Holiday Break

This break from work has been AWESOME. I have made an effort to spend as much time as possible with my cousins, which I love. I was telling my mom today that I love my friends, I truly do, but my cousins are like my "soul mates". And not because they are better than my friends but because they are my constant. I can tell other people about my past, but my cousins where there for it.

I got really stressed out while trying to run a reality game for my family the weekend before New Years. It went from Friday evening to Sunday early evening. Though it was a ton of fun (and so rewarding to watch my family have so much fun) I think I am done running the Mole. Maybe I'll do the amazing race next year. Anyway, once that ended I felt like I could finally let go/let loose and have fun. So we did. New Years Eve was excellent. As it always is. My family always has a party and we play cards and bring in the new year laughing and joking and having fun, the way it should be. I think that whenever I do move to Spain I would still have to fly home for the week of Christmas and New Years. I would miss it too much.

And that's all I have to say about that. It's hard to explain why I have been having so much fun. Maybe it's because I haven't had to coach basketball, work on MOLE stuff, spend all day with sixth graders, work as a waitress on the weekends, and on top of that try to be a good daughter, friend, and girlfriend AND try to follow Christ through it all. Not that I don't like keeping busy, but I often overdo it and forget my real priorities. Anyway, maybe this year I will be better. Who knows...

I'm here again...

This break from work has been exactly what I needed. I feel like I have been able to get my life back in order and breath again. I feel like I have been able to reconnect with God again. I feel like myself again.

Though I always knew this, I am really figuring out how much of my identity gets based off of who I am in my family. I am a LaMonaca and there is no denying that. I am a daughter, a sister, a niece, and (my favorite roll) a cousin. Everything I know about being a friend was developed through these rolls first. So, when my brother goes back home and my cousins go back to school and my aunts and uncles stop inviting me over... I forget who I am.

My New Years resolution -- figure out who I am as a daughter of Christ. As Christ's bride. As Christ's sister.

I feel like I come to this point over and over again where I realize a case of missing identity. At least once a year I need to come back here and say "who am I in your eyes, Lord?" So, now I am on an adventure to figure that out.

I'll write about my Christmas and New Years tomorrow.

BASKETBALL

Whew... it is almost over.

I've notice a lot over the last six weeks about twelve year old boys who play sports.

1- They think they know everything
2- They think they are the coolest
3- They don't respect women

I don't say any of this to be mean. I loved coaching (some of the time) and but I love that it will be over on Tuesday. Seriously, for some reason a woman's voice is on a frequency level that 12 year old boys simply cannot hear. They say things and do things to me that they would NEVER say or do if they had a male coach. They think they can change the plays I give them in order to better them and then get mad at me when the plays aren't working.

I have to say, coaching girls better be a lot more simple or I'll rip out all my hair.

Coaches to get paid enough. Having to deal with kids with attitude that don't want to listen, parents that don't pick their kids up on time, teachers that are full of advice you never asked for, and a dad that gets angry when his son doesn't get enough playing time in one game. Not to mention refs that don't know what they are doing and refs that are prejudice against female coaches.

I can't wait to start coaching the girls team. It can't be any worse than that, right?

What would Jesus Do?

thanksgiving

So, I kind of have a love hate relationship with Thanksgiving week. The week has always been really emotional for me for multiple reasons. Thanksgiving was never my favorite holiday because it was the only holiday that my family didn't spend with my cousins. As we got older the thanksgiving feast got smaller and smaller. Papa died, grandma started going to another son's house, Mike started celebrating with Beth's family, then Christopher got married and is celebrating with Erika's family. Mike and Beth moved to Arizona and had a baby, so mom and dad flew out there leaving me by myself for the big day.

I know there are other places I could go and I have had invites, but it's not the same. Plus I never liked Turkey, anyway.

But ever since I went to college thanksgiving break is so exciting cause all my cousins come home and we get to hang out and do fun things. This year is going to be esspecially fun. Tomorrow everyone gets home and we are going into the city for a flip cup tournament (which we will dominate at) and then spending the night at my cousins' apartment. I love hanging out with my cousins.

So that's my post - Heather gives me a hard time about not blogging regularly anymore so I'm trying to get back into the groove... please be patient with me.

Take my quiz.... it'll be fun!

click here

long overdue and so not worth it

Well, I owe Heather a blog post and I know she will never stop harrasing me until I post... so here it is; an update on my life...

I am not even sure what to say because I feel like my life is so boring. I already told all of you about my many jobs, all of which are going well. I started coaching basketball in the begining of the month. That has been really fun. I love my team. I started of really nervous, thinking "what did I get myself in to?" but after our first game I am feeling pretty confident that coaching this team is so worth all the craziness. Our first game was an away game against a team who had already played three games. We lost, but played a really good game. I was super proud of them.

Things with Ari are good--he went hunting this weekend and will now be eating bambi for the next 11 months. Crocket is cute as can be. I get to babysit the boys all day monday and tuesday. Life is good.

So, Heather, is this satisfactory? my life is so dull right now.

a conversation

A conversation between my mom and me this morning. mom is in yellow, im in red. :)

"Monaca, try this jelly"
"I don't like jelly, mom... but this isn't jelly it's jam"
"Whatever, Monaca"
"ooh, mom, you should invest in jam-off"
"whats jam-off"
"its an AMAZING jam... wanna see a commercial for it"
"oh yeah... get out of here."

Jam-off

Crocket -- 10 months old

Isn't this puppy the cutest???

He never stops working...

I wanted to post this (with permission) because I think it is important that everyone knows how amazing God is. His works are incredible. This is an email from my very dear friends in spain. Troy and Heather Cady are the team leaders and pastors of the church, Oasis Madrid. They have two beautiful kids, Meg and Nic. Here is their story.

.....
In the words of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct the other way..."

You might want to get a drink, a box of Kleenex and get comfy, because this is an epic story!

On Tuesday October 17, we received a call from CAI to let us know that we absolutely had to have our account out of deficit by year's end. Many of our colleagues are, as we were, suffering financially, and CAI is not able to "float" all of us when that happens. We of course had already been working on fund-raising, but this put an extra amount of pressure on us. At that point, we believed we were about $8,000 in the hole.

It was a rainy, grey week, and our spirits took a real nose-dive. On Friday the 20th, we met with Nic's teacher and another woman who provides assistance to kids at the school. They expressed concern that Nicolas (who is definitely behind, having jumped into the British school system this year) might have some kind of learning delay or issue. Although on its own, this news was not terrible, added to the burdens of the week, it became the straw that broke the camel's back.

I think that Friday was the worst day we have experienced in Spain. As the rain poured down outside, we struggled and grieved. We cried a lot of tears. We talked about leaving Spain, even if the money came in.

On Saturday, we sent out an email asking that you join us in prayer on Sunday October 22nd. We really did not know what God was doing, where He was leading. That evening, we had a service. At the end of the service, they kicked Troy & I out and voted to give us a generous financial gift from the church. Afterwards they sat us down, gathered around us, prayed for us and cried with us. We went home feeling more peaceful and encouraged, but still wondering what God was going to do. We asked our kids some loaded questions about where we should live. Among other things, Meg said "I think it's important to live in Spain to tell people about God."

Emails began pouring in, speaking words of encouragement to us. People were praying with us.We were certainly not alone. That Sunday we spent as a family, talking and praying and asking God to show us what to do. We asked God only that He would get our account back in the black by the end of the year. We made the difficult decision that if it was not in the black by then, we would leave Spain at the end of the school year.

Then the financial commitments starting coming in. Some of them before we even asked; some of them after. All of them generous, one huge one from a man we have never even met before. Part-way through the process we found out that we were actually $12,000 in the hole after having paid for school this fall. Still, the emails kept coming.

As I write this, (between actual gifts and pledges) God has provided funds to wipe our deficit, pay for the next school payment in January, and begin to build up our required 2-month financial buffer. He has also sent $350 per month in new monthly support.

Needless to say, we are staying in Spain! God answered clearly, quickly and with overwhelming generosity. It's amazing. The difference in our emotional states has been remarkable. I think both Troy and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.
.....

Amen.