And Then School Started...

Finding time for myself has been near to impossible. I decided this morning that quiet time is a MUST, and so, this very morning was my first time to wake up about 45 minutes earlier than normal. And, I can't even find words to describe how I have felt today. I have had more energy, motivation, patience, and just an all around brighter day. Don't get me wrong, my time in Ghana has always been bright, but today, I just had a different kind of brightness that is hard to explain. I spend all day talking, teaching, listening to children, working on lesson plans, grading papers that sometimes it's difficult to find time for myself and really sit and listen to what God has to say, or to simply be still and know he is God. Today, I did just that and it completely altered my day. I think God was trying to tell me something...what do you think?? This is going to be a part of my daily routine now, and I ask for your help and accountability.

Well, I know most of you are eager to know about my class and teaching experiences. It has been quite a week and today was the first day of the second week of school. I had 5 new students come today which made my total up to 29 seven year olds in one class. Pray for me! HAHA.  I am still waiting on 3 students to arrive. It's been challenging playing catch up with the 5 who missed last week and yet still be able to carry on with our normal routine and schedule. I'm getting to know my students more and more every day and finding a love for them that I honestly didn't even know I had. They bring smiles to my face all the time. Every day before they leave school, I have them do what I call the 3 H's. I told them that before they leave the classroom, I will give them a Handshake, Hug or High five, in which they can choose what H they want to have. Most of them tell me that they want all 3! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this, it is my favorite part about my day, and the reason that I love being a teacher. The most important thing that I want my students to know is not all the times tables or the life cycles of animals and insects, I want them to know that I LOVE them, I BELIEVE in them, I CARE about them, and I am INVESTED in them. That is what is important.

I have been busy, busy, busy, busy....can I say busy again... I'm doing all of my teacherly duties, and then I just recently found out about new duties that I have. Since the teacher apartments are apart of the boarding house, we has boarding house duties as well. I wont bore you all with the list of my duties, but there sure are a lot of them. I was even approached by an administrator who asked me if I wanted to start a school newspaper for ICS. Oh dear...does he know who he is taking to? Me? A school newspaper?? Well...anyways, I said sure! Wish me luck on that one! 

Jordan and I are learning our way around Kumasi more and more. We have been traveling from place to place by ourselves!!! It's good for us to be able to do that, but I know that if we had any problems that there would be friends to call who would help us right away. 

Did I mention that the KING of the Ashanti Region's granddaughter is in my class. No big deal...no pressure or anything right?? Google him...I'm sure you can find out all kinds of information. He is the King of the Ashanti people and the Kumasi is the capital of the Ashanti Region.

And, one last story. It was just this past Friday, we had just finished our first week of school and let me tell you, I was exhausted...actually, more than exhausted. I felt like collapsing in my bed and sleeping until it was time to wake up for church on Sunday. I will even admit, I wasn't in the best of moods. We went to dinner and I was standing in line and I saw people ahead of me getting french fries! So...that lifted my spirits a little bit. I was going through the line, I got a little rice and then I got french fries and then a women was about to scoop some kind of red sauce onto my fries and rice. Before she did that I asked her what it was and she said tomato sauce, so I said ok and she put it all over. I got back to my seat and the only thing I could taste was FISH. And, for those of you who know me....I DO NOT like fish at all. So, as kindly as I could, I ate around it, didn't say much, but in all honesty I was frustrated that I couldn't enjoy my french fries! I know, you are probably thinking stupid American who is living in Africa...be happy with what you get. I'm thinking that too! But, it was all relative. So, anyways, I just put on a happy face and finished my dinner. On Friday evenings after dinner they have a time for praise, prayers and a short sermon, they call it SU. Once everyone finished dinner, we all went down to the auditorium for SU

Blessings and Love to you all

New Experiences

Just as I predicted, so much has happened since I last wrote that I don't even know where to begin! 

God teaches me something new every single day, and every day I am reminded why I am here and why I love Ghana. I'm so thankful that God uses people and things to speak to us.

Jordan and I moved into our new apartments on Friday. Jordan...who brought only one bag lives on the first floor, and me...who brought 4 bags and then some lives on the fourth floor. The only thing I can say is THANK GOD for Ghanaian men who carried and I might add, on their heads, my four 50 pound suitcases up 4 floors and into my room! WOW! I was impressed. I am still getting settled into my apartment. Slowly but surely it is coming along. My roommate's name is Georgina and she is the French teacher for the primary school. She has been welcoming and making my transition much easier! I will be posting pictures of my apartment once it all comes together...so be looking out for those!

We had a great weekend. Spent a lot of time with friends from the Bomso Church of Christ. Jordan and I really enjoy getting to see them. They take good care of us, take us around town and are ALWAYS so willing to help us out when we needed it. The weekend went by toooooo fast and before I knew it, it was Sunday evening...the night before the first day of school! Oh goodness, I was just like a little kid before their first day of school. I was nervous one minute and excited the next minute. Needless to say, I didn't get very much sleep on Sunday night. I woke up on Monday and had the BIGGEST butterflies in my stomach. I kept questioning what I was doing, how did it happen, what I was going to do! God...Am I REALLY over in Africa?? Am I really about to teach 7 year olds for at least the next year?? Wait....are you sure?? I had all these thoughts going through my mind, I couldn't even think clearly. Before I left my apartment, I pulled out a journal that had been given to me at our going away party. In this journal, so many dear people wrote blessings and words of encouragement. I read through many of them and had a sense of peace that came over me. This is just one way that God uses people to speak to us. At that moment, I remembered why I was here, I remembered why God put this passion in my heart, I remembered why I am pursuing this passion, it brought light to me and it felt so good! 

So....my first day of teaching in Africa was a success. I have 32...yes, 32 students enrolled in my class. 12 were absent on the first day. If I end up having more than 25 students, they will spilt the 2 year 3 classes and have 3 year 3 classes. That sounds a bit confusing. The point is, if I have more than 25 students then there is a possibility of them making another class which would cut my students down some. I'll let you know what happens! 

We spent the first day getting to know each other and asking questions. They are so interested in me and where I come from and they are full of questions! I love that they are so eager to learn and know more and more about life. 

So....my immaturity might be showing a little bit in this next story. So, I was very thrown off when on the first day, one of my students came to me and asked if he could "wee wee". I said, "I'm sorry, can you do what?" He whispered again to me, "May I go wee wee?" OHHHHHHH, yes...wee wee...sure, you can go! Don't worry everyone, I have had several ask me if they can go poo poo too! I'm sure I will get use to it, but I'm not going to lie...it did throw me for a loop at first! I will write more about my class, my students, my teaching experiences and life here in Ghana as it comes. I'm so excited about this year, I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me, for my class and for all of us at ICS!

I encourage all of you to find the different ways that God speaks to you and THANK Him for that! God is good all the time and all the time God is good. AMEN!

Blessings and love

A Little Catch Up

Well, since I last wrote, so much has happened and it has only been a few days! I have a feeling that this is how this whole experience will be...and I'm ready for it!

We traveled by bus from Accra to Kumasi on Thursday.  We left Accra around noon and did not get into Kumasi until about 9 in the evening. No, it does not usually take 9 hours to travel from Accra to Kumasi. Normally, it will take around 4 to 5. The traffic and the actual "roads" are what slowed us down. SOOO, moral of the story: someone, please remind me never to complain about traffic in the US again!! When we finally arrived in Kumasi on Thursday evening, I thought that I would be going to the school so that I could move into the apartment. But, there were other plans in store. The apartment was not yet ready, and the staff was not yet back to the school, so I was told that I would be staying with a family whose children attend ICS. I was picked up by the father and brought to a what I thought was a BIG house. But, it was not his house, it was a hotel. I was confused. He told me that he has some other guests in his house now, and that it would be best if I stayed in the hotel. So, here I am, living in yet another hotel in Ghana! Never thought that would happen. It is very nice, comfortable, safe, and has free wireless internet!! I'll be staying here until Wednesday or Thursday of this week and then I can move into my apartment at my school. OH, speaking of my school...

I visited ICS(International Community School) today!!!!!!!!!! (That's the new school that I will be teaching and living at). Anyways, this morning, Jordan and I were eating breakfast and one of the receptionists came into the dinning hall and said that there were 2 men here for me. I wasn't expecting anyone, Jordan wasn't expecting anyone...hmm, who could it be? Well, we went to meet them, and found out that they were sent by Dr. Yeboah(the head of ICS) to come and pick us up and take us to the school to have a tour and to familiarize ourselves with our new home! So, Jordan and I went. It was about a 15 minutes drive from our hotel to the school, it is just right outside of Kumasi. You get the feeling of seclusion and quietness, but yet it is only a few minutes drive to get back into the city. I felt so excited when we turned into the schools premises. It is a pretty big place and very nice. I was able to see a few of the primary school classrooms, the boarding house for the students as well as the teacher's apartments. We passed by the secondary school classrooms, science labs, art rooms, libraries, dinning hall, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts. It was all so nice and it was an even better feeling to finally be able to see what I have been working towards for the last 9 months! We will be going back to the school tomorrow for staff meetings. I'm really, really excited about my new job, new home, new experiences, new opportunities and learning from all of it.

On another note...whoever said that friends make the world a better place was absolutely right on target. I have been so blessed by my friendships all around the world. God has given me some of the best friends a girl could ask for. There are no words to even describe how it feels to be reunited with friends that you haven't seen for over a year. That is what Jordan and I have mostly been getting to do since we have arrived in Ghana. I'm so thankful for my friends that I have in Ghana, they have become my family, and I honestly don't know what I would do without them. I'm excited that I get to spend the next year with them, get to know them better and to make memories that will last a life time. I'm also looking forward to all the new friendships that will be made!

Ok, ok ok, one last note and then I promise I will be done. 

Last year when I was in Kumasi I attended the Bomso church of Christ and so that was the church I wanted to attend this year. So, on Sunday, Jordan and I went to church there. Walking in the compound where the church and Bible College are, I just couldn't help but smile. I was so happy to be back, and part of it feels just like home. It was nice to be at a familiar place and nice to see familiar faces. The thing that I love about Bomso is their worship. I have never been in a church where the people sing so loudly to honor and praise God. The singing alone will make you want to come back! It is such a moving experience to see so many people pour out their hearts to God through song. I wish that the churches I have attended in the US could learn from the hearts and attitudes of the Bomso congregation. I know that I have been moved and changed every time I am there. Bomso is a very welcoming and loving environment and I know that it has and it will bless my life in many ways.

Please, continue to pray for me as I am here. School will open on the 23rd of August, so it is just around the corner. I thank God for what He is doing in my life, all the praises and thanks go to Him!

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..."

Akwaaba

Akwaaba(welcome) my friends!!

I am back in Ghana! If someone would have told me in high school that I would go to Ghana one time...there is no way that I would have believed them.  If they would have told me that I actually wouldn't be going just one time, but that I would EVEN go a second time...still wouldn't believe them.  Then, if they would have dropped the bombshell and told me that I would be teaching in Ghana...oh wow! I probably would have fainted!

Well, here I am in Ghana for the 3rd time in the past 3 years. It's true that 10, or even 5 years ago I didn't even imagine being here, but here I am now. God is so good and so faithful. 

It feels good to be back here. I leave pieces of my heart here every time I leave, and it is so good to be "reunited" with those pieces of my heart. As soon as I landed, I looked for the big familiar sign reading, "Akwaaba" which means Welcome.  That airport sign is the first to welcome who ever comes to Ghana, and soon after your arrival you will be hearing this from everyone. I found the sign at the airport and had a sense of being back home. Soon after seeing the sign from the airplane, I was on my way. Hit with rain and humidity. Again, welcome to Ghana. Got my luggage, was met by some of the school staff, loaded the van and we were on our way. But not so easily, if you know Ghana, or have heard me talk about it...the traffic! The traffic is horrible here! The hotel we stayed at for the evening was probably about 7 miles from the airport and it took us about an hour to get there! Again, welcome to Ghana. I can't complain too much :) I love this place!

We are traveling to Kumasi today, it is about a 5 hour drive. Before we leave for Kumasi, we are going to stop by the US Embassy and check in.  From what I have heard, the embassy does a really good job at taking care of it's citizens who are in Ghana!

I want to thank everyone who has been praying and thinking about me. I don't think I have ever been so reassured by the prayers of so many. Your love, support, encouragement, and prayers are very much appreciated. 

I have never been a blogger before, this is my first time...so bear with me. I had forgotten I made a blog, but my wonderful friend, Kendra, kindly reminded me of it! Thanks, Kendra! I will try my hardest to keep up with it, but don't feel bad to send me a friendly reminder if you haven't heard from me in awhile!

I pray that God blows you away, just like he has done for me.  Find encouragement knowing that God uses ordinary people to do EXTRAORDINARY things! May God bless you.