Valentine's Day Festivities (An incredibly long blog post...oops!)

Like in most countries, Valentine’s Day (known here as El Día de San Valentin, El Día de Amor, or El Dia de Amistad) is a pretty big deal. Valentine’s decorations and candy have been on sale since the Christmas season passed, and I knew that our girls were eagerly looking forward to the day’s arrival. High value is placed on relationships here, including romantic relationships at an early age in secular culture (from which most of the girls at our school come). I knew that this Valentine’s Day presented a unique opportunity to spend time with our girls and share something special with them from God’s word.

We started with a slumber party at my house last weekend. All 8 girls from Casa de Fe plus the Casa de Amor house-mom’s daughter piled into our ministry’s little green “camioneta” (pick-up truck) and arrived at my house on Friday night. We whipped up some sugar cookies for which my mom had sent the ingredients. With cookies baking and girls snacking, we sat down for a little Bible study. I chose to share about Ephesians 2:13-22 since our girls have recently been challenged with the tough decision of how to respond in love and respect when you disagree with other Christians and/or authority figures. This passage , describing the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers, perfectly applies to the cultural and generational differences that have the ability to either divide our ministry or beautifully “reconcile us both to God in one body…killing hostility (verse 16).” I absolutely love the implications for foreign mission work in verse 19 when Paul says “you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens.” We had a great discussion on how to love our “fellow citizens” even in disagreements and what a privilege it is to be “built together into a dwelling place for God (verse 22).”

After Bible study, we crowded around my kitchen table and decorated our cookies with pink frosting and as many sprinkles as each little cookie could hold. I was touched when a few of our girls asked if they could save one of their only two cookies for their house-mom in the morning. We ultimately calmed down and watched The Sound of Music in Español to end the night. The movie ended at around 2:30 am and as the VonTrapp family crossed the Alps into Switzerland, 9 girls in Monte Plata finally snuggled in to go to sleep. 

Let's get the party started!

Making cookies

Almost all of our sweet girls

Cookie decorating

Watching Sound of Music

A picture Nicol (our 2nd grader) snapped of me on the way home Saturday morning

Our littlest boys at Casa Monte Plata (Casa de Amor)- acting super cool before I took them for ice cream for their Valentine's treat

Ivan at the park

Angel Gabriel - notice his telescope hooked to his shorts

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, I eagerly planned and prepared for Wednesday’s Clase Biblica with our 6^th-8^th grade girls at school. I debated on whether we should study “God’s love” or “loving our friends” for our Valentine’s lesson, but finally decided that a lesson on boyfriend/girlfriend relationships was worth the awkwardness that it might initially bring to the class. How thankful I am that the Holy Spirit led me this way. In October, I began to read the book of Matthew as part of my personal Bible study. Something in the first two chapters grabbed my attention in a new way – the life of Joseph. I read and re-read what the Bible says about this man several times and was able to infer a list of qualities or characteristics that Joseph had. 

Matthew 1:19 “Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” – Joseph was just. Joseph was unwilling to shame others.

Matthew 1:20 “But as he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.” – Joseph considered decisions and didn’t make decisions based solely on emotions or personal preferences.

Matthew 1:24 “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” – Joseph was obedient. When God spoke, Joseph listened and followed.

Matthew 1:25 “He knew her not until she had given birth to a son.” - Joseph respected purity.

Matthew 2:13-14 “An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and said ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt…’ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt.” – Joseph led his family.

In summary, Joseph was just. He did not put others to shame. He was considerate. He obeyed the Lord. He was pure. He was a leader.

I talked with the girls about the idea that if God chose this man (although he was not perfect) to be the earthly father of Jesus, Joseph must have been doing something right. And if God chose Joseph for such an important role, I think that this man probably exemplified some of the characteristics that I should be praying for and looking for in a future husband. At the mere mention of husbands the girls began to giggle. I told them, however, that all husbands begin as boyfriends, and all boyfriends (should) begin as friends. So even though the 12-year-olds think marriage is years and years away, they can begin now to be wise about the boys they choose to spend time with and can always be praying that God is using things in their future husband’s current life to shape him into a man of faith. The girls began opening up and asking all sorts of questions about relationships, like…

What if the boy I want to date isn’t a Christian?
What if the boy who wants to date me says he’s a Christian but doesn’t act like it?
What if I like a boy but he doesn’t notice me?

What if my parents say that I can’t date yet but there’s a boy who wants to date me?

What if my friend’s parents don’t know that she has a boyfriend?

What if my friend’s boyfriend didn’t start as a friend and she started dating him before she really knew him?

We talked about their questions and the Lord gave me and the other leaders wisdom as we tried to answer them with scripture and Biblical truth. Many of our girls do not have Christian mothers, grandmothers, or older sisters to talk to about these important questions. Finally, we took heart-shaped pieces of paper and wrote down a prayer to the Lord for our future husbands.  I told the girls that even more important than praying for God to make their future husbands into men of faith, we should all be thinking this Valentine’s Day about whether or not we are allowing God to shape us, through His love and grace, into women of faith and women of Godly character.

The girls in Clase Biblica with their projects, candy, and gifts (thanks Mom and Grandma!)

On the left is a list of characteristics the girls want in their future husbands - sincere, friendly, hard-working, honest, admirable, respectful, caring, loving