

chris tomlin's song, "made to worship" was kind of like my theme song for my time spent in Puerto Rico.

on one of our vacation days, anna and i drove to condado to watch the sun come up over the ocean. i don't believe there's a better way to start your day. someone that could make something as incredible as what i saw that day deserves to be worshipped.

before the day

before the light

before the world revolved around the sun

God on high

stepped down in time

and wrote the story of His love for everyone

he has filled our hearts with wonder

so that we always remember

you and i were made to worship