Emotions were high as we set out for our last day of school this morning.
Here's what Aria has to say about her day:
Today was everyone's last day in the schools. At Victorious, we had our final devotional with our cooperating teachers and principal Miss Ingrid - it was really special and encouraging. We all got a chance to pray and thank God for His goodness and blessings in our life. It was a perfect start to the day. Saying goodbye to the students was hard, but I know that I will never forget them or this experience. This experience has caused me to grow as a teacher, person and Christian. I am so thankful that I got to be a part of Belizean culture and get to know its people. They are some of the most wonderful, kind and loving people I have ever met. I hope I blessed them as much as they have blessed me. Belize will forever be in my heart!
We ended the night with a delicious meal of rice and beans (although we may be tired of it, I know we will miss it). Sitting family style is always a beautiful thing. And lastly we shared devotions together before getting ready for bed.
Love,
Aria
Tonight I handed everyone on the trip one index card with a taped piece of sponge to it (shout out to Cass, Tiffany, and Jackie for helping out). On every card I wrote the words "Be His sponge..." This may seem silly, but I'll get to that later.
The scripture that I read tonight was first from Colossians 3:10-11 "Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us." Christ has made us new and every day we encounter things that continually renew us (or that's the just of it anyway). My second scripture reading came from Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." I broke this down to say the witnesses are the people we are surrounded by - the Belizeans, the members of the group, all you beautiful people reading this blog; there are a ton of things that can weigh us down - whether it be from the past, present, or future - but we shouldn't focus on these when we are in this fantastic country; and that we are all running a different race, but a race that God has put us on.
Then I finally gave a purpose to the index card: explaining what we have soaked up on this trip and refuse to squeeze out. My list included His beautiful creation in my students, the challenge and the sweet taste of victory, friendships, lack of importance of time, laughter...all the time, and most importantly trust in the One who created it all. As the group shared there was one thing that was evident: Belize will forever be in our hearts. To end the devotion, we listened to a spoken word (one which I don't know the name of because Andrew gave it to me, but I was super good). It talked about not wasting the time you are given and to be totally present in every moment. My prayer was to enjoy every moment in Belize before we have to go back to all the snow and coldness. We are His sponges, filling everyday until we are dripping wet.
Love,
Julia
It has definitely been a beautiful, tear-filled day. We are thankful for the opportunities God has given us to be sponges on this trip, simultaneously squeezing ourselves out as we are being poured into each day.
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