After being in Ghana for two weeks, I realize that the little things in life make the biggest difference. A great example of this was my birthday last Thursday. I had been struggling this past week as I prepared to get my room ready for school and plan for my lessons. Yes, this was stressful but I was most stressful about the fact that they could not find my reading curriculum. We would find bits and pieces of it but the teacher’s manual was MIA. Usually I don’t like manuals anyways but I really needed this one as I was not familiar with this program called Sing, Spell, Read, and Write. So as I was going through my slump of feeling sorry for myself, my birthday happened. Everyone was so kind and thoughtful on my birthday. I am so thankful for everyone here as they are going through the same trials and blessings as myself. The day began with getting an e-card from my old roommate in college. It was so funny and it was French which was great because we shared that in common. She also has the same birthday so it is always fun to hear from her on the day we share. I was wished Happy Birthday many times at school along with birthday cards which was nice but the best birthday present came when the daughter of the project manager brought me a box….. Can you guess what was inside of it?I hope you guessed my reading curriculum because you would be correct! Yes, this called for celebration as I was no longer in the dark about what to do for reading! Okay, you might be thinking that I am pretty pathetic about finding my curriculum but if you are a teacher, you understand how big this is! Remember what I said? Being here has helped me realize that I need to be thankful for the small things in life.
That night, my housemates and a couple of other teachers took me to a place called Rosemary’s which is just down the street. It is a small store with a radio blaring and tables outside. We had chicken and rice and very spicy kabobs from the side of the street and then sat around playing card games. Again, doesn’t seem like much but since we normally don’t go out after dark, it was a great change up from the normal routine. Some people played phase 10 while four us played Dutch Blitz. We play upstairs quite often and thanks to my friend Keren, I am getting better. I was leading the whole game until the end when a rookie beat me by two points. Sorry, not that you really cared about that part.
After that, we went back to the house where they put 23 candles in a square container of strawberry fan ice and I blew them all out! Oh back up a second, before we went out to Rosemary’s, I walked down the stairs to be surprised by a large sign that said Happy Birthday and birthday decorations. If you all know my mother, it would be no surprise to you to hear that she had sent decorations in a small Ziploc game so my friends could put around the house. They decorated very nicely and it was a nice touch. There was a birthday two days ago and then one next week so the decorations are very handy. Okay, so we then had ice cream and cookies with the girls in the house and then sat around talking which is what girls do best! I am so blessed to have these girls in my life who understand what I am going through since they experience the same problems. I have only known them for two weeks but they are willing to help me with ideas in the classroom constantly and throw me a birthday bash to remember.
My birthday was not over yet as I later skyped my mom to find her wearing a birthday hat. Oh so funny! She then brought in grandma and grandpa who were also wearing their hats for the party. I loved it! Grandpa even sang Happy Birthday to me even though I don’t think he used my name but that is okay. Although it is hard to be away somedays, I am reminded that first of all, I do have my Heavenly Father always by my side and then the support of my family at home who constantly show me love. There will be hard days wherever we are, but as long as you keep rejoicing in the small blessings, like being sung Happy Birthday by my night guard, we will press on and soak in God’s glory!
Lyrics from Press On by Selah(Our family saw them in July!)
When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the mountain is weary
When we stumble and fall
When the choices are hard
When we’re battered and scarred
When we’ve spent our resources
When we’ve given our all
In Jesus Name we press on
In Jesus Name we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
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