February 2026: Back and Better than Ever

Hi there everybody!! Los eché de menos--I really missed y'all! Anyway, here's a quick update on what I've been up to so far. 

Christmas, first of all, was great. It was full of time with family, celebrations of Jesus's life and all the blessings He brought in 2025, plenty of gifts (including a few that I brought back from Guate), and a spur-of-the-moment trip to Disney World for the new year! Yet in the middle of all that joy, I still felt a great longing--to go back and pour my heart once again into these wonderful students. 

 
 A selfie I took of me and my family on Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom 

I don't think I shared this before, but I actually took the test to become a Foreign Service Officer while I was down here. On October 20, I seized the opportunity of the school being closed to finally take my FSOT (Foreign Service Officer Test) after more than a year of waiting. With no update on my score (they were not released this cycle, for whatever reason), I was praying hard when I wrote my last post on God to show me a sign of his will--and he did! The very next day (December 10), I received an email saying that my score (whatever it actually was) was not high enough, and that my candidacy was over. 

I'd never been more relieved to hear "no" from a job than I was at that moment. While my pie-in-the-sky dream career may have been put off another year-plus, I get to continue doing God's incredible work here with these kids--and as I repeatedly told my family this break, there is nowhere else I would rather be at this stage of my career than at Christian Academy of Guatemala. Knowing that I am forming the next generation of workers in God's kingdom--who may well carry the gospel even beyond Guatemala--puts me more at peace with the current moment than anything else ever could. It is a peace that really does pass all understanding. 

Praises

- It's (almost) official--I will be teaching dual enrollment next year! I will be an adjunct professor at the University of Mobile (Alabama) teaching U.S. History I and II. Don't worry--it's technically a remote job. I'll still be at CAG, teaching the class in person alongside my other teaching and advising duties. 

- This one is mixed--you may have heard about the armed attacks against the national police that took place on Jan. 18. School had to close the next day, but luckily nobody in our community was hurt, and life continues mostly back to normal (just with a few more cops on the street). Praise God for protecting our community, and pray for the killers to find that peace that passes all understanding. 

Prayers

- Later this week, we will have our annual High School Retreat! This will be my first time leading something like this (I am an advisor for CAG's 10th grade class this year). Pray for everyone to have fun and not get caught up in all the competitive aspects, but to find joy in life away from school and continue to discover God's purpose in their lives. 

- Later this month (Feb. 26-27), I will be leading our Model United Nations club to a conference in beautiful Antigua Guatemala! Please pray for calm nerves and for the students to remember that procedure and politics are temporary, but kind words, smiles, and love point to our Savior and Creator.

- Students are really starting to fray, and we're at the point where the school is beginning to question whether students belong. Please pray in particular for Dave and Michaela (pseudonyms)--for their grades to improve, and for them to behave well and take God's plan for their lives seriously. 

And that's all for now!! If you would like to support me financially, you can make your tax-deductible donations at this link. Thanks so much for your prayers--they mean more than you know. See you in 29 days!! 

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