Early Christmas Present

Brittany, myself, Faith, and Kim at the beach with the high schoolers after teaching at Pram Pram. Yes, windy but beautiful! My beautiful kids performing at the Christmas concert. I was so poud of them!

Myself and two of the students before the concert. The boy looks thrilled to be in the picture with me right? The girl is to busy coloring! Oh well! They are all so unique and I can't believe a semester has already gone by with them. I miss them already and can't wait to teach again(did I really say that?) as I am forgetting how to teach!

These are all of my kids on the last day before Christmas break with their flat people.

Brittany and I on Brittany's first trotro ride. The first of plenty of other trotro rides!

This present wasn't late due to the postal service or Ghana issues. This present arrived on time and couldn't have come a minute sooner. Alright I won't keep you guessing any longer. My friend Brittany from college came to visit and we are enjoying each moment together! She arrived last Saturday in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas program. When I went to pick her up, I got a taxi out of the airport because I knew it would be cheaper. Then I had him wait for us. However, Brittany's plane was a little late and by the time we got outside, the driver was gone. It was definitely not what I needed at the moment as I had to get to the Christmas program but a great welcome of Ghanian culture! The security guard found us one but then a huge argumet broke out which we could not understand. Supposedly our taxi driver was illegal and they would not let him out of the airport. As they continued arguing, I grew impatient as I had somewhere to be and this was not leaving a great impression on Brittany. As always, God answers prayers and takes care of us in stressful situations. As we were arguing with the taxi and the airport security while trying to take our luggage out, a family from the school saw us who were just dropping off a friend at the airport. The girl plays soccer so I know her pretty well. Thankfully, they stopped and offered us a ride home. What a blessing as God is faithful in his timing! How can we never praise God when he makes stressful times disappear in such a huge way as that was certainly not a coincidence. Needless to say, we rushed home and quickly got read so we could leave for the Christmas program. The program was where we normally have it although we couldn't use te larger room so we were crammed into a smaller one. My kids had to sit outside and wait for their turn but luckily I brought papers for them to color! You always have to be one step ahead of them! Despite the crowdedness of the event, God's message of sending his son as a baby to die for our sins was beautifully presented. I just pray that all of the families present thought about this message a little deeper as it is my prayers that everyone will come to the realization that Christ is the true meaning of life and is the only Savior of the World.

Well, I didn't give Brittany anytime to rest as we went to Pram Pram the very next day where we lead Sunday School at the Children's home once a week. I love this place so much as the children are so sweet and they worship the Lord with all their might. Voices are lifted up to the Lord and dance joyfully infront of the Lord. The high schoolers that went with us did a good job presenting the Christmas story to the kids and we spent the rest of the time making a nativity scene. It was fun to watch our high schoolers getting down at the kids level and coloring with him. It is such an unique opportunity for our AIS kids to put theirselves aside and reach out to love on kids who are relly a blessing from God and really need personal love. Brittany of course attached right onto the kids and they loved her right back as they gave her a bracelet they had made. It was so fun having Brittany here as we both have a passion for children and Africa.

Brittany was a real trooper as I had my last week of school. I can't believe the first semester is already finished! I have taught for three semesters and I still have no idea how I know what to teach everyday but I do know that the Lord sustains me and gives me the knowledge and stength to engage these developing minds. Praise the Lord for his direction! It was a fun week with the kids as we did activities geared towards Christmas although I still made them work quite a bit. I know, what a Scrooge I am but I think I blended work and play in together. I had been wanting to read Flat Stanley and do an activity with it but I had to do it in forward motion as it came a week before our break. Flat Stanley is about a boy who gets flattened by his bulletin board and even mails himself to friends house because it is cheaper than a plane ticket. The kids had a good time reading this book and we even made our on Flat People. The students are required to take them on holiday with them and take pictures of all of their travels together. They are also suppose to journal about these times. I pray that the students to this assignment as it will be fun to see the creativity and imagination of what their "flat people" did over Christmas. I loved watching the kids make their flat people as they all showed themselves in different ways. We had very large flat people to very smal and skinny people with extremely long legs. Each one of my kids is very unique and I love them to express their own personality through their work. It was a blessed week especially having Brittany in the classroom as she was such a tremendous help with all the kids. I want to team teach with her! She also reminded me of the patience I need to have for each kid and to take the time to listen to each kid really get to know. It is hard sometimes to meet each kids need during a busy day but she gave me a renewed desire to pour into each child and offer them a listening ear whenever possible. I do love teaching in a Christian school where I can openly share about Christ and celebrate Christmas for the true reason. I got to share with my kids that we celebrate Christmas for God giving us the best gift his son, and the kids openly shared their desire to worship the King. I have kids with extremely strong faith at such an early age and they have remind me each day through their witness of the reason why I live and why I serve the might Savior.