¡Familia FEBU! ♥

El viernes pasado terminamos nuestro cuarto año lectivo en FEBU. Y este sábado (2 de diciembre) será nuestra primera graduación.

Faltaban algunos protagonistas...

Ayer por la tarde disfrutamos una salida al Teatro Solís, donde presenciamos un ensayo de la Orquesta Filarmónica de Montevideo.

Enrique Graf fue uno de los pianistas.

Nos dieron también un certificado de agradecimiento por haber participado en el simulacro de evacuación (previamente anunciado en la invitación).

Y a veces las mejores oportunidades son aquellas que surgen de manera espontánea...

Gozamos estas oportunidades. ¡Les amamos a todos! ♥

“Thankful Lists!” (+Ice-Cream!)

This year we “snuck away” (from “Grand Central Station”) for an hour or so on Thanksgiving Day to celebrate at a “Mom and Pop” Ice-Cream Shop, just a couple blocks away.

JM commented that we might be starting a tradition!

Summer is almost here, too!

The fourth Thursday of November is simply a middle-of-the-work-week, middle-of-final-exam-week sort of day, occurring during one of the busiest possible weeks in the school year. But I do try to pause (during the “Thanksgiving Season”) to at least work (with E and D) on a tradition we call “Thankful Lists!” The “lists” have taken various forms over the years and have proven to be a good teaching tool and opportunity to focus on the essence of the day.

So much to be thankful for!

Happy B-Day [Party], DJM!

This year, we ended up celebrating on a smaller scale than usual, with only extended family and some of our “adopted” family.

Our Little Man insisted on recycling the soccer and baseball party themes, combining them. (I didn’t mind!)

As I later wrote to each of our “adopted” kids:

We enjoyed getting to spend time “as family” with everyone present. We really appreciate the positive influence you have in the lives of our two Little People.

The busyness of life, with ever-increasing demands, has inspired me to come up with a new application of a favorite psalm (one that JM chose twelve years ago as a testimony during our church’s annual Thanksgiving Service when we were – finally – expecting our first).

The passage has often moved me to tears:

“Who is like the LORD our God?”

Who is like the LORD our God,

Who is enthroned on high,

Who humbles Himself to behold

the things that are in heaven and in the earth?

He makes the barren woman abide in the house

[and now “The Mission House”] 😏

as a joyful mother of children.

Praise the LORD!

(Psalm 113)

Back then, we would never have imagined a life – or especially a house – surrounded by college students. I am especially thankful for these who so beautifully illustrate the truths of today’s article from Desiring God Foundation:

In the new-covenant era — our era — the family emphasis in Scripture is not mom, dad, and three kids. It’s the church family. When the biblical priority gets reversed, it hinders rather than helps the growth of God’s people.

Of course, we must seek to uphold the importance of the nuclear family, but we don’t want to make an idol of it. If we consider what the apostles emphasized, we see that their focus was much more on the Great Commission, personal holiness, and growing the church family. And it is this family from which no single Christian is to be left out.

So thankful to be seeing truth lived out... Especially thankful to be seeing Jesus in our students...

End of Semester Thoughts

We’re thankful for random (last-minute) invitations to participate in life’s adventures – including cross-cultural yet local experiences – with college students.

Last week when the students’ first choice closed early, we discovered another (new to us) Peruvian restaurant right here in MVD!

The workload in the developing college project often becomes overwhelming – at times even compelling us to temporarily “borrow” time and resources from other areas of life. I am, however, encouraged this second time around (in contrast with this same point in the first cycle of foundational grammar and composition courses).

One week ago, I got to running the numbers...

If every student turns in all assignments, by the end of this week I will have graded research-writing projects at least 99 times this semester! (And that doesn’t even count all the work JM has put into grading.) That’s quite a bit for a start-up operation!

Details! Details! Details!

[Argumentation, exegesis, parenthetical documentation,

paragraphing, punctuation, etcetera!]

I am thankful to be team-teaching with JM. (I hope he feels the same!) In all seriousness, I am thankful for his insight, suggesting that we divide the major research-argumentation paper (a first, remedial experience for the majority of our students) into its five sections, grading bit by bit all along. Besides breaking down an otherwise daunting task into workable sections (for ourselves and our students), this approach has allowed us all to see (and to gauge) improvement throughout the project, enabling us to provide more practical, hands-on learning than ever before. And that aspect has been especially encouraging!

One challenge for those with clear vision is the time it takes for others – even teammates – to truly appreciate and begin to share that vision. Trying to teach basic research and writing skills (albeit on a remedial level) is a long-term investment, and I am thankful to be involved in this work that is foundational to the success of the college project...

¡Y es narniano!

Mucho ha cambiado en estos tres últimos años. ¡Ahora es el narniano más pequeño de nuestro grupo!

#CrónicasDeNarnia  #CSLewis  #filosofía

Celebrating Life!

Looking through photos, I was noticing a pattern and wondering: Why do we end up celebrating late-October birthdays in mid-November (or even later)?

The workload of the last several weeks has reminded me: Ah, yes! Grading research papers (and miscellaneous late work) will do it every time!

Thankfully, we have a long-standing tradition we like to call “birthday season” in our little family! This week we managed to “sneak away” for a couple hours, and DJ enjoyed opening some “belated” b-day presents.

Meet Tommy (and some friends).

Everything about him is . . .

Seven.

And, by that evening, he had finished reading the entire book! (What?!) And he wanted the story to keep going... 😏

We love our Little Man!

Little Engineer!

I just love the details provided by my Little Man’s engineering mind! ♥

And the cut-away view... 😏

Can you spot the wiring inside the console in the cockpit? What about the “controls” the pilots use? And the exit doors in the airplane? (Hint: One is on the wing!) He even explained that the exit doors open up to become slides...

By this time, I probably shouldn’t be at all surprised that our Little Engineer’s “record button” was on when we last traveled (late last year), remembering stuff I may or may not have actually focused any attention on...

His focus constantly amazes me!

Learning French!

Je suis heureuse! Ils commencent à étudier le français un peu! ♥

#FirstThousandWordsInFrench #QuiACreeLeMonde

“Desde Simón a Pedro”

Vivimos en “la era del vacío”, así ha denominado a nuestros días el filósofo contemporáneo Gilles Lipovetsky. Su definición filosófica para nuestra realidad es desarrollada en diferentes conceptos de los cuales voy a destacar dos: “Vivir sin ideal, sin objetivo trascendente resulta posible” y “vivir el presente perdiendo el sentido de continuidad histórica”.

La vida del Apóstol San Pedro no encaja temporalmente dentro de esta “era del vacío”, pero comparte su misma esencia. Compartía en su interior la realidad de ser poco trascendental y sentirse incompleto.

El libro que tienes en tus manos revela el maravilloso encuentro entre un corazón vacío y la eternidad... Una familia, algún puñado de amigos, pocas expectativas y una gran boca definían a Pedro. Lo que él aún no sabía era que su vida estaba a punto de cambiar para siempre. Lo que no sabía era que dejaría las aguas y comenzaría a pescar en la tierra. Lo que no sabía era que su corazón, metas y sueños serían transformados. Lo que estaba a punto de iniciar era el viaje que lo convertiría en el líder máximo del movimiento más importante de la historia. He aquí parte de su historia; he aquí su viaje... desde Simón a Pedro.

Al comenzar a leer el libro, me llamó la atención – realmente me tocó profundamente – el punto final del Prólogo:

Quién sabe si puedas encontrarte tú también con el maravilloso Dios que caminaba a orillas del Mar de Galilea en sandalias. Vivimos en “la era del vacío”, excelente oportunidad para buscar la verdad que puede llenarlo.

Esa es mi oración para todos tus lectores.

Fotos: FotoGonza

Ser parte en la presentación de este libro fue para mí un gran privilegio, un verdadero punto alto en este semestre.

¡Felicitaciones, Maxi! Te queremos mucho.

¡Gracias a Dios!

Memory Lane: North America

An email message from Shutterfly today reminded me of “memories from this week six years ago...”

What fun to take an unexpected little trip down Memory Lane!

Banff National Park, Canadian Rockies

♥♥♥

♥♥♥

“My Mountain Men!”

“A Fun Project!”

We then headed south, out of Canda, to Utah!

“Between Birthdays!”

We ♥ Utah!

SO thankful for the blessings of digital photography!

¡Me encanta! ♥

Me encanta lo que representa este trabajo escolar. Ya me lo imagino a mi peque, concentrado, copiando cada detalle...

♥♥♥♥