"Remember me, O my God, for Good." Nehemiah 13:31

Well, I am finally "busy" in Africa.  I am no longer figuring out the little things.  I am fairly confident that I can get around wherever I need to go, by foot, bike, or taxi.  We have outings with the teachers often: "fan-ice" parties, Bible studies, birthday parties, etc.  At school, I am a little overwhelmed with planning for 12 grades.  I see the kids twice as often as I did last year, so I am accomplishing at least twice as much - so besides having 7 new grades to plan for, the elementary classes are quickly going through the lessons that I have planned!  I am working to get paints and see progress in the mural projects.  It looks like I will be moving into the pink house some time this next week, so I need to start packing back up and getting ready to move!

It's so funny to realize the pace here just does not keep up with our american standard of busy-ness.  No one here plans on accomplishing anything, I don't think.  I could make a list, the same as people in America, perhaps consisting of refilling a prescription, buying bread, getting money out of the ATM, and buying a notebook for school.  These things could probably all be done at a Publix.  But, there is no Publix here.  So, I need to know which pharmacy sales real drugs, and what the drug is called here.  Then, I would need to chance find a person selling loaves of bread walking on the street, or make it to the A&C shopping center, near the school.  This is also where there is a trusted ATM, so that could be two things on the list at one stop.  Then, the notebook: there is one place to get things like this all the way downtown, and the only notebooks you can get only have two rings, instead on three.  The point is, it takes a lot of work to keep one's self "busy" here, we are ALL the time speeding up to wait on something.

While figuring this out, I have had some time to check emails and skype with people at home.  This week is the first time that things have happened, mostly sad things at home, that have really affected me here.  I think that none of us realize the importance of our actions and decisions.  It ALL matters.  Everything on this Earth is part of God's plan.  When one of us is hurting, the pain is felt throughout the body of Christ, even across the globe.  When one of us chooses to praise God regardless of the situation, the joy is spread throughout and builds up the body of Christ.

So, I am here, and I am really affected by the bad and sad things that happen to Godly people at home.  I am affected by the sinful choices of people who I have looked up to.  And I am encouraged by the stories of kindness shared and celebrations planned.  In this fallen world, how do we make sense of our human nature, our sin nature, and the holy spirit all being a part of us? It's a battle, everyday, to choose joy in all circumstances.  Sometimes I find myself wishing away the free will that God has so graciously given us- how easy it would be to live in the spirit, if He had created us just to follow him without question? But; because we have been given the gift of freedom to choose to follow Christ, it is inevitably a daily battle.  Because I seem to all the time fail, and become sidetracked from Christ's will (by trying to find a three ring binder, or canvas and paint) this has become my prayer:

"Remember me, O my God, for Good." Nehemiah 13:31

I pray that God can still use me for good, to build up the body of Christ in this world.  I ask for forgiveness, and ask the Lord to change me and fit me back into His will, everyday.  Aunt Dixie says, "It's all about learning to recover."  Learning to recover from things we have done, and things that others have done, and CHOOSING to praise God in ALL things.  So, I pray that I can be used for some good on this Earth, that my life can somehow encourage others.  I hope that anyone reading will choose the same - that they will choose to follow and praise Christ through all situations.

So, last night, we were invited to the Korean church in Tema for their charity celebration! The Korean students make up the third largest nationality present in our school.  They were all so excited to see us - it was really fun to see into their world for a night!

The food was A-mazing.  We had "kim-bob" which is Korean sushi, and delicious noodle soup, and cotton candy (totally American and delicious), and these delicious fish pancake things filled with a "bean paste" that tasted like cinnamon filling - yum.

The Koreans put on a show for hours last night.  It was amazing.  They were singing and dancing.  I felt like I was in China again.  The asian cultures are SO influenced by "pop culture" - the youth groups did these dances to rap songs in really exposing outfits and the parents were cheering the whole time. This would not fly at a church picnic in Alabama!  We heard Korean versions of "Oh, Happy Day," "Memory" from Cats, and some Eric Clapton songs.  Good stuff.