Well, push webster aside because I have a new definition and a whole meaning of this word.
Definition of fun #1: Seeing Monica and Abigail get a real book for the first time.
So last Sunday, I finally was able to get the books from Auntie Jean's to Monica and Abigail who live down the street from me. When they heard me coming, they called for everyone and the whole clan came out, aunties, cousins, sisters, brothers, mothers, grandmothers. It was a huge occasion to pick out the books! Walking away, I was almost in tears realizing these girls have in their possession real quality books for the first time! I can't even fathom that as I have so many books at home and so many in my classroom which the kids treat like dirt. I am so excited to be a part of their education.
Definition of fun #2: Finding creative ways to stay sane when the electricity goes off.
We have had the unique pleasure of losing our power for almost 48. Talk about wholesome fun there! It started when one of our surge protectors that we plug into the wall, popped out of the wall and burned up. They had to call ECG, our lovely friends at the power company, and they turned off the power. It gets hot super fast so we went out on the screened in balcony to have a dance party! Like I said, you have to keep your sanity somehow! Two times when we have had dance parties, the power has come back so I think it works like a rain dance. One of my roommates downloaded the song, "I've Got the Power" so this should help. Well once we danced to the most ridiculous song and the power was still not on, we decided to go to bed outside on my screened in porch. God blessed us since it stormed both nights so we had cooler weather even though I still managed to sweat! It was a great slumber party with my two roomies. Tuesday morning was Faith's birthday and she wanted to make a cake for her class. We didn't do it the night before because of no lights so we decided to make it at 4:15 a.m. instead. Oh the crazy stories we have to tell. Okay, so I have a cheap phone, a million cool points away from an iphone, but it is amazing to me because it has the greatest invention on it. Can you guess it? It is a flashlight which is pretty powerful which has been very hand lately. I am good at getting around in the dark, must be adapting night vision. Even with the power off, I still have nothing to complain about because there are millions of people in Ghana who do not even have electricity ever and they all survive. I am very spoiled in this nice house with this nice sleep inviting couch I am sitting on as I type but not everyone has these luxuries and I must be aware of that. I am learning to not take anything for granite as even our water goes out often. Everything is a gift from above and should be treated with utmost gratitude.
Definition of fun #3 Making pizza with my class. When we were learning fractions, Ihad the kids make pizza on paper by following the directions to color in the correct fractions. They wanted to make real pizzas so I told them we would when our compliment chain(reward system) hit the ground. Well they earned this privilege on Friday so we made pizzas out of pitas, sauce, and cheese which parents graciousy donated. I would call out a fraction and they would have to make that fraction by covering it in with a topping. They kids did a great job and they loved that fact that they were cooking even though we just stuck them in the microwave for a few minutes. They asked if we could start our own shop to sell bakeries. As we were making them, I realized that these children have never cooked before with their parents because their cooks do all the cooking. They have never had that experience of eating cookie dough out of the bowl or pretending to be the host of a cooking show which was fundamental in my childhood. I am glad that I could have brought some childhood moments to them that some miss out on. We are just having a blast in second grade! On Thursday, we made angles with out bodies in ou ever so cramped classroom which was hilarious to watchful but I guess painful for them. I promise they had fun! I love that I can give a student a look, smile or laugh, and deal with a dicipline problem. I always said in college that I couldn't wait to be a teacher because I would get to have fun and make a fool of myself all day long. Well, that day has come and I truly love the Joy of the Lord and laughter that flows in my room. These students are so precious and full of life that they constantly remember the real reason for living this life as it isn't about my selfish desires but about God's will in my life. Please pray for the kids this week as they have standardized testing and for the teachers who have to read the entire test to them.
As you can see their are many definitions of fun that I would have never dreamed of before. Ghana has opened my eyes to see the important issues in life and disregard those that won't matter when we see Christ's face in glory. God gave me this life to follow his purpose but also to enjoy and I entend to do so to the most potential. My challenge is for you to bring the defintion of fun to a whole new level this week as God has given us Joy to replace sorrow.
Very important: Today, two students at our school lost their father suddenly. I know one of the students very well and I can't imagine what the family is going through right now. Please pray for them as they have a lot of decisions to make concerning their future. I thank God that they are all Christians and have the comfort that only comes from Christ alone.
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