Greetings to all.I know it has been a few months, but I'm writing now!! Sorry about not letting everyone know what is going on with us. I'll tell you our personal stuff first, and then let you know what is going on with the school.

Right now Roy is in the States and I (Maxine) am in Honduras. He had a doctor appointment February 5. He has been having a lot of stomach aches and has had two blockages in two months. The doctor and Roy agreed that he should rest in the States for a while and see if it is possibly the stress of the school causing his problems. She also wants a CT scan and possibly a scope to check and see what is going on. It is cheaper for Roy to fly to Honduras and have the CT scan here than it is for him to have one in the States. So, he will fly here the week before Semana Santa (Holy Week) and have the scan done then. He will stay a little while with me (yeah!!!) and then he will return to the States for his next doctor appointment which is on May 5. He feels pretty good right now. He is playing with our little 4-year old grandson a lot - and our grandson is trying to convince Roy to take him on a plane to Honduras. He bosses Roy around pretty good but he is such a good boy that we are okay with that. Roy got to have a couple of pretty serious talks with a couple of our kids, and he feels good for having done that. They are not walking the way they should and he felt the need and love to talk to them about that.

We were in the States late in November. I got to spend quite a bit of time with my grandmother. She wanted to go through all of her clothes with me. She kept saying things like, "you are going to look really good in this" and "you are really going to like this one." She also told me a couple of things that shse wanted to give to certain people.  We had such a fantastic visit. It was like visiting with her ten years ago when she always told me I was her best friend and how much she loved me. She had almost died four times before that just within the previous month, so I was astonished that she was so alert. We had called in hospice to try to make her comfortable. I can't believe the things they do to make her more comfortable. I almost wish we had called them in earlier! Less than a week after I returned to Honduras, I got a call that she was going. I tried to get on a plane and get there, but right when I was leaving for the airport, they called and she had died. My sister was there with her (thank God).  The hospice nurse was so kind to me and told me that she saw me going through my grandmother's things with her and that at that time she felt like my grandmother was trying to tell me good-bye. It was as if those other four times she didn't die because she just wanted to tell me good-bye. She had gotten mad at me a lot since she got Alzheimer's, but all of that lessens so much when God gives you a chance to be with the "real" person one more time. I am so thankful for that visit, but I miss my grandmother a lot. It was a great situation at the funeral because I got to spend time alone with my sisters and I got to spend some time with my dad and stepmom. I love them all so much, and we got to uplift each other.

In January I had sinus surgery. The doctor had to repair a deviated septum, remove a polyp, remove a cyst, make the turbinates smaller, open the big sinus up more, etc. I am still recovering from that. I can breathe better now though and I have a lot less headaches.

Now, for the school. As far as the children go, the school is great. Someone I don't even know - at the doctor's office - told me they have heard of our school. They had heard that it is a very hard school and that it is very hard to get into it. They are right. When I was gone to the States, some of the other teachers tried to teach my class. My class was surprised to learn that they know more than some of the teachers. We are working on geometry right now and we are getting ready to learn how to figure out areas and perimeters. I don't know what they will do when I go to the States for Roy's doctor visit. The kids are excellent writers. My classroom is so full of their projects that you don't know where to look when you come in.

The kids are becoming more and more respectful. We are reading "The Prayer of Jabez for Teens" and they are really enjoying it. I made up some worksheets to go along with the book to keep them thinking, and they seem to enjoy discussing it. I really like it that one student found a part in the book that he did not agree with. I have been telling them all year to be careful when they read something that is not the Bible because they don't have to believe everything they read. That was great that he figured that out.

I have learned something new about the Honduran culture. My kids are preparing a talent show for the graduation ceremony. I am letting them all choose what they want to do. Two different groups want to dance. A group of the kids asked me to listen to a song and see if it was okay. It was just music with no words, so I wasn't sure why they asked. I didn't see why music could be bad, so I told them to go ahead. Pretty soon we were in trouble. The janitor heard the song and went to the principal who went to Julio and they told the kids (not me) that they couldn't use it. The kids were upset and told me about it. I went to find out why. Julio explained to me that in Honduras there is a definite line between Christian music and non-Christian music. The parents would have been very offended had the kids used that song because everyone in the country knows that it is a la bamba which he said means they use it in discos and it is very bad. Even without the words, they would immediately think of the words and it would be a bad situation. He had also walked into a class that was showing a bad video (I'm not sure what that means) so he made a rule that all CD's, DVD's, videos, etc. must be educational or Christian. So, our Director gave the kids a Christian CD. They had practiced for over a month with that song and we were practicing yesterday. Julio came in yesterday while we were practicing and said he didn't like that song and never wanted to hear it again. We told him it was a Christian song. He said that just because someone sings about the Tower of Babel doesn't mean they are a Christian. He knows who sings it and he doesn't like them and he didn't like the beat. The kids tried to tell him that the Director gave them the song and that it was Christian. He said, "I don't care." So, now we are off to find another piece of music for them. I showed him some CD's and he said we could use them. My kids were just so disappointed. I thank Julio for watching out for us (since I don't understand Spanish that well), and making sure the kids are doing what is right. And for teaching me more about the culture here.

Well, this is getting quite long. If any of your churches out there need a fill-in preacher, you could probably let Roy know. He might be available for that. He is going to preach here on March 17 since we know he will be here on that day. Also, please pray for our kids and grandkids. I'll give you all their names and maybe you could just ask God to bless them while you read the names: Raunda, Jonathan, Rachel, David, Derek, Danyelle, Elijah, Aidan, and Aris (she'll be one pretty soon - and Derek will be 21, wow!).

Love to all,

Roy (in tepid Tennesse) and Maxine (in Hot Honduras)