Love is.....

The faces of children leave me speachless. How much better can it get than watcing them receive new clothes.

Alright maybe the title is a little broad but I couldn't find the right title as I found love to incorporate many aspect of my past week(two weeks ago) and the past week. I started writing the first one and then never finished. Time flies when you are having fun! During Valentine's Week, God reminded me several times of his everlasting love through my kids and good friends. I also was reminded of unconditional love as even when I mess up, God is able to forgive me just like my loving friends forgive me for the crazy things I happen to do. On Wednesday, my class led chapel which the kids love as they get to be on stage to lead the singing. At camp, I was in a music drama to the song Bleeding Love. It isn't a Christian song but a lady at camp created a beautiful picture between God's love towards us which correlated with the song. I unfortunately, don't have the video for it but in the skit, a girl is being pushed around from the sin in the world until she breaks to Jesus who gives her the sings of Loved, Forgiven, and Saved. She then receives signs from the world of Unloved, Unforgiven, and Unsaved. Jesus takes those sins away from her and then is nailed on the cross while she is held back. When Jesus dies, the sing fall off and the girl freely falls at Jesus' feet who miraculously comes alive. The skit ends with the girl giving her signs of Loved, Forgiven, and Saved to the people who warnly treated her before and them all following after Jesus. It is very powerful and you might be able to youtube it if you type in Bleeding Love Springhill Camps. My kids are only in second grade but they understand the power of love. I had some girls crying at the end of it because God's sacrifice was made real to them as they saw it. It is also a beautiful reminder of how God gave us the most incredible sacrifice by loving us, forgiving, us and saving us. Why am I not willing to do the same for others? I have to be willing to give all that I am to others as Christ has given me the perfect example to do so. What amazing God we serve!

On Friday, we invited the parents into our classroom to celebrate Valentine's Day together. We said verses, sang silly poems, read notes to our parents on why we love them, and did our music drama. I had all but three parents come and they all did a magnificent job. My favorite part of the afternoon was when one of my students who lacks confidence in his reading ability stood infront of all his peers and the parents to read his verse. He had only read it a couple of times and it had several large words in it but he beautifully said it without flaw which almost brought myself and his mother to tears. He would have never had the courage to read infront of a crowd before and he did it with such confidence that you would have never known there was a problem. I am so proud of him. There are days where we go round and round but I have to remember that it takes the day to day struggles to see one glimpse of a light. However, seeing him read that verse is worth everything else. Grante, the next week, he coated his hands up to his wrists in red paint after he was just sitting in his chair. Well, again, I just have to keep my eyes focused on the bright sky, the face of my Jesus, and keep trecking along because these kids are really worth it. Later that night, the parent called me again to thank me and knowing she sees improvement makes it worth wild.

A week after we performed the music drama, we performed it again for the middle school and high school chapel. We went out to hear the chapel band and worship with the kids. One of my girls whose family says they are Muslim worships with all of her heart. She sings and uses her hands to Praise Jesus. It is so beautiful to watch. While we were worshipping and joyfully watching her, I glanced over at one of my boys who kind of gave me a look. I asked him what the problem was and he said she was embarrassing to them all. I said, She has it, she has the Joy and she is worshipping with all of her might. This child doesn't come from a Christian background but she gets it, she wants to serve her Jesus and praise Him with all of her being which is what I lack sometimes. Who knew it took my little second grader to remind me of the necessity to show an unfailing and unconditional Love to my Savior all the time.

Alright now up to speed for this week. We have been collecting clothing and other supplies at school for what we called The Love Project. Yesterday we put the plan into action by delivering all of the supplies to villages two hours away. When everything was collected, we had enough clothes to cover all of my tables in my room. We filled at least 15 bags with clothes, crammed books and food in boxes, and away we went in a too small of a van for all of us. We also took 6 students with us who helped tremendously but got tired after awhile. We pulled up in the van to half built huts and beautiful children with bright smiles that unfortunately hardly had any clothes on. You must experience the incredible sight of watching children put on a new dress or shirt after not wearing anything. One of our high school girls put a cute little purple dress on a tiny girl with purple earings. It matched perfectly which of course the high school girls noticed. It was so cute to watch our girl and the little girl explode in smiles after seeing the beautiful sight. I mean just think how excited you would be if someone came to your house and gave you a new car or offered you a new house you would be shocked and amazed. This was the same thing for these children and adults. It was a total shock for them to receive nice clothing, shoes, books, and toys for the first time. You just need to come here and experience it. Overall, it was a successfull day and we hope to continue this connection in the future.

After we came back to school, I had soccer practice as the girls and boys have games this week. I had my back door open which is on the far side of the school. After practice, one of my girls said her phone was missing. We searched everywhere but couldn't find it. Then she asked the day guard just as the night guard was coming. It is protocol for the next guard to check the previous guards bags. Low and behold, the missing items along with two new school uniforms were found in his possession. The fun didn't stop there as the head man of the company game which was a huge built man. He slapped the criminal right away and we had to leave the guards quarter as they beat him. The man came out holding his cheek while we had to explain what happened. The man continued to lie never telling the truth. We figured out through evidence that he stole two uniforms earlier in the day and then went into my room to steal the phone and mp3 player. It was hard watching him go to jail and get beat up but the company has a reputation to keep. This is how things are handled. It was probably better that kids were around so he didn't get beat up as much. This is the hard facts of life.

However, I am so glad to serve my Mighty Savior who protects us from evil and wrongdoers. Praise Jesus that everything was recovered.

Please pray for all the unrest in the area like Cote d'Ivoire and now Lybia. THere are 10000 Ghanaians trying to leave Lybia right now to come back. Pray that all the logistics work out for this to happen. I praise Jesus for the stability in Ghana but pray for those who do not have the same freedom. We need to keep them lifted up in our prayers.