Gobble, Gobble, Gobble - Happy Thanksgiving!! :)

It is a little strange to not be heading down to Tennessee right now; that has been my part of my Thanksgiving tradition for about 10 years. My Uncle & his family live in Bristol and it has been a blessing to be able to spend our Thanksgiving holiday together with them. My parents, brother & sister (Brandon & Katie), will be heading down (if not already arrived depending on when I post this) to enjoy some rest & relaxation with family. Kayla and I are hoping to have our own special Thanksgiving here in Malawi come Thursday. J We won’t have a turkey to eat and pumpkin pie is too expensive to make or buy; but, we will make do and are so very thankful for all that we do have. It will definitely be a Thanksgiving to remember!

As I sat outside on Thursday, I was struck by how beautiful the trees were. As I have mentioned before, it is their Spring/Summer weather and so the flowers are in bloom and are bright with color. There are a couple of poinsettia trees with vibrant & fantastic reddish orange flowers (I’ll try to post some pictures on Facebook) that are at the playground and just above our home. Even though I do miss Autumn – the leaves changing, the crispness in the air and the beautiful fall colors; I am so glad to be able to still see trees/leaves changing and witness beautiful spring colors. The rainy season will be coming soon and I’m still not sure if that means less sun or not so I am soaking up all that I can of the comfortably warm days (I still don’t like the hot ones very much) and sunshine. I know that I am enjoying the thunderstorms now, but that sentiment may change when they become a more regular occurrence. J

Last week was our final week to teach anything new for this first term. This week will be review and preparation for the end of the first term exams which they’ll begin taking on Friday. It seems like it was just last week that we had our mid-term break; time is going by so quickly! As I now have a better idea of what is expected from the students on their exams, as well as each individuals overall performance, I am better prepared for helping them with their review this week and more hopeful for their results on their exams. It was somewhat frustrating to me when I passed back their Bible Knowledge test and some were excited to have gotten a 55/100. I soon realized, though, that for their grading scale, that is still a passing score and the learners were excited to have passed and not failed the exam.

I felt as if last week was a week of reflection for me. A couple days, Kayla and I went outside to play with some of the kids at the end of the school day. Last summer, we did this almost every day and I was reminded of the fun we had with the children. I’ve posted some pictures from our time with the kids last week. As I looked through those pictures and saw the relationships that are growing stronger the longer we are here, I realized that I had unrealistic expectations of what my time would be like this second time in Malawi. I knew in my head that it would take the students some time to warm up to us, understand us and learn to accept us as teachers; but I don’t think my heart quite understood. I have already shared some of my frustrations with the teachers and there were many times that I was frustrated with the classroom because they just weren’t listening; my heart was saddened because I felt so frustrated and as if I wasn’t making any difference at all. God helped my heart to catch up with my brain this past week, though. I saw myself from the perspective of the teachers and the students:  I am a foreigner to them; though I think that my teaching methods and strategies work well, they are different than anything the children are used to and of course they are going to rebel against and/or not understand these methods at first. I need to remember the same thing with the teachers; though I do not agree with all of their teaching strategies and methods, they are also only doing what they know to do. Yes, they are willing to try something new and different, but just because it is different doesn’t mean it is better. I need to have better faith in some of these teachers and especially in these children. I am the novelty, not the constant, that these children will have as a daily encouragement to succeed and achieve; this is something that I must remember each time I try to introduce something new or different to them.

Praises & Prayers:

-       I am so very thankful for all of the blessings in my life; my family, friends all over the world, good health, opportunities to travel & share life with others…I could type all day of what I am thankful for; as you prepare to celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday, may you also be reminded of the many blessings that God has given to you.

-       The Youth Camp is drawing ever closer (it starts on December 16^th) and plans are slowly beginning to come together. Though I am still very excited and hopeful to see this camp succeed; I am also trying to remain practical and recognize that it may be delayed or postponed. The Youth leaders are doing their best to organize and budget accordingly, but along with some planning issues, the fuel shortage may greatly effect whether the camp will happen or not. Some good news that I just received on Sunday is that the camp will now take place right here in Blantyre – at our church compound! J This will greatly reduce the cost of the camp and allow the money to be used for more resources rather than  just paying for the facility of the camp.

-       I have applied for my Temporary Residency Permit because I will be in the country for more than 90 days. The cost for this is double what I had expected to pay for renewing my visa, but I was able to give them a letter requesting an alternative if possible. Only time will tell if my letter was sufficient, but I know that no matter the outcome, God has me covered. Please pray that the office does not take long to process my application and letter and that I can have this issue resolved sooner rather than later.