Lessons from a tiny blue classroom

It has been awhile since my last update. And as usual, a lot has happened since then. Besides beginning the school year, we had many exciting events at the Finca. We had a missionary group come from Notre Dame for their spring break. We celebrated Mardi Gras. And we celebrated many birthdays at the Finca, including my own. This one was one of my favorite birthdays ever. So simple, yet so beautiful and joyful. I woke up to the surprise of both the living room in our missionary house and my kindergarten classroom filled with balloons and streamers. Then all the kids during morning assembly sang happy birthday to me and I received lots of hugs and birthday wishes from the kids. One of the tias made me donuts and another bought me ice cream and invited us missionaries over to her house to enjoy it. I finished the day with a sunset swim and homemade pizza brought to me by my housemates: Nate & Nat. It was such a special day and gave me the ability to reflect on the 22 years of life the Lord has gifted me and how I desire to live for my 23rd year of life. I’m very thankful for this life here at the Finca and although it is not easy, and I still feel like a beginner, poco a poco (little by little) I am learning how to live more simply, humbly, and joyfully. 

On February 1st we started school at the Finca. With what was already there and the limited resources I have, I decorated and prepared the tiny blue room that would soon turn into my kindergarten classroom. When I first started preparing I felt overwhelmed, not knowing where to begin. Never having been trained in teaching, it felt like a huge responsibility to plan out lessons for a whole school year and to be responsible for educating nine children. The tiny blue room just felt like a tiny blue room with no story, no purpose, only the unknown. But the start of the school year was approaching, and despite my fears and cluelessness, I couldn’t shy away from this role that the Lord was asking me to fulfill. I had been warned that the first day might be a little crazy, but I don’t think I was expecting to have a kid screaming for his mom the whole class or another kid sneaking out of the classroom in hopes of escaping school, or my whole class hiding from me. In the middle of it, I wanted to cry. But looking back on that day I can’t help but smile. That was the day that started the story of the tiny blue classroom. It is no longer just the tiny blue classroom. It is now my kindergarten classroom. The room where 9 kids with 9 unique stories come everyday to learn, play, sing, and grow. Everyday is a challenge, every day is a little different. But every day I learn something new and I make a new memory in that tiny blue classroom. I am still not a teacher and I still have a lot of room to grow but I have slowly come to love this role that the Lord has given to me and have learned to focus on the blessings and progress rather than the challenges and imperfections that exist in and outside my classroom.

Blessings from Honduras! You are all in my prayers. 

Con amor,

Kenna