Dear Family and Friends,
Yes,
it has certainly been too long since we’ve written. Some of you may have already consigned us to
your “Where
are they now?” list. Fair
enough. But, we are still HERE and life
goes on. And, now it’s time to catch you
all up on our lives….
Jon continues to teach at South Texas
College—the job that God so graciously provided AFTER we
had moved here and settled into life. He
has about 60 students in his various classes…and he so enjoys teaching them
college writing. Of course, he weaves in
his own life experiences…and remains ever open to any conversations that
students are willing to have (see the latest blog: http://herrinmission.blogspot.com/2012/03/marias-primer-paso.html).
Besides teaching at the college, ministry and service continues in Monterrey. The John Wesley Seminary basically maintains
an open invitation for whenever Jon can be with them, and the Methodist school/Teachers'
College (El Instituto Laurens - LEB) is happy whenever we can both be with
them. Just recently, we received an
invitation to spend a weekend at the teachers’ college to help train public,
bilingual science teachers. Now, we're
not science teachers, but the director of the program wants us to talk about
methods for teaching the English components of a science course. Okay…we’ll give it a try!! Ha,ha… Then, Jon was also asked to come a give a presentation
at the 15th Annual Education Seminar sponsored by our Methodist
school in Monterrey. This year, the
seminar will take place on the campus of the huge public university—la
Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León (UANL).
Jeanne has continued to press on
at the home-front making sure that this first year of transition goes well for
all of us. The home is set up now--for
the most part--and we are all settling into our lives here. Until Megan got her license in January,
Jeanne was the principal taxi-driver.
Jeanne has been very active in the PSTO (parent, student, teacher
organization) at Andrew’s school, and she has been scouring the internet for
scholarship opportunities for our children as they attend or move towards college. And, she manages to keep us so very well
fed—not “fat and happy,” but “fed and happy.”
After this summer, Jeanne hopes to find either a full-time or a part-time
job—please pray that God reveals the right kind of work and then opens the door
for it all to happen!
Jesse is in Austin, Texas,
and will begin her junior year this Fall at Texas State University in San
Marcos, Texas. She is very excited about
this move. She will be taking a
bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish with teacher certification in both
areas! The girl aims high...and she has
every reason to! And--selfishly--we are
so happy that Jesse can come home every so often for a visit...to take a break
from school and work.
Megan is a dual-enrollment student this
last year of high school, attending the college where Jon
teaches. She is doing very well in her
studies as she takes her first steps towards the RN program. In fact, she has done so well that she was
inducted last week into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society! Go, Megan!
Besides her studies, she is very active in Intervarsity Christian
Fellowship…and even went with ICF on a mission trip to the Yucatan (Mexico) for
Spring Break.
Andrew is doing very well in his first
year of American high school. As of the writing of this letter, he has all
A’s! He is involved in the drama program
at the school, and plays the drums in a little band some friends and he have
put together. Andrew is still adjusting
to life here. He still misses his
friends in Monterrey, but he and his sister have been able to visit Monterrey
by bus…so they get to see old friends every now and then. Meanwhile, Andrew forms new friendships
here…and he seems genuinely happy with life.
Well,
there you have it! Life is good. We are finding our way in this new world…and
God remains both good and faithful. We're
going to close this letter with the closing paragraph of Jon’s report to the
Annual Conference:
“The first few months back in the US were a
time of real soul-searching as I tried to figure out who I was and what I was
to do. I was patient and God is
faithful: for now, it seems that I am to
be a local teacher (with amazing opportunities to share my life with the 97%
Latino student population) and
a missioner to Mexico. This life and
work does not fit the neat holes of conference forms...but when has God limited
God's self to our forms? I thank God for
experiences past...and look forward to what God will have for me, for us--my
wife and myself--in the days and years to come.”
Thank you all for your prayers and friendship
through the years--we would love to hear from you when you get a chance.
May God’s Grace and Peace be yours!
Jon
and Jeanne
Jesse, Megan and Andrew
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