The beautiful mess of my journey

Yesterday I traveled to my first city for CHWC. The morning started off wonderfully with my amazing brother and mom taking me to the megabus stop at 6:30 am. After a few hugs goodbye, I boarded the bus for a 6ish hour drive across the state. 

Well about two hours in we started smelling fumes. After multiple stops to breathe without chemical inhalation and quite a few delays, we made it to Philly - 11+ hours later. One perk of extra long delays is being able to sit outside and read.

I felt so exhausted and sick as I met my team for the first time. We had quite a drive back to camp, but it was nice to have people to talk to and fresh air to breathe. The normal excitement of meeting new people is some thing that I always look forward to for camp- so I wasn't going to let a lousy bus ride ruin my day, although it did slow me down quite a bit. The girls were awesome when the picked me up and it was nonstop getting to know each other the whole drive in. I loved it!

We arrived right as program was starting. Perfect timing!!! 

It was so exciting to be in the audience, seeing the excitement that lies ahead. Even though my travel day was such a mess, the beautiful reward of being at camp and having praise and worship with 200 teens made it truly a beautiful mess.  My heart is ready as this "Minimission" beings! God is so good! 

Today is jam packed with mass, program & training. I cannot wait to spend time with these people that will soon become my summertime family!

Blessed Time at Home

The past ten days have been an absolutely blessing - I have been in one of my favorite cities in the world, visiting with my fantastic friends, and spending time with my amazing family.  It's been busy but fun.   I did sneak a couple mornings of relaxation in on my first few days home.  How can you have a porch like this and not use it? Especially for sipping on a sunrise cup of tea and reading a good book?

It was awesome to be home for Father's Day this year.  Last year I was in the swing of CHWC and was mid-tour when Father's Day rolled around, but it was such a blessing to be home hanging out with my family.  We started the day by going to church.  When we got home, Stacey and I prepped lunch for the family and thankfully Stacey was our grill master.  She did a great job :)

I have had the opportunity to meet up with a lot of my close family and friends to spend some quality time together.  One of the major highlights of any trip home for me is spending time with Natalie, Jason, Cici, and Kateri.  I am so blessed to be Kateri's Godmother and have been invited into their beautiful family.  When I am around them, I feel the joy and love of their family and the energy of the girls which radiates such light and happiness in my heart.  It's hard not to continually smile when I am with them.  Both girls are growing so fast!  Kateri's vocabulary is amazing! At 16 months, she knows so many words and can understand almost any direction you give her.  And Cici is a ball of fun and loves to dance, but is also super calm and wants to read for hours.  We sat in the living room and read story after story after story.  One of the books that she always asks me to read her is "The Giving Tree".  We actually read it twice in a matter of an hour.  It's no wonder to me that she loves this book.  Her parents are such great examples of what selfless love should be.  Although she doesn't necessarily think through the connection being that she is only 2 1/2 years old, she is comfortable with the idea of this "I will sacrifice anything for you" type of love.  What great role models for not only the girls, but also for me and our other friends.  An awesome perk of being "Aunt Cheryl" is that Cici painted me an awesome piece of artwork - it will definitely be something I cherish for a long time.   I've showed it off quite a bit to the other people I've hung out it with since I acquired my new artwork.  Who knows, it might be a part of my international gallery (aka my little pieces of home in Honduras in the fall.)

Now that my time home is winding down, it is great to have the opportunity to reflect on the greatness of God's love that he has surrounded me with.  He has given me so many people that love me and I cannot wait to share that love the every person that I encounter.  I have just one day left with them before I kick off the start of my travels with Catholic Heart.  Although I am going to miss all of these wonderful people so much, I cannot wait for camp to start!

Little notes, big impact

Today as I was grading final exams, I stumbled upon this little note from one of my students.  Immediately tears came to my eyes.

He is moving to Spain next year, so although we haven't really discussed it, we are going through similar things.  Moving to a new country, trying to learning spanish before we go, parting with possessions that we have become accustomed to, and saying goodbye to friends and family - these are all challenges we are both facing. I've been thinking about him and praying for a smooth transition for him and his family for months now. So when I found this note, with an awesome drawing and the "close enough :)" I realized that we really are so similar right now.  It's hard saying goodbye to family and friends, students and faculty,  and think about all of the things that you are doing for the last time here with these people - but I think we are ready for our new adventure.  So holding fast to the memories we've made, we are close enough that the distance can't make us forget that we will always have shared this little infinity together. (Yes, this is to you, my beautiful students that love The Fault in Our Stars).  We truly are "close enough :)".

The gift of education

I had a heartbreaking moment today when a student gave up on himself in the middle of his math final.  He quit, put his head down, and said under his breath "I can't do this."  I paused... waited... hoping that he would pick himself back up again and start working, but he didn't.  I knew he needed a little push, a little encouragement.  So I waited another minute or two and started my normal lap around the room during a test - checking on a student here, commenting on making sure to show more work there, giving a smile to those that make eye contact - all of which are normal.  When I got to this student's desk I noticed his predominately blank exam. I looked at him and said "I know you are capable of a lot more than what you have on this paper. Can you show me everything you remember?" He looked up and said "This is from the part of the year that I stopped trying, this is the stuff that I chose not to learn. Remember?"  Knowing that although this is true he is smart enough to figure it out, I kept pushing. "Look at your formula sheet that I provided, apply those equations! You are smart enough to figure it out [insert student name], please try." Continuing my lap and checking on a couple other students, I look back and see him working a little.  Slowly piecing together the puzzle.  Struggling with confidence because he didn't apply himself earlier in the year.

I wonder if this will happen next year.  I know that there is a cycle of poverty in Honduras, so I am ready for motivation to be a struggle.  But I believe that education is the number one way to influence change. It is the way to a new life.  Education, no matter where you are, is such a gift.  I am thankful everyday for my parents fostering my interest in learning at a young age.  I am grateful that they pushed me not to be the best, but to be the best version of myself.  I am forever indebted to my primary school teachers for helping me with my struggles in learning and helping me to become confident in myself and my abilities.  And I am lucky to have had phenomenal teachers and professors from high school through graduate school that pushed me to think outside of the box and become a critical thinker.

Because of the gift of education that they have given me, I feel ready to become a missionary teacher.  They have instilled in me that value that "hard work makes dreams come true" (thank you Montour HS for that quote being next to the door daily, however cheesy - it is true).  I know that the next year is going to be a lot of hard work.  I am ready for it.  But I hope that my dream of helping others learn and end the cycle of poverty comes true.  I pray for all of my students, past, present, and future - that they may learn to love learning and become the best versions of themselves.


Please help fund my mission by donating here: http://www.gofundme.com/CherylHondurasMission

Reminder the joyful souls of Honduras

When I was in Honduras in November, I had the opportunity to meet Noe.  He is my age and his spirituality and true joy in Christ lit an amazing fire within my heart.  I think of Noe often and how he has endured so much more than I have and we have been given the same amount of time thus far on this earth.  I think of his joyful spirit, happily interacting with us as we visit with him.  Recalling his happiness, I spent a lot of time since November reflecting on how he maintained such a happy demeanor with all of the struggles that he has been through. I think of his generosity as he handed me the rosary bracelet that he made himself and wore and prayed every day.  He has inspired my spiritual life so deeply just by being a beautiful son to our loving God!

A few weeks ago my friend Justin posted this video of Noe and each moment of my time with Noe came flooding to mind as I watched it.  I was re-inspired, reignited! I have a joyful heart knowing the when Noe said "I'll see you again soon" that it is really going to be soon! In just over 2 months I will get to see Noe again! Only 9 months after we met! I had no intentions of returning to Honduras so soon and God has done great great things and changed my heart!



I cannot wait to see him again!