Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Yes, this is the 3rd blog post today. I'm just doing what I can to catch you all up.
Mom and Dad have been on me for weeks to get this thing updated, so I'm trying to do a decent job now that I'm finally obliging them.
Mom says that many of you have been wondering about my Christmas plans, so this is the Christmas post! yay!!

So, we got out of school one week ago- Friday the 16th. It was a splendid day. I spent most of it eating cookies and making cookies and listening to Christmas music with my classes. But I'm getting ahead of myself- to fully appreciate how wonderful this day was, you must know about the week leading up to it.
Michelle, our dear friend here, asked us at some point if we wanted to help her make cookies for all of the college students during finals week (same week as our last week of school). We, of course, responded with an enthusiastic yes. So on Sunday the 11th we started this quest. We made enough cookies to take to the cafeteria on Monday evening and give 2 cookies to every freshman. Monday afternoon we made enough cookies to give to all the sophomores and seniors on Tuesday evening. Tuesday afternoon we made cookies for the day scholars, and brought them to them at lunch on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon we made cookies for all of the juniors to have on Thursday evening. On Thursday we made sugar cookies for Aly's class and for some of my students who were coming to help her class on Friday. The remainder we took to the cooks at the college and decorated with them. So, over the course of 5 days, we made roughly 700 cookies. It was...AMAZING. Granted, we didn't want to see or eat any more cookies for a good long time after that, but we had a really great time sitting at the college caf every evening and getting to know a lot more of the students. They loved the cookies, and several of them charmed us into giving them way more than their fair share, but we loved every second of it. Yay Christmas!

Since then, we've relaxed a lot. haha We used the first part of our break to simply enjoy the break! We've watched a whole season of Numbers, seen several Christmas movies, and spent time with friends who are still in the area. To our credit, we also cleaned most of our house at least once. :)

So, the plans for the future...well, Christmas eve (that's tomorrow!!!) we plan to spend the night with the Kyser family and get up on Christmas morning and take part in all their family's fun. They've got 3 kids whom we bought gifts for, and our family have sent some happies over for us too. Let me just say, I am thoroughly excited. Christmas evening we'll go to the McDonalds' house with the Kysers and enjoy a meal there. Sam McDonald is a good cook, and LeAnn is pretty amazing as well, and I am prepared to eat way too much. Just like home!

On the 27th, Aly and I are flying to Cape Town, South Africa and spending a week there. Our plans include sleeping, shopping, going to the movie theater, seeing Phantom of the Opera, and going to eat at McDonalds and Subway. I'm sure we'll do other amazing things- I hear Cape Town is breathtakingly beautiful- but right now the fast food is kinda all we can think about. You laugh, but I have missed turkey sandwiches more than I can say. mmmmm....  I'm hungry just thinking about it.

So there you have it! Christmas!
I do have to say, it's weird thinking about Christmas when it's 90 degrees outside and the decorations are pretty slim, but Aly and I have done our best to get in the spirit. Christmas earrings, Christmas t-shirts, Christmas music, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorations...we've got it all.
Of course, I miss my family a lot. I know I'll continue to miss them in the next two or three days as I hear about all the fun and start to see pictures online and all that stuff. I wish I could be home for all of that. But the simplicity here is refreshing, and I haven't once thought about material things I want for Christmas. I've never been able to say that before. I'm thankful for this new perspective, and I will never take Christmas with my family for granted again. This will just make time with them in the future that much sweeter. In the mean time, I hope you'll all give my mommy and daddy a hug from me, and remember as you enjoy Christmas with your loved ones what a truly huge gift that really is. Few Malawian families are intact, and few will actually have any sort of celebration or gift exchange on Christmas day. Remember why we celebrate, friends.
Remember the child in the manger who sought no gift. Remember the parents who were content in that little stable, who later became refugees with only what they could carry on a camel or donkey. This was the life of the Christ child. Thank him for that sacrifice, and consider sharing your wealth with someone who will be eating ngumbi for Christmas dinner- that is, flying termites they picked up off the ground- because they can't afford to buy food. I would absolutely love if you'd make a special donation this Christmas to an ABC student. Help them pay tuition so they can stay in school and change the future of their family and their nation. Tuition is roughly $2000 a year and we've lost several students already because they simply can't make ends meet here. YOU can change that. Consider the least of these...email me or go to the ABC website if you're willing to help meet the needs of my dear friends.  THAT would make my Christmas wonderful.

Catch-up post

First off,
Pepani!!! I am so very sorry for the delay in updates. I have many excuses, most of which are pretty valid, but...I'll spare you a lot of them. 

Let's just say 1. I haven't really had a whole lot to say lately, 2. Our generator has been broken, so power outages weren't fixable for the past 3 weeks or so, and 3. I really have been pretty stinkin busy!

I started writing an update a week or so ago, but the power went out in the middle of it and I never got back to finish it. Again, pepani! So sorry! But I will go ahead and post what I did get written, just so you can see a little bit of what was going on. Look under this post for that one. 

So, I'm not gonna go back and tell you a whole lot about the past month- you can refer to Aly's blog and the Kysers' blog for some things. Our lives aren't all that different, really.
The Inter-house swim gala was pretty insane. I screamed a lot and wore lots of green (my house color...think Harry Potter, except...not) and in the end Nyika (my house) won! Our students swam fast and had tons of spirit and I was incredibly proud of them. They're troopers. It was a LONG day.

Those were the biggest events- other than that, things were pretty normal around here. Time flowed steadily on, days passed, and I consistently forgot to blog. Eish!  We watched some more ABC basketball, got into volleyball, and continued getting to know our friends and made some new ones too!

All that to say, we successfully survived our first semester of teaching! Mostly...technically we have two weeks in the semester when we go back. But you get the point! I made it! I lived an entire semester as a junior high/highschool English teacher in Malawi! The fuel queues get longer every day, the power is out more and more often, the economy is worsening, shortages of other random things are increasing, the ants never go away, and I am simply learning to live in this beautiful place.

Or as Switchfoot would say- learning to breathe. 

oops

Well, I just realized how long it's been since I posted. I am quite sorry about that. My family keeps asking for a post, and I kept thinking it's only been a couple weeks, but really it's been a month. Eish! Sorry about that.
To be honest with you, the past month has been tough. I guess we just hit that point in our time here where things get hard. Or maybe I just got word out. Either way, it's mostly passed. So I'll try to hit some high points for you in the past weeks.
 1. International Day- This is a day where ABCCA celebrates its multiculturalism. It was the day after Thanksgiving. (I had to be in school on Thanksgiving. That was weird.) Everyone wears traditional clothes from their countries and we have a big parade of nations and then people do fun things and we have amazing food from all the moms of ABC and it's basically an insanely huge feast and celebration. Since I know you're wondering, I wore a baseball jersey provided by Clay Adkison. What could be more American than baseball? For those of you who know how I really feel about baseball and are laughing at this irony, thanks. Here's a couple pictures from International Day:





A bird! I ate that thing! mostly...






Burundi dancers! They're amazing.

And of course, Aly and I, looking very American.


(This is the end of this post. I apologize for the incompleteness. See the post above this one for more info about the rest of the semester.)

101 Days of Malawi Countdown

As of today, we've actually been here 103 days, I believe. But 101 sounds so much better. So it's time for another countdown. This one is entitled

Things I've seen (at least) 101 of in the past 101 days

1. Ants. Yep. You knew it had to be on the top of the list. But for real...I see at least 101 EVERY day, I think. At this point, we only kill them sometimes. And we only get them out of our food/drink sometimes. I'm told that this means we're moving up in the missionary rankings. Yep, there's rankings. You wish you were that cool.

2. Bicycles Carrying Really Weird Things. Chickens, a goat, 8 bags of groceries, 15 watermelons, 10 8-foot long poles, kittens, 3 other human beings, a bed frame, or any of several other sorts of unidentifiable bundles. Bicycles here are as common as vehicles on the streets, and they carry all the same things a pickup truck would back home. These men must have leg muscles of steel! I don't know how they do it! And it's not as if the roads or the sides of the roads are smooth! This amazes me. I'll have to get some pictures of this to prove it.

3. Bananas. We really like bananas. And there are tons of them here. On every street corner someone's selling bananas! That's convenient. 

4. Coke (and fanta). I refuse to capitalize fanta. It is an inferior beverage. But Coke is abundant here! Well, it usually is, anyway. Lately there's been a Coke shortage, along with everything else. But we still manage to find it pretty often. It's the popular soft drink here, and we are very grateful for this. It's found here most often in a glass bottle, and it's made with real sugar, so it's delicious! We did find a place down the street that sells it in cans, which is a special treat we reserve for desperate occasions. 

5. Lizards! There are all kinds of lizards here. Really cool ones! Some are just lil tiny guys that kinda blend in- we have them at home too. They're all over the dorms. I like those guys. They catch mosquitos and are just kinda cute. Especially the lil baby ones. Then there are some dark colored ones that are a little bigger and they're kinda annoying. Then there's the big ol guys that are grey and rough-looking, and they have super bright blue heads! It's so awesome!! When was the last time you saw any animal that was bright blue? I'm talking cerulean, here. And there are birds that color too. It might be my new favorite color. But I digress...Lizards! They're everywhere!

6. Flowers. Man, the flowers here are gorgeous! The trees are beautiful, and they all have bright pretty flowers! (Well, except for those annoying trees that have those big nasty green ball things that fall out on our house and squish under our feet and smell yucky. I've seen about a million and one of those.) We go around campus and collect flowers for bouquets all the time. They're just really nice. Once again, I'll have to post pictures to adequately demonstrate this. But believe me- Malawi's probably the most beautiful place I've ever been, and that's in part due to the pretty flowers everywhere. Can't wait til rainy season enhances that!

7. New Release Cassette Tapes. Okay, I have to admit, Aly was the one who actually saw this. I was absent on this occasion. However, I just want you to enjoy that. This isn't old 80s music on cassette tapes. This is the latest stuff to come out. I don't care who you are- that's impressive.

8. Jerrycans (and cars) in Fuel Lines. I've never seen so many jerrycans (or various other random plastic containers used to contain petrol) in my life! Every fuel line here has dozens and dozens of jerrycans at the front and dozens and dozens of cars lined up in every direction. It's really quite a sight to see. I wish you could all experience this and understand the desperation and resignation of the people here. A Malawian friend of mine recently said Lilongwe won't know how to have a social life anymore if the petrol queues are no longer necessary. Fuel lines are where you go to hang out! I sat in my first petrol queue last Sunday morning at 5 AM. It's an experience you all need. I know gas is expensive in the states, but...I don't think I'll be complaining about that when I return home. Over $8 a gallon and lines for hours just to get a few liters if you're lucky. And countless people are robbed while waiting in line. It's tough, folks. Count your blessings.

9. Stares. Apparently it's not impolite to stare in Malawi. And, I don't mean to startle you, but people in Malawi are mostly black. It's beautiful.  But see, in case you didn't realize...I'm white. (It's okay, sometimes I forget that too.) Very white. I practically glow in the dark. Oh, the stares! But I will say, as many stares as I've seen, there have been even more

10. Smiles. The people here are so friendly!  They smile at you and shout out "Muli bwanji!" or "Hallo!" from across the road, out the window, next door, wherever. It's incredible. It feels like the good ol South of the USA! Everyone's got a smile, a handshake, and a greeting for you, even if you are the awkward minority who stumbles over even the simplest response in Chichewa that you've been practicing for months. This is a special place, and I feel so blessed to be a part of it! Thanks to all of you reading for helping make this possible for me.

manna and meat

This has been a hard week.  I could list reason after reason after reason, and still there would be more. Difficulties seem to pile up here and some weeks it's just overwhelming and I don't know what to do anymore.  So the tears come and the praying continues and God patches up my stubborn heart that is so quick to doubt His plan and reminds me that He loves me dearly.  This has been a week of that. I complained and complained and whined and whined.  And I don't mean to say that things weren't hard- they were and still are. There are multiple factors that combine to make life difficult at this point.  But fyi- I'm in a third world country serving as a missionary.  Easy was never a guarantee. And that's okay.
Last night, after a week of harboring bitterness and anger towards people and institutions and myself, I finally let it all go. I was reading in Numbers about the people of Israel fussing in the wilderness about how sick they were of eating manna. Which- seriously- who wouldn't complain? Sure, it was a miracle from God that they had food to eat, but I can imagine manna got old pretty quick when it was all you were getting. I mean, who of you have eaten the same meal twice in this week, let alone every day for months? So I can see where these guys were coming from. So they tell Aaron and Moses they'd simply rather be back in Egypt stuffing themselves with fruits and veggies and meat! Mmmm...sounds delicious when all you've had is some sort of wafer for months. But wait a minute...Egypt. Weren't they oppressed there? Weren't they slaves? Weren't they dying? Yeah...not ideal. But they keep looking back. And that's what I've done this week. I've wished for a different time, a different place, different people, different circumstances. I've begged to return to a place where I'd be just as miserable, with a few conveniences that seem ideal but would truly only hold me captive and oppress me. God basically tells the Israelites he'll give them so much meat it's coming out their noses (seriously, that's what it says.)  He gives them what they want, knowing full well it will make them sick.  Because from day one, He's had only their best interest in mind.  NO, that doesn't mean their lives are easy! But God is with them.  He guides them through the hard times and hard places so that He can bring them to the place He has prepared for them.  He has great things for them! And the first great thing is that they get to be in relationship with the Almighty Creator God who has chosen them for Himself!  I think I'll probably get over the manna issue... I get Jesus!
This place is a blessing. This life is a blessing. These people constantly bless me. I am blessed!
No, it's not easy. No, it's not always fun. No, it's rarely convenient. But it's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's right. He brought me here for a reason, and this is part of the good He has prepared for me. And in the midst of it all- good or bad- I have Jesus. :)

So I now send you to this blog, not so that you'll feel sorry for all the poor folks in Africa and all the missionaries that got shipped over to help them. I send you to this post so that you may love and pray for us. So that you may know that blessings aren't always easy or obvious. So that you may be a part of praying God's healing into this land. It is a blog post from a family that lives next to the Kysers. They're not ABC folks, but their kids go to the Academy and they're able to give you a really great picture, through photos and words, of how things are in Lilongwe.  Pray for Malawi. And wherever you are, thank God that you have Jesus with you. Count those blessings (after all, you get to celebrate Thanksgiving soon...get a head start!)

The norm...

Happy weekend! I hope you're doing well in the land of baseball (Go Cardinals!) and fuel and cold weather. 

This has been a pretty normal week around here, but I thought I'd give you an idea of what a normal week looks like.
Monday began with our first day back to school after midterm holiday. Needless to say, it was not easy waking up at 5:30, but we made it to school on time. I have to admit, though, it was good to see my students. Although I'd seen a lot of them over the break, I was glad to be around my kids again.  They're fun people, and I love them a lot. Monday night Aly and I went to the ABC Lions basketball game.  This was pretty terrific. Basketball here is just really fun.  The players aren't 10 feet tall, the electricity goes out in the middle of the game, the students/fans dance and sing rather than yell, and the players actually seem to enjoy the game! It's pretty crazy. There's just a purity to the game that I enjoy- it seems to be missing in the States.  On top of that, the guys played a great game! Our friend Andrew was in for the whole game, and Zach got to play for a bit as well! We were proud. =) We're pretty loyal fans.

Tuesday I'm not real certain what we did. All I remember is that it was hot. Real hot. Not much of a breeze, no air conditioning, no fans in my classroom and only 1 in my house... yeah. I probably suffocated. (We're gladly accepting monetary donations to enable us to buy more fans!)

Wednesday we got to hear an excellent speaker at staff Bible Study. His name is Dr. Krammendan (maybe?) and he's affectionately known around ABC as "Uncle Krabby". We got to hear him in chapel last week and again Wednesday night, and both were a treat.  Wednesday he spoke on James 1, with special emphasis on "counting it all pure joy" when we suffer, enduring trials and temptations.  Now, I know you guys aren't guilty of this, but I'm sure there are folks in the world that believe missionaries have some sort of special power that enables them to do this more than other people. Well, that's false. Things are tough in Malawi right now. I can't remember the last time we went more than like 8 hours without a power outage. I see fuel lines everywhere, and most of the people in them won't actually get fuel. The heat is becoming oppressive, the economy is suffering, and water is really hard to come by, even on campus. And I have the ability and privilege to consider these things and rejoice in them. Wednesday was a hard day for me, and the sermon that night was needed more than I can say.  God was faithful in gently correcting me and providing a way for me to rejoice and worship even in the midst of some tough lessons I am still learning.

Thursday was another lovely school day, and then we went shopping again with Owen. It was an adventure, as always, and then we came back to watch the guys play in the basketball playoffs. Which they dominated. Seriously. Again, I was proud of our boys. Our team is legit. :) Go Lions!

Friday consisted of school, praise team practice, playing with the kitten which will soon be mine, and hanging out with some college folks around here. Aly and I decided to take this week off of potluck, so instead we made spaghetti and watched some of the ABC girls' basketball game, which was quite entertaining.  Then we played cards with some folks until we were too tired to function...at like 10:30. haha
So there's a somewhat typical week in my life here!
And for real...fans are expensive. Holla if you wanna donate to the cause! ;)
Also, a shout out to Liz Anne Oates, whose incredible card was delivered to me Wednesday, just when I really needed a pick-me-up.  You win, friend. Thanks for being amazing!

A tale with a tail...

This is simply an anecdote from last week.  I'm in the mood to write.  Accept it. 

So, last Friday night a bunch of folks were over at Mista Owen's house watching Kung Fu Panda. (See? It's already a great story.) Well, because Owen is amazing, we were all in the kitchen drinking coffee and chatting after the movie. Aly and I had our backs to the fridge and the pantry, and everyone else was spread around the room.  As we're telling some sort of story, all of a sudden all eyes are wide and focused just behind us. Of course, we quickly run across the room as our friends proceed to tell us that a large rat just ran out from under the fridge and into the next room.  Eek! So Owen closed the door real quick with a promise that he'd scope it out and put an end to that problem in the next couple days.
So, Monday rolls around and we're back at Owen's with the guys grabbing a snack after their midterms and just hanging out.  An important aspect of Owen's house is that the refrigerator has alphabet magnets! So Aly and I were (of course) writing notes all over the fridge and spelling everyone's names and such.  We then decided to leave a note reminding everyone about Chicondi's doctor appointment the next day, as they seemed quite prone to forget.  All of a sudden, as I'm writing a real note and Aly's spelling it out w/ alphabet magnets, she lets out a really excellent scream and disappears into the next room before I even have time to inquire as to the cause.  Not to worry- the cause made itself known. I looked down and behold! our friend the rat!  Apparently the lil guy came stumbling out from under the fridge onto Aly's foot and the rest is history.  I'm pretty sure she gave him a heart attack, b/c he couldn't even walk.  He kept falling over in his attempt to move out of harm's way. Poor lil fella. Unfortunately, the guys in the house aren't too keen on rats, so eventually the intruder was shoved out the door.  I saved him from a cruel and painful death at the teeth of the neighbor's dog and then Owen got the gardener to take him away and hopefully speedily end his misery, rather than letting him continue to suffer pitifully from an Aly-induced heart attack.
And that, is my tale with a tail... a long pinkish one... hehehe!

Oh, Happiness!

I've tried to write this blog post three times. It's been a crazy week here in Malawi, what with fuel shortages worse than ever before, water and electricity becoming scarce, and even a lack of Coca Cola at times! But in the midst of all the crazy, Aly and I managed to have the greatest week ever.  See, last week was midterm holiday for the academy, and quite contrary to our usual ideal, Aly and I resolved to spend as little time as possible in our house.  We just figured it was time for us to get outside the box (box...quad...get it? hahahaha) and explore a little.
The first step of this process involved going to chapel with the college students every day. Little did we know Monday was a public holiday so we were up before allllllll the other folks on campus. BUT! we did manage to go the rest of the week, and it was a huge blessing. We had some really incredible times worshiping with students and listening to them share testimonies or hearing the speakers for the week.
Another significant detail is that it was midterms for the college kids, which is more like finals in the states. We'd actually planned to go to some classes this week, but there were none since the students were taking tests.  This was a disturbing realization at first, because our plans to stay out of the house seemed to be falling apart, but we soon realized our goal was still achievable with the help of a few friends.  But before I go on, I should tell you about Mista Owen. Owen teaches reception at ABCCA (that's the 4-year old class) and he's quite a fun guy. He's from Zimbabwe and has been living in Lilongwe and working at ABC for like 8 years...he knows Chichewa and we're pretty certain he knows 80% of the city.  This week his roommates on campus were all gone, so he opened up their house on campus as a (mostly) quiet place for some guys to study or just a fun place to hang out during the day.  Somehow, we managed to get in on this, and the rest is history, I guess. We spent a lot of time at his house this week, mostly b/c he has comfy couches. Seriously, they're amazing. In the course of the week he introduced us to tons of college students here and showed us some new sights in the neighborhood and allowed us to invade his house any time we wanted.  This greatly helped us in our goal of staying out of the box/quad.
I don't know how to explain the extent that this week changed my mindset and view of being here in Malawi.  I've been new places and met more people and learned more of the language.  But most of all I'm finally able to be happy here.  I think I've expressed before the difficulties that I've had just adjusting to the "grown up" world. All of the teachers on campus are several years older than us, and Aly and I still have a college mindset in a lot of ways.  Being able to spend time with college students, help them study for finals, memorize outlines with them, eat lunch with them, watch movies and have mini dance parties...sigh...it was a taste of normalcy.  Finally, I feel like I belong here. I've known all along that I was here for a purpose, and I'm still discovering what that is, but with the friendship of people like Owen, Andrew, Zach, Ndaba, (boli boli... mbuga)...i dunno...I just feel like I have the support and the comfort I was missing before. I've laughed more this week than I have in months. I still miss home, but I'm beginning to identify this place as a sort of home as well.  There are people I love here, and people I can't imaging leaving behind. I've played basketball and gone swimming and played on the playground and taken walks and just enjoyed my life. I let go of the insecurities and allowed myself to learn new things and laugh at myself and be laughed at. I've accepted that I will never ever ever under any circumstances be able to blend in here.  But I am okay with that.  Who needs to blend in? Why not embrace the opportunities that come with standing out? Especially if you're surrounded by friends...

Probably the main reason I've tried to write this so many times is that I can't really find words to express what a blessing this week has been for me.  God is so patient. I've been so stubborn and independent lately, and He has been so merciful.  Instead of scorn, I received blessing upon blessing, each one undeserved.  I can't explain to you what changes have occurred in me. I can't fully express my gratitude to God for providing me with such an incredible week when I needed it most. When I am faithless, He is faithful. His mercies are new every morning, and I intend to declare that as often and as loudly as possible. :) He is good.   And so, although I have to admit I am not overly excited about returning to my teacher position tomorrow, I will choose to wake up and say "Good morning, Holy Spirit" and continue my day in light of the grace I have been shown.  As always, thanks for your prayers, and please don't stop. I truly need every bit of it, and I'm so thankful to receive messages or comments you send.
Oh, happiness! There's grace enough for us and the whole human race!

The Catch Up Game

Hey guys! I know it's been two weeks. My most sincere apologies. Life is a lil crazy here. I don't even know where to start, but I'll try to fill you in on a little of what's gone on since I last took time to sit down and write.

First off, Aly got proposed to by the vegetable guy. She responded by asking him for a mop. Just enjoy that. Go read her blog for more detail. It's pretty excellent.

Much more exciting news- MY roommate, the beautiful and sweet Amber Cockrell is going to marry Andrew Harper. He proposed, and she (having gotten to know him a little better than Aly knows the vegetable guy) said yes. We are pretty ecstatic about that.  We were in on the secret- Andrew's a good man and gave us a little heads up so we could be excited with Ammie even from Africa. This paragraph has lots of capital A's.  Anywho, this gives us reason to come home this summer and be all up in that July wedding. Seriously- SO excited!  I love my roomie and she's as happy as can be, and that makes my heart happy too.

As for school, I finally sufficiently caught up on lesson plans and grading, which was fortunate. I got crazy behind somehow and life just is that much harder when there's the added stress of feeling like the grading and planning will never be done. BUT we did have a super exciting thing happen! Last Friday was Reading Day!  This is a fantastic day that a previous headmaster began at ABC.  School only lasts til noon for everyone, and all the students and teachers dress up as a book character!  I was a pirate. Smee, to be specific. It was a bit of a last-minute decision for me, but it worked out well, and my giant fake mustache was a hit with the little kids especially. Facebook has pictures if you're curious to see what this day looked like.  You really should go see.  It was absolutely fantastic.

Last week was a pretty fantabulous week. It just was. I managed to get out of the house more, which was really good for me.  I felt caught up on school stuff for the most part, and so I could really just enjoy myself a little bit more.  And thankfully we have this whole next week off, which makes life even more wonderful. But I'm getting ahead of myself... Last week. First off, Aly and I wandered around for a bit on Monday evening and somehow managed to find ourselves on the merry go round on the playground.  One of our friends, a college student at ABC, found us and laughed at us for a bit, and then invited us to dinner in the college cafeteria.  We accepted the invitation to hang out for a bit and even stood in line and got food for a couple of the guys (they wanted us to have the full experience...) and had a grand time.  We then discovered a beastie in the bushes next to our house. But that's another story for another day (that involves some running and squealing in the dark b/c we're scaredy cats).

Now for the best story, I need to take you back to the Saturday of last week.  Aly and I managed to stay in bed til like 10:30, but I had to be at the chapel around 11, so when we both got up I made a stop in the spare bathroom  on my way to the kitchen, and upon entering, found a dead mouse in the toilet. Seriously. IN the toilet. Drowned, apparently.  Pics of this are also on facebook. Go enjoy.  I posted the pic and a "please come take this away" plea on facebook and 3 of the college guys we know here came and took care of it.  Again, ask Aly for more on this story. I was at the chapel when that part happened. But I encountered the guys later and we had them and a few of the singles on campus over for pizza that night. So many fun times! They laughed at us a lot, and we laughed with them, and it was all really excellent. Here's the very important part of all of this:  I mentioned the mouse problem to the Trumbles on campus, and they have sweet lil baby kittens (only like 3 weeks old!) and offered one to us!  I have to wait til it gets bigger, and then I have to pick a quiet kitty, if possible, but under those conditions (and a few more) the girls have agreed to let me keep a kitty here!! yay!!!  I'll post pics of my kitty as soon as I actually have it.

Okay...well...that will have to do. More to come soon. I'll have plenty of time off next week, so I'll try to update you again on what's happening here.  Miss you guys, and am so thankful for your prayers. I feel them and need them.  Just ask Lisa Rector about it. God is good.

What if your blessings come through raindrops?

Today it rained. And that is a beautiful, glorious thing.  I feel it, I see it, I smell it, I hear it...I avoided tasting it b/c it just seemed like a bad idea. But believe you me, I am soaking it in and loving every second of it.  The weather is a good 20 to 30 degrees cooler all of a sudden, the thunder drowns out the construction next door, and I am happier than I thought possible at this moment in time.
With the craziness that was last week and the stress I already feel beginning this week, I really can say that His blessings have come through raindrops. Never in my life have I been happier to see, smell, feel, and hear a rainstorm.  I know that sounds dramatic, but it's really a fantastic reminder of His love for me, and assurance of His presence and provision even in the dry times, whether spiritual or physical. And I needed that more than I can tell you.

P.S. Go listen to the song if you don't know it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mmgV6mPvb0

anyone lived in a pretty how town

A favorite poem... (because it's on my mind...)
anyone lived in a pretty how town
By e.e. cummings

 anyone lived in a pretty how town 

 (with up so floating many bells down) 

 spring summer autumn winter 

 he sang his didn’t he danced his did. 

 Women and men(both little and small) 

 cared for anyone not at all 

 they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same 

 sun moon stars rain 

 children guessed(but only a few 

 and down they forgot as up they grew 

 autumn winter spring summer) 

 that noone loved him more by more 

 when by now and tree by leaf 

 she laughed his joy she cried his grief 

 bird by snow and stir by still 

 anyone’s any was all to her 

 someones married their everyones 

 laughed their cryings and did their dance 

 (sleep wake hoe and then)they 

 said their nevers and they slept their dream 

 stars rain sun moon 

 (and only the snow can begin to explain 

 how children are apt for forget to remember 

 with up so floating many bells down) 

 one day anyone died i guess 

 (and noone stooped to kiss his face) 

 busy folk buried them side by side 

 little by little and was by was 

 all by all and deep by deep 

 and more by more they dream their sleep 

 noone and anyone earth by april 

 wish by spirit and if by yes. 

 Women and men(both dong and ding) 

 summer autumn winter spring 

 reaped their sowing and went their came

sun moon stars rain

10 Reasons My School is Awesomer than Yours

10. The playgrounds are legit. Seriously, we have the greatest playground(s) ever. Yep, that's right. PlaygroundS. There are 2. And they have cool things that America banned to avoid lawsuits and stuff. Yay!
9. The uniforms are adorable. I know uniforms aren't anyone's favourite thing, but the little kids look so stinkin' cute, and the older students do have decent options to choose from. I like it.
8. The classrooms are HUGE. It's really excellent. And for the most part, class sizes are relatively small! The elementary teachers have tons of bulletin board space and plenty of floor space and it's just lovely. They upper school classrooms are also large and tidy. I am still working on making mine pretty, but it's still great.
7. The parents/grandparents of students here seriously run this country. We have a bus full of kids from "the embassy" and students with parents who are in parliament and that sort of thing. Rumor is there's even a body guard or two wandering around campus. Your school can't compete with that.
6. My students are going to rule the world someday.  I love them. They're amazing! My Malawians are gonna take over the country, and all the expats are gonna do great things. I know it. It's fantastic.  And discipline problems are minimal- mostly just chatty kids.
5. I can get to know my students. That's exciting. I eat lunch with them, participate in after school activities with them, see them around campus, learn about their lives, and I really do care about them.  I'm already realizing how difficult it will be for me to leave, not to mention the fact that multiple students will move away in the next two years. That's hard. But I know they'll make a difference wherever they go.
4. I'm teaching kids from at least 10 different countries. And on the whole, they love it here.  Sure there are a few who wanna go home, but the 7th grade class today had a debate during study hall about what was the best country. Malawi unanimously won, but it was agreed that Norway was a close second. America came in last. These students aren't tied up in material things or popularity contests.  Sure, they are concerned with how they look, sure they care if they have friends- but those aren't first on their mind all the time. They are kind to each other, they don't get in fights, they don't obsess over relationships or celebrities or alcohol.  They obey teachers, they obey their parents, and they (usually) work hard. If you have ever met any 13-15 year-olds, you know just how unique this is.
3. I'm in Africa. Let's just face it- that trumps all. Malawi wins.
2. I work with really fantastic people. Teachers at the Academy are great. They're from several different countries, have all sorts of backgrounds and experiences, and they chose to be here. They love Jesus, they love their jobs, and the love these children. That's more than I can say about any school I've been in before.
1. I get to talk about Jesus every day.  It's encouraged. If I don't do it enough, my head teacher calls me out on it. That's amazing.

P.S. You- yeah you with the college degree! You should come teach here. You'll love it. There's nowhere better!

10 things YOU can do for me

1. Pray for our health. Malaria season approaches, and there have already been several cases on campus in the past couple weeks.  Also, pray for my allergies.  It's really dry here and the wind blows a lot, so everything is dusty all the time.  This sometimes creates a problem for me, as I am pretty much mildly allergic to life.  I'm fighting off a sinus infection at the moment. bleh. so yeah...pray we stay healthy.

2. Pray for my personal walk with God. This is pretty straightforward.  For those of you who think missionaries are super-spiritual or something- moving to Africa has really done nothing for my spiritual life at this point.  Except perhaps made it more difficult. But really...I have the same struggles here that I did at home, increased by the fact that I have very little privacy so finding a quiet place alone to be with Jesus is just not convenient. Obviously, though, I need that desperately. I need Him.  So pray for me as I struggle to find consistency and depth.

3. Pray for my students and my job.  I am a teacher now! woohoo!  No really, it's fun.  I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would, and it's so far turning out to be easier than I expected.  However, there are a lot of difficulties in terms of trying to stay organized (this is just tough for me!), trying to find enough copies of a book, trying to adjust things for new students, and trying to accommodate ESL speakers who are struggling.  Pray that I teach well and make wise choices, but also pray that I lead my students well and am able to continuously share the gospel with them through my words and actions.

4. Pray for campus life.  This is a small campus, where everyone knows everyone and it's nearly impossible not to be in someone's business.  Pray for good relationships with other missionaries and for patience as we learn to live with people who look different, act differently, and speak differently.  This is a beautiful opportunity to learn so much and meet so many fantastic people, and I don't want to waste it being selfish and proud.

5. Pray for rest.  Life just takes a little more effort here. Things take longer, communication requires more thought, and everything seems to require more energy.  We need spiritual, emotional, and physical rest.  We are a lot more worn out at the end of the day than seems possible, simply because everything takes a little more out of us. It's enjoyable and we love it, but it definitely is tiring!

Okay, I know the first five things all involve prayer. That's deliberate. You have no idea how much that really is a necessity in our lives.  We NEED your prayers in a variety of areas.  You may only read the second half of this if you really understand that prayer is half the work, for us and for you. The ability to petition God to move on my behalf is the greatest asset you have concerning my missions work.  I can't really keep you from reading the next part, but don't just assume that the bottom part of the list is the "real" stuff. The bottom half is the little stuff. The top half is the big stuff.  Don't neglect me in your prayers.

6. Send me mail!!  Seriously-I have posted my address on the side of this page. You can see it. Look right over that direction. >>> Mail is expensive if you're sending packages, or if you're sending a letter every week or something.  But if you took the time to write a card or letter or something small and cute, it would be pretty cheap to send and would really seriously make my day.  I got mail earlier this week from a couple of amazing people, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's just so encouraging.  The more homemade and personal and random, the better. :)

7. Talk to my parents about me. Seriously, though...just go tell them you thought about me or prayed for me or something.  Number one, they tell me and it makes me happy.  But number two- you make them smile, and that makes me even happier.  They need some love, and they need prayers, mmk?  Pray for them, encourage them, and realize that it takes a lot to send your daughter to Africa for 2 years.  Would you wanna do that? Didn't think so. So go love on my mom and dad. Give them a hug for me.

8. Email, facebook, tweet at me. Comment on my blog. Laugh at my weird and random Africa pictures. Stay involved in my life here and enjoy it.  I don't want to be forgotten.  I want you to feel like you're a part of this. If you're reading now, you ARE a part of this.  So learn with me, laugh with me, cry with me, kill ants back home as part of my ongoing revenge on the entire species of little 6-legged creatures. If you really wanna participate, turn off your AC, replace your indoor furniture with whatever you've got on the patio, sleep on a piece of foam, and start EATING the ants.  But if that's just not your cup of ant-flavored tea, just read the blog and look at pics. :)

9. Keep me updated on football and Preds hockey. Okay, this seems silly, but I miss it! I'm working on getting into Aussie rules football, but somehow I just don't think it's going to fill the void in my life left by the lack of ESPN.  So send me score updates via twitter, yell extra loudly at games, learn the Preds chants, and pretend that Ole Miss has a chance at winning more than 3 games this season.

10. Give financially.  I am getting more and more shameless about asking for things, but I must admit it's still weird to ask for money.  You know though, that I am living on the gifts of people like you, so if you're able, give to me monthly or give once in a while, as you are able.  I am learning to live simply here, and I don't resent that one bit, but sometimes it's nice to be able to buy cookies or to pay a tailor 10 bucks to make curtains for my windows. If you really can't afford to make a big gift, or if you're a college student not making money either, we are really desperate for music.  iTunes gift cards are probably the greatest thing on earth.  With that we can buy some new music, purchase a new movie, or even good a good book! If you're tech savvy, you can gift that via iTunes some magical way, or if you're not, give it to my brother and he'll hook me up. Seriously though.....we're hoping for some good new music soon. There are a few albums we've had our eyes on for a while and hope to add to the library soon.

That's the list. Congrats if you made it through! I realize it's long. But thanks for what you're doing, and know that I appreciate every little thing immensely and think often of my friends and family back home. Love you all!

Perspectives on Mo(u)rning

This morning I woke up and attempted to take a shower only to realize that we had no water.  I walked away frustrated, went ahead with my getting ready for the day, and planned to complain to my roommates and anyone else who would listen for the rest of the morning. Sure, it's Africa. Sure, these things happen. Sure, I knew that. But this is clearly all about me and my comfort.  I wanted to take a shower.
Upon arriving at school, I discovered others had the same lack of water, but a few moments later I heard students entering a 4th grade classroom talking about a student dying.  I stuck around for a couple minutes and learned that Alisha, a 3rd grade student in Mrs. van Rensburg's class passed away from malaria in the early hours of the morning.  I walked to the office and found her teacher sobbing in the arms of Grandma Iris.
Perspective.
I ask that you please pray for us- for ABCCA students and teachers, and for the family and friends of Alisha.  It was a difficult day at the Academy.  In such a small school, everyone is affected- even those like me, who had never met this precious little one. Classes are cancelled tomorrow to honor this young girl and to express to her mother our participation in her grief.  We found out as the day went on that Alisha's father passed away a couple years ago, as did a sibling, so this mother is left alone with no husband and no children. It's a tremendous burden for this woman to bear, as Malawian believers often assume such tragedy is a result of one's sinful life. It is also a difficult time for the other 3rd graders and teachers at the Academy. Alisha had been in school here for 5 years and touched many lives.
Pray also for students who were able to hear the gospel today as a result of faithful teachers sharing about the hope we have in Christ.  Pray that the Word will not return void, that peace and hope will fill the lives of all those affected, as as result of the Spirit richly indwelling them. And pray that God will be glorified in the ministry of ABC and the lives of believers here through even the hardest of times.

Things about Allison that have changed in the past month

1. I kill ants with my bare feet. and fingers. and elbows and knees and anything else I can manage. oh, and Doom.
2. All my pants are falling off because I either lost weight or they don't shrink because
3. I never dry my clothes, simply because neither of our clothes driers works.
4. I sleep under a mosquito net and pretend I'm a princess. (I'm planning to decorate it soon with buttons and ribbons and stuff.)
5. I cook sometimes. Not much, not well. But it actually does happen. I'm becoming a pancake expert. I even wash dishes on my own sometimes too!
6. I drink less coke (though I still certainly drink it), and I drink instant coffee.
7. I am a teacher. I make lesson plans, I write tests, I grade papers, I get frustrated with slackers, and I love my students. Also, no big discipline problems. Isn't that fantastic?
8. I drive on the left side of the road in the right side of the car.
9. I send a text message every 3 or 4 days, maybe, as opposed to every 3 or 4 minutes.
10. I walk a lot. 'nuff said.
11. I accept the spider that lives in a crack in the ceiling over my shower as a welcome guest.
12. I don't have a cat. (What hasn't changed is that I still desperately want a kitten.)
13. I wear a skirt or dress most days of the week.
14. I respond to "Ally" and "Miss O" better than any other appellation.
15. I don't watch television or listen to the radio. Football season and Hockey season make this a very sad thing indeed.
16. I take malaria medication every day.
17. I rarely eat out- only a few times a month.
18. I effectively count money in denominations of $500. (Really this could read "I effectively count money" and still be pretty true.)
19. I accept the cute lil lizards and geckos and such all over the place.
20. I LIVE IN AFRICA!!!! How cool is that?!  I am now a proud resident of The Warm Heart of Africa- the stunningly beautiful and incredibly hospitable country of Malawi.

Chitenje Market!

I just spent like ten minutes trying desperately to figure out how to spell that word in Malawian Chichewa. They spell it differently in Zambia, and they pronounce it differently too. And sleepiness kicked in like 20 minutes ago, I couldn't seem to figure out what order the vowels were in, and I was very confused.
Anyway, this is a post about the Chitenje market. Pronounced (here) Sha-tin-jee.
Today, a wonderfully sweet lady named Scharlie Carlisle that lives a few houses down from us took us shopping.  She kindly drove us to and escorted us through the Chitenje market so we could buy some wonderful fabric.  See, we find the curtains in our house to be very bland, and we want to cover some cabinets without doors, as well as our closets that don't have doors. And Aly wants a quilt.
So here's the process:  Drive a long way, down a road known as coffin row, and then on further. Pay for parking and convince the nice men helping people park to not make you sqeeeeeeeze into a tiny parking space in reverse.  Walk back into this incredibly sketchy looking place (through an area that smells like stables) down a few steps, around a few corners, through a tiny alley, and into a big, covered area where dozens of women are lined up with fabric.  Walk through and ask to see pretty things. Bargain, converse, and enjoy the time with the ladies trying to guess what colors you like and show you certain fabrics accordingly.  Pay for 2, 4, or 6 meters of the fabric you like, and kindly decline those you decide to opt out of. Decline the tailors offering to make you clothing on the way out. Try and fail to get into the vehicle the way you got out, due to the car now parked less than a foot away from your door. Leave!
This was a wonderful experience that I thoroughly enjoyed, and in the end, we left with 2 or 4 meters of 10 different fabrics. It was a pricey day for us, but we have some really beautiful things now to use for ourselves, our house, and on others.
We also went to another market next to the post office where we got ripped off a little, but made friends with a guy named "Chicken Leg" whom I'm sure I will remember and find again next time I'm there. We came away with some wood carvings of Africa, and a gorgeous painting of elephants.
Finally we went to this really nice indoor store where we bought 2 large, matching wall hangings, one with elephants and one with giraffes. They're probably like 6 feet long. Can't wait to put them up in our house!

Overall it's been a really fun day. Aly and I cleaned the house a bit this afternoon and gathered some flowers for a lovely arrangement now sitting on our coffee table. Breakfast for dinner tonight, and now I'm just trying to stay awake! It's been a fantastic, productive day, but I am thoroughly exhausted!  This week was long and tiresome as well, but also a good week. We made it through week 2 of school, and I gave my first tests yesterday.  But more on school another day.
Thanks again for your prayers!  Yesterday marked our 4 week anniversary here in Lilongwe, and we've really learned a ton in the past month. I even ventured off campus to drive to crossroads earlier this week! It's been an exciting journey, and one that has only barely begun. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what is in store for the next month! We'll post pictures of our beautiful curtains soon!

28 days

and we're all zombies now. British accents included.

I love Sundays

      Sunday is truly a Sabbath day here. I love it. We wake up a little later than usual, take our time getting ready, have some breakfast, and then walk down the street to IBF where lots of friends and lots of still-strangers attend church.  We enjoy the service, chat with some folks, meet someone new, and walk home.  Then we have lunch. And then we do whatever we want!  There is no Sunday evening service here, which is really good for us because it allows us to truly rest. Saturdays are catch-up days, and often shopping days, which is exhausting in and of itself.  We may do laundry (which is complicated because we have no drier and apparently hanging clothes outside might earn us fly larvae in our skin later), or we may do lesson plans all day, or we may babysit or we may try to tidy things up.  It's fun, but not really a rest day.  Sundays, though...I just love them! They tend to be quieter days both on campus and in our house, too, which we all know I need in my life.
     Anyway, that wasn't originally why I was going to post. I was planning to tell you about the rest of my first week as a grown up with a (kinda) real job!  I have to say, the week went incredibly well. I'm learning still, of course.  Some things happened less smoothly than others, and some things I learned more quickly than others, but overall I'd say it was better than expected.  I went into it a bit nervous, but really feel pretty at home in the classroom most times. We did have a very laid back week, but I got to know my students better and had some fun times with them, as well as learned a lot about their academic capabilities, which was something I was totally unsure about. My students are from at least 7 different countries, which is exciting. A lot of them are ESL speakers, so we have some challenges that are somewhat unique, but it's a really neat experience for me.  My classes are also incredibly well-behaved. They're talkative at times, and giggly at others, but they respond well to correction and don't require much of it so far. I had a difficult task yesterday, because I found out 3 of my students are going to Mozambique to compete in swimming, and I had to have all their assignments for the next 2.5 weeks turned in.  But we worked that out, and hopefully they'll be able to keep up pretty well over their holiday. It's exciting for them, I know. I'm still working today on lesson plans for my 9th and 10th grade classes for the week after next, but they'll soon be finished! I'm excited about what is to come.
Your prayers are keeping us going here.  We really do feel them and appreciate them.  We have not forgotten that you are supporting us in many many ways, and your emails or facebook messages or pictures or messages through mom or dad. It's such a blessing to know that you love us and pray for us. My mailing address is on the blog now if you desire to send letters or snail mail (expect that it will take around a month to get here.)  If anyone is feeling just ridiculously generous for no apparent reason and desires to buy Season 3, 4, 6, or 7 of Gilmore Girls for us, or Season 4, 5, or 6 of Boy Meets World and mail it to us, we will send you wonderful African purses and aprons and bags and wallets and stuff. Just let us know.  ;) Zikomo!  haha
Love you, dear friends!

the obligatory first-day-of-school post

I really like the word "obligatory" when pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable. British English is taking over my world.

In other news, today was day 2 of school, and day 1 of class. So, since I know you're all waiting to hear, let the detailed account begin!
First things first,  I woke up at about 5:15 when Aly's alarm went off, took a nice lil shower, mopped up the bathroom floor, and I was on my way! I had a quick breakfast, packed a little lunch, grabbed my water bottle, and headed to school! First class of the day is 10th grade, which is also my homeroom, meaning I have them for 5 extra minutes in order to do devotionals or something along those lines. 10th grade is my "spirited" class (that's for you, Ashley Krason). They have a lot of personality, which I enjoy, but after meeting them yesterday morning, I had their assigned seats all ready to go today. So we had a prayer time during homeroom and dove right into the syllabus, which gained a few laughs and an agreement that policies were fair.  They then wrote a page-long reading bio for me, which we'll discuss tomorrow in class. Repeat that the next hour with 9th grade! I didn't meet them yesterday (nor did I have anything close to a reliable roll), so I didn't have a seating chart, but their choice to sit allllll the way across the back 2 rows of my classroom earned them a seating chart for tomorrow! They're good folks- a little less talkative than 10th grade, and a little more scared of me.  They did appreciate the monster border I put on the chalk tray though, earning brownie points for Anthony, who enjoyed it so much.  They told me their names, where they were from, and an article from their wardrobe they'd be happy to wear every day forever. (Thanks, Aly Weimer, for the cheesy and wonderful question.)  Went through the syllabus again, and asked them to please laugh when I say something they think is supposed to be funny.
On Tuesdays I am free 3rd-6th period. So I went to the library and worked on lesson plans (played Angry Birds) and did some reading, had snack with the 3rd and 4th graders, observed a few adorable library classes, had lunch with some sweet girls I teach, checked in on the Kindergarten teacher (who gets out at noon) and then played Angry Birds some more.
Then it was time for the last class of the day: 8th grade.  This class consists of 8 girls, 7 of whom were here today. Now, last year, the highschool at ABC got out at 1:30. This year they added a class, so they get out at 2:20.  So in prior years, these girls wouldn't have even been at school at this point.  Just saying. We were all feeling it, too. But we made it through, tried to have a little fun, and finished a couple minutes early. Eighth grade did not earn a seating chart, but we are going to start sitting in a circle, so as to facilitate discussion and staying awake and such.
Then I came home and took a 30 minute nap. And now you know! (cause it's Mike's super short show!)
More soon, I'm sure! 

another week!

Hello there, peoples of America....mostly Mississippi.
My week has felt pretty uneventful, so I haven't blogged, but I'll bring you up to date on this lovely lazy Sunday afternoon.
Let's see...Monday and Tuesday we had orientation for all us newbies. This consisted of things like telling us how to reach campus security, how to change a lightbulb (not really), what to do if we we're in a wreck, how to figure out who on earth the person cleaning our house is and where she came from, where and how to get money, how not to use the internet and most importantly how many drugs we can get without a prescription at the clinic. Orientation also consisted of a brief history of ABC and what we're about here, as well as some important cultural and linguistic aids.  Overall it was a quite a good two mornings, and they even fed us a traditional Malawian "Christmas Day sort of meal". It was delicious. Basically consisted of Grilled chicken, nsima (somewhere between grits and mashed potatoes), rice, and mustard greens. I ate it all. Yep, even the greens. Ima be a true southerner when I return home. (Irony? I think yes)
Wednesday was a day off. Demonstrations were planned in Malawi, and then cancelled, but everyone was cautious anyway, so the whole country pretty much slept in and watched tv all day. Joke! But really- it was pretty quiet, and we took a rest day too. I read a book for class, Aly took a nap, etc. It was a much needed break. Thursday and Friday I worked on lesson plans all day. Saturday we had new teacher orientation, and I finished lesson plans that afternoon. That evening (last night) they had a braii (basically a cook out) on campus to welcome all the new freshmen to the college. It was pretty fantastic.  And we talked to our newest friend Samuel (he's Malawian) for a while on the way home. He also helped lead worship at IBF this morning, which was neat because he'd been telling us how much he enjoyed playing guitar and piano and singing.
Basically, that's been our week. The girls also made a shopping trip, but you'll have to talk to Aly about that adventure. I stayed home and worked on lesson plans.

Thanks to all of you back home for praying. We truly feel your prayers and will need them even more as we start school bright and early at 7ish tomorrow morning. (I'm still confused about when we have to be there...hmmm)
Love you folks! I'm sure I'll have much to tell this coming week as classes begin!

Every New Day

Well, we had our first roach sighting last night. I was opening the door to use the extra bathroom door (because we STILL have NO lightbulb in 2 of the other bathrooms) and the little guy ran across the floor in front of me. I only screamed once- a very short surprised scream. Which scared Aly half to death (apparently she's never heard me scream before) but Katie rushed to the rescue and killed the villain for us!  

This morning my shower leaked tremendously (again), and having found no explanation for it, (the outside of the tub and the outside of the shower curtain aren't wet) we decided that the pipes must be leaking and it's seeping through where the tub isn't sealed well and practically flooding our bathroom. 

We also discovered that we apparently overfilled our water filter a bit and it also leaked onto the kitchen floor.

Friday we learned that you must weigh your produce, print a price sticker, and put it on the bag BEFORE going to check out at the store. We left with fewer veggies than intended.

Thursday we discovered that the lady who's been coming to clean our house every day is NOT an ABC student, she does know how to write in English, and we should pay her at the end of the month, despite having no idea where she came from. (She's very sweet though, and we appreciate her aid. She even told us what cleaning supplies she needed us to buy, since we had none.)

Every day we learn something new to do or not to do (usually by trial and error). Whether it's realizing for the 8th day in a row that even a tiny crumb left in the bottom of the sink will attract numerous ants, or still figuring out who to go to with each sort of problem (phones, maintenance, cars, lesson plans, shopping), we are learning. 

I admit that I've been quite frustrated at least once every day (usually somewhere around the 3rd spider killed), I also realize that this is humbling me.  I'm not saying I'm really happy with it, nor am I necessarily enjoying it, but I can see that I have lessons to learn.  Usually I'm the one with all the answers. I am a very observant and intuitive individual, and I rarely feel like I have to depend upon anyone.  This experience is showing me- multiple times, every day- that I am not sufficient for my needs.  Christ is all that is reliable in this world. When the power is out and we have one flashlight (a borrowed one, at that), all of a sudden it's very clear to me that no matter how much I want to fool myself, I am not in control of my life. He is my sufficiency- my portion- all I will ever need.

It's okay that I'm frustrated. It's okay that I'm on the bottom end of a gigantic learning curve. It's okay that I'm tired of ants. But it is not okay for me to release frustration on my roommates.  It is not okay for me to curl up and feel sorry for myself. And it is never okay for me to forget how much I need my Savior. 

So this is what I have for you today.  Remember how needy you are!  Just because your world is more familiar than mine...just because you'll put on your best clothes, flash a smile, and tell everyone how wonderful you're doing at church this morning...just because you can fool even yourself into thinking you've got it all together... don't make the mistake of forgetting how dependent you are on Christ. Run to Him- let Him embrace you and hold you and through realizing you're nothing without Him, realize that you are His beloved- His adopted child- His chosen one.  In Him you live, and move, and exist.  His arms are a great place to be- where every new day brings new mercies. 

promised pictures

This is a lovely picture of the dinner we (Aly and Katie) made!

This is a picture of lovely Katie enjoying the lovely dinner!

This is a picture of our first guest! His name is Craig/Russ/Wallace/we're still working on it. If you know us, you aren't surprised.

And THIS is Jill Kyser with the most beautiful sweet baby boy ever. He looks less than happy, but it's only b/c I'm a horrible camera-woman. He was loving it. Super happy lil guy. You should pray for him. He's from the crisis nursery, and he's actually 18 mos old. Hopefully he'll be getting better and bigger soon!

shifting

"Please be careful when opening the overhead compartments as contents may have shifted upon landing."
      I know that it's common procedure for the flight attendants to make this announcement, and I'm sure they'd be in a lot of trouble if they didn't, but after 4 flights in 2 days, I could quote their standard announcements along with them.  But after about 4 days in Africa, I feel like that's a pretty accurate introduction to this blog.
     Let's see, I filled you in on day 1 and all the traveling. Since then, we've accomplished a lot, and some shifting has definitely taken place. First off, I still panic every time the driver of the vehicle I inhabit makes a left turn into the left lane. It's just not right! But I am getting used to the tremendous amount of bikers and pedestrians, and I'm gaining confidence that one day I too will understand the mystery of driving in Malawi.  Second, we've learned the basics of shopping. We even made it to the market! Aly's blog has some detail for you there, if you're interested. It was fantastic, and I'm sure I'll have more to say in the future, but basically Malawian teenagers and young men bombard you begging you to buy their produce (or other random item) and give you all sorts of prices, and you have to figure out which one is not ripping you off and then bargain with him because really they're all giving you a high price. It is fantastic! It's like a strategy game. (Ok, ok, I'm a nerd, and it really is a bit stressful, but still fun!)  We have also learned the art of shopping in multiple places for different things, and are in the process of figuring out what price is reasonable for what item and where you can get that price.  It's something I am enjoying learning, and everyone does things a little differently, so we're hoping to shop with lots of different people so we can develop our own method. This is what Saturday consisted of.
     Sunday we went to the church that meets here on campus, and I really enjoyed it.  The sermon was great, the people were kind, and the music made me feel like I was at home.  We sang "At Calvary" and "In Christ Alone" in the same service. It's just brilliant. We then took a nap. And then I'm not sure what we did. Also, we've had dinner with some great people this week. Friday night was with the Eppersons, who made us tacos and gave us coke. We loved every minute of it, even though we were barely awake. Saturday was at the Kysers, who made amazing spaghetti and gave us sweet tea and brownies and let us play with their sweet kids all evening in the dark! (yay power outage!) And Sunday evening we had dinner with the Carlisles, who made us pancakes. Now, I did enjoy the other meals, but with all the traveling and the adjusting to new water and new food, etc, I just hadn't had an appetite until Sunday night. So the poor sweet family let us eat them out of house and home, and between just Aly and I, I am pretty sure there were about 12 pancakes eaten, and then they gave us coffee, and it was just really excellent. So tonight we were on our own! I am proud to say we did pretty great.  We pooled our resources and had potatoes cooked with green peppers, carrots, and onions, and then we made rice! And we had strawberries sliced and sugared for desert. It was a pretty impressive first meal in Africa. (And really it was all Aly and Katie's doing, of course!) We also were able to have Craig over, who arrived earlier the same day we did and enjoyed getting to know another new friend!
      The other big event has been getting to see our classrooms! I'll have to take pictures later, but it was super exciting. I have lots and lots and lots of work to do between now and when school starts.  If you didn't get the update, I am now teaching 8th and 9th grade language arts, and 10th grade world lit. I have some amazing resources on 8th and 9th grade from the previous teachers, but 10th grade hasn't been taught in a few years (they do this really cool online school program usually) so I am pretty low on resources here and kinda have to start from scratch.  Which is totally doable and kinda exciting. But really is going to require some hard work from me in the 2 weeks to come.
      This is about all I have for you tonight. It's about my bedtime. Oh! but I have a phone number now!! I think it will change soon, but I have a cute lil black and hot green nokia phone that is already covered in silly stickers. Expect pictures soon of dinner and the phone and my classroom and other such things soon! Until then, remember,
every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows.

an abbreviated and yet still too detailed account of my trip

Hullo friends!

I don’t have a whole whole lot to say, first because I’m really tired and make very little sense anyway, and second because I have yet to get a good start on unpacking. My room is A MESS.

But I wanted to update you on life!

So…Tuesday: went to Clinton, hung out with Aly, Liz, and Ammie. Saw lots of other awesome people we love. It was excellent.

Wednesday: slept late, had lunch with our families, and went to the airport! Thankfully Jan Harper is amazing and met us there with things we needed, and then basically got us through the gates. Things were just kinda crazy there, but after roughly 2 hours of working on it, we got checked in! Then we went back to board and found out our plane was delayed around an hour. Which made it highly likely we would miss our next flight, which was the last one out of DFW to London that night, which would make us miss our flight to Joburg, which would basically ruin our lives. Thankfully, friends prayed, God is good, and we made it! Everything worked out! Yay! So we made it onto the flight to DFW, and the flight to London, and after a restless night on the plane, we arrived in London-Heathrow tired and yucky and confused…but wait…that actually happened on

Thursday! : arrived at Heathrow, brushed our teeth, found a happy, semi-quite place with comfy chairs, and took a nap.  Then we ate bagels and bought 2 of those neck pillow thingies to ensure that our next all-nighter flight was a little easier on us. Then we sat and stared until we could get on the plane. So we flew all night, took some Dramamine, got a little more sleep, and somewhere around 6:30 am on Friday we arrived in Joburg. Which is like 11:30 pm Mississippi time.

Friday! Arrived in Johannesburg when the sun was just beginning to turn the horizon the most fantastic shades of pink, orange, and purple. It was absolutely gorgeous. My first African sunrise!  We then met up with Katie, who is now living with us, and ate a muffin. And brushed our teeth again. And then we just sat and stared. OH! and we met this church group from Montgomery, AL who know Jeremy Kyser and the whole thing was just hillarious.  They flew to Lilongwe with us. Speaking of flying...this is when the exhaustion began to overtake me. So by the time we got on the plane around 10:00 am here, I was struggling to function. I was asleep before take off and woke up just in time to land and fill out the immigration card. Seriously…I can’t remember the last time I was that tired.

So, a bit later, we landed in Lilongwe, where Kellen Hiroto helped us through baggage claim and customs stuff, then led us out to meet his wife Becca as well as the famous Jill Kyser! Yay!!! Excitement was very present, and very understated, due to the fact that I was only like 60% awake. Bus ride to campus was an adventure. There is basically no fuel in Malawi so they had to siphon fuel into the bus from other cars to be able to come pick us up. So the driver (Noah, I think) would randomly turn off the bus so we could just coast down the hills. LOVE it! The country is really beautiful, even in the middle of the dry season, where things are much browner than green. But I like it.  The landscape is just really different than what you’d see back home. But really alike in some ways (like all the brown grass…)  Anywho…we arrived at campus and there were some amazing ABC students cleaning our house for us, and we got to start unpacking and shower and stuff. And meet lots of people. And then they fed us dinner tonight. And we met lots more people. And clearly I’m getting tired and need to stop. But later you should remind me to tell you about Aly locking herself in the bathroom.

Congrats if you made it through this! Miss you folks already, but can’t wait for what God has in store here. More news from Malawi soon! Love ya! 

the past

Now, I know this is somewhat unreasonable, but I just need to share, mmk? mmk.
So, last summer I did summer missions in Chicago, where I lived in an apartment all summer with 5 other women. It was interesting, to say the least. Some parts were fun (I really loved the cats) and some parts were just really tough (everything else?). Well, I recently discovered I'll be living in "the quad" (MC folks, doesn't that just make you think of hammocks and camp outs and squirrels and frisbees?) with 3 other ladies- Aly (of course), Chris, and Katie.  We'll each have our own room and our own bathroom, which is more than I've ever had, so that's super. But the situation is reminding me of Chicago, and somewhere deep down inside, a little piece of me that was wounded last summer is freaking out a bit.  A lot of insecurities and worries are resurfacing in the preparation for the move, and I'm really having to fight to keep those out of my mind.
So- you should pray for me. Pray that hurts are healed, that I cling to truth, and that I trust my Savior.


In other news: 8 days!

2 Weeks!

So, 2 weeks from tomorrow I will be leaving for Malawi. How insane is that?
It's been a while since I told you what's happening in regards to this, so I'll try and give you a little idea of what's happened lately. My summer has been pretty crazy.  Somehow I volunteered (I swear I didn't know I was doing it at the time) to go and give a simple survey to everyone in my church over the age of 90.
Facts: there are 17 members of Fairview who are 90 years old or older. 3 of them are still married. 2 of them have Alzheimer's. 2 of them are unable to speak. Most of them can barely hear. All of them are amazing.
I had such a great time! I was nervous about accepting that role. I'm usually not good with senior adults. I'm just awkward in general (you know it's true) and that situation makes me feel even more awkward. But I really was blessed by this opportunity. (Thanks Bro. Tommy!)
So in between visits with our senior adults, youth activities, and trips to Memphis, Jackson, and Hattiesburg, I've stayed pretty busy.  I now have all the necessary shots, a malaria med prescription, some awesome toe shoes, and hopefully enough "grown up" clothes to last 2 years.
A few days ago I emailed the amazing Jill Kyser and she got some answers for me about what's gonna happen when we get to Africa! We also got a few emails from ABC folks, and they told us some other fun things! So here's what I've recently learned:
1. Aly and I will most likely each have our own bathroom. (neither of us has ever NOT had to share a bathroom)
2. Our stuff is still not there, and probably won't be, but MIGHT be there before us.
3. Aly is teaching Kindergarten!
4. I have A LOT (an alot!) of reading to do.
I got a list from last year of approved books for all the grade levels I'll (possibly) be teaching. Oh my! I've got a lot of work to do. There are some good books on the list, but I've only read about 6 out of 40. So...yeah...I have to admit I was a bit frustrated to find that out. I asked for curriculum when I applied and have asked more than once since then, and haven't gotten this until now.  I don't mean to complain. I understand that the ABC folks have lots of stuff happening and are super busy, so I don't blame them, but I'm feeling a tiny bit overwhelmed now.  I'd hoped to be able to work this summer on my lessons. But now I know, so I'm gonna read as much as possible in the next couple weeks and then get to work when I arrive in Malawi. :)

So... prayer requests for now til I leave:
1. that I won't be stressed with packing and preparing. details aren't my strong point.
2. that financial support will continue to come in, and that I won't be discouraged concerning emotional and spiritual support
3. that I will prepare spiritually for the task ahead
4. that my family will rely on Christ in this emotionally taxing time

Thanks! Email me, text me, call me, facebook me...whatever ya gotta do. I'd love to hear from you!

T-SHIRTS!!!!

Well, kids, we've finally got t-shirts to sell! Basically, text me or email me or facebook message me your size if you want one! They are $12, and we'll be making an order at the end of the month. If you live in Clinton or Columbus, I'll deliver your shirt to you some way or another. If you go to MC, I can ship it to you or I can get someone to bring it to you in August when school starts back. If you're anyone else, send me your address and add a couple dollars for shipping (if you can- if not, we'll cover it) and we'll get it to you as soon as we can! So here's the design: (by Joel L. from Aly's church)

 (back is above, front is below)

retreat

This past week I was able to chaperon the senior high youth from my home church on their yearly retreat to Panama City Beach.  I can't really say I was overly excited about this trip. Honestly, the beach isn't really my favorite place, I wasn't real excited about getting into a swimsuit, and I wasn't very prepared to step back into the world of high school, but I'd agreed to go around Easter, so there wasn't much getting out of it. Even on the ride there I was pretty indifferent. I found out I wasn't staying in the room with the girls I was close to, and I wasn't excited about it. I had the 9th graders, whom I hardly knew, and half of the 10th graders, whom I had for disciple now, but who hadn't really spoken to me since. (They're clearly a lot cooler than I am, and that's all I'll say about that.)  And let me just tell you- we stayed in this tiny lil cramped room with 20 bunks very close together, 2 sinks, 2 toilets (with curtains, not doors), and 3 showers. For 17 individuals to share.
Seriously.
And for real-girls are gross! Our room was pretty crazy all the time between clogged toilets and lost phones and exploding suitcases and crying beauties.
But let me tell you something-
This was the best week I've had in months.
Seriously!
Kyle Walker was our speaker for the week- a guy who went to high school here in town and grew up in Fairview's youth group and such, so he knows very well the plight of these young people.  He preached from 1 John, and I loved every second of it. Each day I was being challenged on so many levels.  I've been in a really dry spell in my spiritual life, and upon hearing the Word of God so clearly proclaimed, my spirit was soaking it up like a sponge.  I feel so refreshed and renewed by this time!
The beach itself was beautiful- it was perfect weather with plentiful sunshine, the occasional cloud, and a delightful ocean breeze. The nights were clear and starry, and worship on the beach yielded not an emotional response, but a sincere time of building each other up and loving one another.  Prompted by Kenny, these students opened up to each other and shared things such as who has left a spiritual legacy in their life, their greatest failures, and their greatest successes.
I don't mean to say there wasn't drama. There always is.  But a few girls I know came away from this weekend very changed and handled themselves very well in the face of some difficult situations. I was so proud of these young people for their willingness to hear and heed God's instruction in their lives, whether it came from Kyle, Kenny, each other, or their personal quiet times. Even in the span of 5 days I saw change in attitudes and hearts.
This week was such a blessing for me.  God sent me on this trip for His purpose, and I am so glad.  I came away with some wonderful new friends, with better relationships with old friends, with new respect for this youth group, and with a refreshed Spirit that longs for time with my Savior. The love of the world is behind me and I am chasing after the Real- the Light- my Jesus.  He alone can satisfy my thirsty soul.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

Purpose

I should certainly be writing a researched critical essay on the Romanticism of C. S. Lewis right now and not blogging. But I've been thinking a lot lately, and at some point it has to all come out.  I figure I can get it out here and then perhaps the paper will be less overshadowed with my thoughts.

     I've lived the past few weeks (months?) of my life in a state of dangerous apathy. At some point this whole moving to Africa thing became an excuse for me.  Somehow the joking "We can't, we're moving to Africa" thing became a very real "I don't care, I'm leaving anyway" thing.  I abused God's grace and settled for cheap forgiveness amidst the guilt of not being obedient. I was having a great time, and I was miserable.
     About a week ago I was given the opportunity to be a small group leader at MS BSU Summer Missions Orientation, and I spent most of my time with these students trying to express to them how vital it is to their spiritual lives and their effectiveness as a summer missionary that they learn now how to feed themselves spiritually and prepare before they go for even the unknown challenges they will face.  Now, this sounds impossible, right? I mean, how can one prepare for that of which he or she does not yet have knowledge?  I attempted to explain to these students that God will prepare their hearts now for what He has in the future, even if they do not realize it is happening.  In order for this to take place, though, they must be actively seeking Him.
      Even as I spoke to these students I realized my message was one that had been staring me in the face for months as I struggled as hard as I could to see around it. Why am I so stubborn? What is it in me that shies away from direction, rebels at correction?  I hate this! I must constantly struggle to put this stupid sin nature in me to death, yet somehow the truth is applicable that Christ has already conquered! I should be celebrating my (His) victory rather than still crawling around in the trenches poorly dodging enemy fire. This simply leaves me achy and covered in blah.
     This is what I want to do now.  I have roughly 3 weeks left in Clinton.  Everything in me wants to be at home, and any little bit left over wants to be in Africa.   However, I am here.  I am sitting in West 227 on the campus of Mississippi College in Clinton, MS, and I am here for a reason. My Father has placed me here with a purpose, and I must care.
     So to one I have wronged, I owe you a deep and sincere apology for not treating you as the beloved, priceless, incredible soul that you are. I desperately hope that my thoughtless actions have not pushed you along a path opposite that of which I hope to walk. I pray your soul will find rest in God alone, and that when you cannot find the control you long for, that you'll trust Him to direct your paths.

I'd like to leave you with this quotation from C. S. Lewis (see? I am working on that essay a little) that has been of much benefit to me when I choose to think on it and live according to its truth.  Where I have been tempted to live carelessly, this has brought me back to a sobering but beautiful reality that guides my steps with much more caution and love.
There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whome we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner -- no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.  (from The Weight of Glory)