Lice, Love, and Humility.

Hi friends and family!
It's been a few months since I've sat down to write - so I will try and catch you up on what God has been doing in my life and in the lives of my precious children!
First of all, I can't believe that we're heading towards the end of February already. How is that possible? I just celebrated my six month anniversary in Honduras last week - unreal! I am so blessed to have spent six months investing and pouring into these beautiful children - - and I would jump on a plane and do this ALL over again in a heartbeat if I had to. God truly does give us the desires of our heart when we are seeking Him - because His desires become our desires! There is no place that I'd rather be than right here teaching these beautiful kids. And thank YOU for making all of this possible through your giving and your praying - I could not do this without ALL of you!
I'm going to do a quick recap of the past few months so that everyone feels on board. My time home in December was great (But really cold!) - - I loved seeing my family and visiting with friends. It was hard to leave but I knew what was waiting for me when I got off the plane! And it felt like I jumped right off the plane and into my classroom as I arrived on a Sunday and we started school on a Monday.The start of school in January was rocky at first as the kids were still in vacation mode, but after a few weeks they got back into the routine and have been doing just great. They continue to amaze me with their love, their energy, and their unbridled joy!
January was the month of transition - we said goodbye to our principal and her husband and gained some new staff. We will dearly miss Gary and Ashley at the school - I am so grateful for them and the impact they've had on the children as well as the wisdom and love they've poured into the staff. They will be missed, but I am excited to see what God has in store for them! We welcomed the president of Heart to Heart, Mary Frenter, during this transition and she is now a part of our school leadership. She is a beautiful person and the love of Jesus just oozes from her. I am looking forward to working more with her and watching what God will do through her at the school!

This February has been filled with challenging and amazing moments.One of the most challenging has been the past few weeks as I've struggled getting over a respiratory virus and then found lice in my hair on Saturday. Despite these minor difficulties that happen as I serve here in Honduras, God is still faithful and continues to show me how he cares about every single detail of our lives(Psalm 139) - even bugs!
 I was helping at the village this past weekend with lice treatment and picking, and as we were doing the last round of girls, I casually asked if someone could look through my hair. I didn't think anything of it as I hadn't had much itching at all. To my surprise, one of the ladies exclaimed, "Yep. You've got a nice nest in here, Beka! You must be really ITCHY!" I had been praying to be the Lord's hand and feet that Saturday as I gently combed through hair and picked out eggs, but I didn't picture others would be helping me with my hair. During the weekend several of our girls and some staff lovingly picked through my hair and showed me the love of Christ in a way I had never known before.

Jesus humbled me as He revealed important truths to stir in my heart. God sees past the "lice" in our lives -our insecurities, our sin, the areas we have yet to surrender - and sees US! He isn't scared of our scars or our weaknesses, in fact He loves us despite them! And He wants to clean us (1 John 1:9), restore us (Col.1:20) and put us back together again so that we can run the race (Hebrews 12:1). In the process of picking the lice out of our lives, Christ still wants to use us! How beautiful is that? I don't know about you, but I am SO thankful for God's grace and His desire to use us, bugs and all, because, "(his) power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9). How amazing is that? Christ power is revealed so strongly through our weaknesses - because it is Him working and not us! How humbling!

God continues to teach me as I teach His kids and continues to show me His passion for the nations, His deep love for us, and how He cares about every single detail in our lives. We serve a great God!

Thanks again for your support! Please continue to pray for our kids and for our staff as God places us on your heart!

I will write more soon! Blessings and love from Honduras!

Love,
Beka