Ending and Starting

Since our last update we have had two different seasons. We have ended the school year, and we have entered into a two month break before the next school year begins. Saying goodbye to things, and preparing for the next season has been our lives for the last two months. Ending the school year is always very tough and exhausting as we not only say goodbye to students, but also to teachers who move on from the school. For this break we decided to stay in Bolivia as well, and so this season of rest looks different than previous ones when we normally would return to the States.

The end of the school year is always kind of tough because everyone is running on fumes and there is usually a lot to do. Mark was chosen by the seniors to be the faculty speaker at graduation, which was a big honor and it went very well. He stayed pretty busy with finals and end of the year things with the seniors. One of the highlights for Mark was a senior bonfire at the school where the teachers and the seniors played games, ate food, and reflected around the fire. It was encouraging to hear what many of the seniors had to say about their time at Highlands. Audrey stayed pretty busy at the end of the year with her job as head of the Member Care Team. She was in charge of putting together many of the goodbye parties, teacher appreciation parties, and end of the year celebrations that take place during this season. On top of it all Audrey finished her own classes for the semester and was trained for her new job as librarian of the school for the next school year.

One of the tougher parts of the end of the year was saying goodbye to our good friends, the Stamey's, who are headed back to North Carolina. It is always tough saying goodbye, whether to the departing teachers or graduating students. Saying goodbye to the Stamey's was a little tougher because we have shared so much of our Bolivian life with them from the start. It is a reminder of the bigger picture that God has for our lives, and that He is always the one in the driver seat. We are thankful for the three years we have shared with them, and we are excited to see what the Lord will do with them in North Carolina. We must also trust in the Lord to bring new community into our lives, and so we ask for prayer as we seek to build a stronger community here. We want to grow deeper bonds with the existing staff, church community, and any new people that the Lord may call to La Paz. We currently still have openings at Highlands and so we ask that you join us in prayer for the Lord to fill those positions.

Entering into our season of break was much needed, and we spent the first week and a half revamping our apartment, and reorganizing our place to make it more of a home. We are thankful for the time and finances to finally fill our place with more of the things that help make it into a home. Not only has this season brought the right time and finances for that, but also for improving our Spanish and finding rest outside of La Paz. Pictured above were some of the things we enjoyed in our two week stay in Cochabamba, Bolivia, which is the gastronomical capital of Bolivia. It is also home to the language school that we had previously taken online Spanish classes from. We figured this break was a perfect time to not only get to know Cochabamba and it's food, but more importantly to enroll in an intensive two week program to improve our Spanish. Having just returned from this, we can confidently say that #1 this was a beneficial time for progressing in our Spanish speaking ability, and #2 that our brains are about to explode...Fortunately we are on break and will have time to rest, recover, and continue practicing. Looking back we are very thankful for the time in Cochabamba as we feel like the Lord used it in a lot of ways to help us grow.

God always uses these seasons in different ways. Although sometimes tough and painful, these seasons come with growth and always seem to point us back to God and His sovereignty in all of them. It's hard letting go and saying goodbye, but God is in control and has a plan and purpose for all of it. It's not always easy to give up going home, but God often calls us to lay aside our own comfort. It's not easy feeling stupid as you learn to speak a new language and make many mistakes along the way, but we trust in God's purpose for it. He has a larger plan and a greater perspective, and we trust Him, even when it's tough. Please continue to pray for us as we practice and grow in our Spanish speaking skills. Next up for us is a two week stretch of nothingness before a much anticipated visit from Audrey's family! We look forward to that mid July visit and are thankful to have our first visitors to La Paz! We will end this update with a plethora of food pictures from Cochabamba and say that indeed the city lives up to its gastronomical title.