Hello, My Name is: Sid the Sloth

Sometimes I like speaking with a lisp like Sid the Sloth in Ice Age.  It makes me chuckle, and sometimes it makes others chuckle, but its mostly for self amusement.  I did realize, however that this week I was given the opportunity to become more like Sid the Sloth than his lisping speech.  I was actually adopting the actions of a sloth.

Unexpectedly, the combination of other Mission board meetings, the Bolivian census as well the Thanksgiving holiday gave myself and the rest of the SCCLC teachers and students the week off.  I had been itching to get out of Santa Cruz and surround myself with beautiful views, so I went with seven other teachers on an adventure in Samaipata from Friday to Monday, a little mountain town outside of the city.  We did a bunch of day hikes, swam under some waterfalls, and discovered Incan ruins.  It was a beautiful and restful time.

The ladies all swimming at Las Cuevas.  It took a lot of energy to take this photo.

Seeking shelter behind the waterfall at Las Cuevas in Samaipata, Bolivia.

The breathtaking view on the top of El Fuerte.

our BEST jumping picture of the group of us.

at El Fuerte, the Incan ruins outside of Samaipata

Swingset at the top of El Pueblito

Tuesday we returned, and we were required to be in our homes on the day of the Census (Wednesday) which was also my roommate, Dpo's, birthday so we celebrated with a Back to the Future marathon.  This is when the slothfulness started for me.  We ate cake, lasagna, tacos, and more cake whilst sitting, watching movies, and talking.

Dpo & her birthday cake :)

Then came Thursday.  the SAMily decided to postpone Thanksgiving dinner to Friday in case the Census wasn't finished, so we had another day at home.  I developed a bit of cabin fever so myself and another teacher went to a cute little store called Casa Ideas, and walked around a bit.  Then I came home and started watching my new show of obsession: Prison Break (only recommended if you have a lot of time on your hands).  Then all of a sudden it was 3am and Thursday had come and gone.

Then it was Friday: our Thanksgiving feast day: The ULTIMATE slothful holiday.  Where its ok to eat massive amounts of food and sit because we are giving thanks!  I managed to celebrate the right way.  Thank God. Eat. Thank others. Eat. Thank God more. Sleep. Wake up. Eat. Sleep.

Saturday was like any other Saturday: sleep until 2pm, read, and watch a movie (in this case it was Prison Break).  I did manage to talk to a few friends on Skype, though! :)

All this to say: I was Sid the Sloth this week.  I knew I needed some rest from school and from the everyday life that tends to empty me of energy, but this was a little too extreme.  I was like a high schooler on Christmas vacation.  It was unhealthy rest.

God has shown me a little of my heart this week: if given the chance to be lazy I will be lazy.  If given the chance to slack off, I will slack off.  I went to church today with the expectation to be fed, and I was disappointed.  In my mind I started blaming the church itself and getting frustrated that I feel like I am never fed at church here in Bolivia because of the language barrier.  But God showed me that it was ME that was the problem, not the church.  My mind wasn't in the right place to receive the Word of the Lord; it wasn't even close.  I hadn't spent time with God in so long that it was as if I was listening for a stranger's voice to tell me what I wanted to hear.

Proverbs 12:11 says "Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger."

I was in a deep sleep, and I was definitely suffering hunger.  I was not taking care of myself spiritually.
This entire week I slacked off and became idle.  I forgot to spend all that extra time I was given with the One who gave it to me.  I know that it is not a sin to rest in Him, but I need to learn what that looks like.  How to wisely spend my time with God so that I can continue to be fed by His Word and words.  Pray that I will learn how to rest in HIM in a healthy and Godly way, rather than in an unhealthy self-gaining way.  Pray that I will run away from the attractive temptation to become Sid the Sloth.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Rachel

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PRAYER REQUESTS FOR THIS WEEK:

• CHRISTMAS PROGRAM (Dec. 14th)
• PLEASE pray that all of the kids will be excited but FOCUSED as the program is rapidly approaching
• Pray that those with LINES will study hard so that they will have their lines memorized
• Pray for the behind the scene details will come together
• Pray for MY focus and sanity as I direct everyone, that I will rely on God's strength not my own
• YOUTH GROUP
• Pray that those that are part of the Crew meetings will continue to seek God in the decisions we make for the rules and expectations of Crew.
• Pray that God will give te Junior Highers opportunities to share and receive the Gospel.
• Pray that MORE Junior Highers will desire to come to youth group and be part of the crowd.
• SCCLC
• Pray that the students and teachers will work diligently to catch up and get re-focused after such a long break
• Pray for those students finishing up their homework tonight; that they will stay focused and work well
• Pray for the rest of this quarter as Christmas is coming up that we will be able to live each day to the fullest rather than just survive until the end.
• PERSONAL
• Pray that I can learn how to REST in Him, rather than in my own selfish gain
• Pray that I will find myself a mentor here in Bolivia so that I can continue to be lifted up and to grow.
• Pray that I can continue to develop my relationships with the other teachers outside of school.
• Pray for opportunities to build relationships with my students.

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For Better or Worse

God is teaching me a lot about the importance of being DEVOTED to him.  Through some of my very own students, he is showing me that He needs to be my number one.  I have to be "hopelessly devoted" to Him, for better or worse.

Ryan has been teaching a series to the students at the SCCLC about "tying the knot." He started with the symbol of Tying the Knot with God.  Allow Jesus to be the knot that ties you to God and connects you to Him.  He continued it with a challenge and question for the kids if they have even tied the knot.  Then his last sermon was about TIGHTENING the knot.  Continuing in the sanctification process and allowing God to be your groom.  PUBLICALLY sharing your devotion to Christ.  He showed the video below as a challenge to the kids:

After Ryan spoke last week, he gave all of the kids an index card and challenged them to write their "vows" to God and return them to him this week.

This week, he gave the kids the opportunity to share their vows in front of the school.  The tears started flowing as student after student came up and shared their personal committments to follow and submit to Christ.  I couldn't help but be convicted as I sat there and listened to these kids share from their hearts.

I might get married someday soon, but I know that I don't want that to happen until I've already devoted my heart and my life to my Savior.  So I have decided to follow my students who I'm supposed to lead and write my own vows to Jesus, my bridegroom.

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VOWS TO MY BELOVED

You are my past, my present and my endless future and 

I know that You will never change.

You are faithful when I am falling, 

You give me grace when I return to You, and 

You love me when I don't remember to love You.  

You put me first when I put you last.  

What else can I do but commit to loving You eternally?  

What else can I do but vow to serve You until I see you in heaven?  

What else can I do but publically promise to follow You? 

Wherever it may lead.  

For better or worse, I promise to stand by You 

because I know that even in the worse parts of my temporary time here I can find comfort in You 

because You are my Healer, Sustainer, and Provider.  

I know that there will be countless betters because I can confidently say that 

our relationship will last longer than time can measure. 

So with this convenant I stand firm on the truth that You will never fail me, 

and though I cannot promise that I won't fail you, 

I can promise that I will remain faithfully and forever Yours, 

my bridegroom & my first Love.

Eternally devoted, 

Your Rachel Gentry

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Have you written Vows to your Savior?  I challenge you to also take the step to publically share and declare your love for your Beloved.  Listen to the song (below) that was being explained above, and meditate on the words.  God isn't finished with you, me or anyone, and He desires for us all to share and declare our endless love for Him.

Thanks for listening,

Rachel.

Warm Fuzzies

Have you ever had them?  You know what I'm talking about.  The beaming smile, not sure how to respond, warm feeling you get when someone genuinely encourages you.  Encouragement is probably one of the most powerful things to receive aside from discouragement.  Let me explain.

Since I was a child, I thrived on discouragement...negative reinforcement.  I remember a time in 6th grade when I, out of peer pressure, was blatantly disobeying one of my youth group leaders and in anger he retorted, "You're really never going to learn how to listen will you?"  From that point on I made it my goal to prove him wrong.  I was embarassed and ashamed of my behavior, but it was his stinging words that motivated me to change.  Throughout my life, I have tended to break down walls, change minds, prove people wrong.  When I was discouraged from moving forwad, I would even if it was unwise.  When I was told I couldn't do something, I'd do it in order to change the minds of those who don't know me--or judge me.

What I have discovered in my own self-evaluations, I still have the same mentality.  I hold on to discouragments much longer than encouragements, why?  Because they are more motivating.  I was pretty severely discouraged when I first arrived to Bolivia.  I was hurt by a few individuals, and my perception was that I wanted to prove those individuals wrong.  I wanted to prove that I was different than what they said I was, that I was better than they said I was.  The work I did was in vain, though.  Through my time here at the SCCLC, I worked and worked and didn't receive what I wanted: a tale-between-the-legs apology, to be told "you proved me wrong," to be given a reason to have pride.  My aim to please was directed toward the wrong people when it should have been directed to the One who sent me.

It wasn't until I attended youth group with my Junior Highers on Friday that I was shown WHY it is that I am here.  Ryan has been teaching the Junior Highers a series on bullying, and the importance of building eachother up, and encouraging one another.  He had all of the kids sit in a hot-seat and have people say encouraging things about them.  After the students were done, he had them do the same to the leaders.  I was first.  I sat with tears in my eyes as the epitamy of warm fuzzies came over me.  Student after student raised their hands and told me all of these things I have been doing right.  They told me the exact opposite of the things that on which I was discouraged.

I am not here to prove those who discourage me wrong.  I am here SERVE those whom I love, and in God's grace, though my motives were impure, that is what I have been doing.  God is the ultimate encourager.  He sees the PURE me through the weaknesses I possess.  Jesus is the mirror to the Truth of the gospel.  He sees me as perfect--and his judgement is the exact opposite of cloudy.

I read Ephesians 3 today, and saw so many things I wanted to take out of it.  What I am learning is that I need to allow my identity be rooted in Christ's love, rather than rooted in earthly motivations--whether that be discouragement or encouragement.  I need to be serving with a mentality to love and please God, no one else. The BEAUTIFUL thing that happens when I am aiming to please God is that I will naturally please and love everyone.
So the discouragements of my life have taught me two major things:
1. Discouragment may be strong enough to change a person's outlook or actions, but its not strong enough to change hearts.
2. I am not identified as Rachel Gentry, missionary middle school & music teacher.  I am identified as Rachel Gentry, daughter of the King.  So no matter what failures there may be, or discouragements that may come, the one encouragement that I will forever hold onto is that I am loved by the One whom I don't deserve to know.

THAT gives me warm fuzzies. I truly believe that God used the words of my middle schoolers to show that encouragement is indeed stronger than discouragement, and I long for the day when I do hear "well done, good and faithful servant."  I'm willing to bet that the warm fuzzies from that statement will last for eternity.

My 7th Graders :)

Thanks for reading, praying & supporting!

Rachel

Prayer Requests for the Week:
Sunday: Pray for continued development in my relationships with my Bolivian church friends.  PRAISE that I was able to have two great conversations last week.
Monday: I will begin babysitting Pam & Ryan's children while they are at HS youth group.  Pray that I look at this as a ministry opportunity to the Parsons family and their two boys.
Tuesday: Pray for the Middle School Crew meeting we are having, that the convsersation will be God-honoring and that they kids will be changed & challenged.
Wednesday: Pray for chapel to continue to make a difference in the lives of the students and teachers at the SCCLC.
Thursday: Pray for the SAM missionaries and ministries (both home and away) that are in need of funding.
Friday: Pray for Middle School youth group--that we will reach more of the students that have not yet attended.