In sight

The end. It's in sight! I only have 1 Monday left. 1 Monday of teaching, 1 Monday in Ghana. Wow. We had a big breakfast yesterday morning & they gave all who are leaving parting gifts (a beautiful necklace for the ladies & a book for Jonathan). Afterward Liz (wearing brown trousers below, 2nd from the far right) came up and gave me a hug and said "I can't believe you guys are leaving so soon! I don't think it has really hit me yet." Hearing her say those words made me realize that not only has the time FLOWN (even when the power was off), but that I really need to enjoy these last few days with my class and my friends (even if the power goes off again). There is plenty to keep me busy in the next week and a half, and I'm excited for all of it. Dinner at student's houses, a birthday party, movie nights, end of the year class party, graduation, 50's dance party, leftover's night, and a latenight party w/ Amy on the 7th, and then finally getting on a plane at 2am :)

Bible study girls :)

The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride." ~Ecclesiastes 7:8

so about that...

This is neither my most eloquent nor positive post, so read it or don't, but know that I am actually smiling as I type this. Also, know that I am very well aware that there are so many people much less fortunate than I, and that I am very thankful for all that I do have... with that being said...

I just re-read the post I wrote Friday... and oh man, I couldn't DISagree with myself more right now about one thing. At this moment, I feel like I will not miss this place. The people, without question. The culture, even some food, certainly! The lack of efficiency, the ridiculous electricity (or should I say lack of electricity), and the heat... these things I will not miss. These last few weeks have been the worst of all for me in Ghana electricity & heat wise. I feel like the electricity has been off just as much or more than it has been on, not to mention the lovely situation this week when they actually came and CUT our power line because of a mistake on their part with billing. After 2 hours of running around from my house to school to the power company then getting shuffled from room to room and being scolded for different things (like not coming in to find out how much the bill that they messed up should have been... because I knew you messed it up, right...) they FINALLY sent someone (and by sent I mean we had to take him with us in the school van and I was expected to pay for his transportation back) to fix it. This all happened during the day, when I should have been teaching... thank you Jesus that I have a great aid that covered for me so I could get it all sorted out!! Well... of course the power was out even once the line was reconnected. How ironic. That was an AWESOME day... This weekend the power was off from Saturday around 3pm till today (Sunday) at like 5:30pm... ugh.

Ghana, I'm just going to be honest here, you aren't making it very hard to leave you...

KinderKids

Have you ever watched a 16 year old boy read a children’s book to 5 & 6 year olds? It’s pretty entertaining! There are 2 high school boys reading to my class right now, and I am just loving watching them interact. They are being such good examples of patience and kindness, as well as reading. They are using different voices, showing the pictures, answering silly questions, and pausing for the children’s laughter.

Earlier today, I wanted the children to practice writing a friendly letter, so I let them choose who our letter would be to. They chose President Obama. Here is what they decided as a group to write:

Dear President Obama,
You are the best president! You are doing a good job, keep doing good things. We are praying for you.
Love,
Kindergarten

I guess really what I’m saying is… I am going to miss this place, but really more than anything, these kids & their families, as well as the coworkers that have become like family to me. One of my 5 roommates said this the other day and it rang so true for me… she said “We all get along so well because we just let each other be. When I am happy, you guys let me be happy & encourage me in it. When I am sad, you let me be sad. We don’t bother each other to be something we are not, and I feel like I’m really myself here.”

Only 15 days till I get on the plane… woah!

7

I was tagged for this 'Kreativ Blogger Award' by Lydia, THANKS :)

The first 'assignment' for being tagged is to make a list of 7 favorite things... wow tough!!! I could make a list of 700 foods I love alone :) Getting a list down to just 7 will be tough, but I'm up for the challenge... here it goes, in no particular order, because that would be even tougher... (Lydia did it by putting up pictures, it's been a while since I've posted any, so I'm copying and doing that too!! Heads up... some of these are old!)

1. food - cooking/baking and eating

2. kids, especially these 12, and those 3





3. All of these girls

4. travel - trains, planes, automobiles, etc... & I have a thing for airports and gas stations

5. awkward moments & awkwardness in general

6. teal/turquoise/blue-green (like the shirt just above) - Melinda says thats what color I am anyway :)

7. Sincerity... as in, when someone says "How are you today?" and they actually mean it, and you can just tell... that, is my favorite :)

now I'm told I've got to tag 7 others... well, TAG! You're it, you Kreativ Blogger, you! Cherish your award and have fun with your favorites :)

1. Rachel
2. Melinda

3. Nikki
4. Mariah
5. Andy
6. Derrick
7. Kate

5 Love Languages

Affirmation
Gifts
Acts of Service
Quality Time
Physical Touch

These are the 5 love languages as taught by Gary Chapman. I have taken quizzes several times, and always, my top love language is physical touch. I am a hugger, I talk with my hands, I touch when I talk, and I don't have much of a personal space 'bubble'. Quality time and affirmation (ie, words of encouragement) tie for 2nd, then acts of service and lastly comes gifts.

So here's what God shoved in my face tonight as I was trying very hard to communicate to a good friend who is back in Ohio that I am so stinkin' proud of him, and all I wanted to do was jump through the internet and give him a HUGE hug...

When something good happens to someone I care about, I get genuinely excited with them... my favorite way to show this is obviously going to be through physical touch or physically showing it... aka hugging, jumping up and down, squeezing their hands, etc... now, being in Ghana... obviously I can't do this with all of these amazing people God has allowed me to maintain close friendships with. Don't you think God might have placed me in a position where I had to use words instead of physical touch more often on purpose? I do!!! I'm thinking there is a pretttyyyy good chance that maybe, just maybe, he has been working on me in this area, and I don't know why, but I just realized it tonight.

Sometimes words are more important than a hug or physically showing someone I care... sometimes people need to hear 'I'm proud of you!', 'You are special to me', or simply just 'I love you', and while I wouldn't hesitate to say something like this to people in the past, I find that when I can rely only my words to express these things (not the ability to hug or jump up and down), I find myself being much more intentional about expressing things in words. I want to be someone who encourages those around me. I want people to know that I am excited with them, that I am proud of them, that they are special to me, and that I love them... and sometimes the best way to communicate all of those things is simply to SAY them.


Isn't God smart :)

Big hugs from Jardyn :)