fall '10.

Ben, Dad and I at the Titans game in October.
Some of the girls I live with at Benton Lake in September.
Ryan blowing out birthday candles on his 21st birthday.

I have a healthy obsession with black kids. It's healthy because I love them. And I really want to adopt one (or eight) after I get married. I think my obsession with black children, or any color child for that matter...but specifically black, was born after my first trip to Africa. Then it only continued to manifest and grow: after my second trip, after my trip to inner city New York...and now my working with kids in low socio-economic environments here in Cleveland/Chattanooga.

Plus, it doesn't help that my "boss" Jason has adopted a little boy from Ethiopia. I was seriously within an inch of putting the latest picture of Matty on my desktop as my wallpaper. But I refrained. That'd be creepy.

I have three pictures on my desk. One is of me and Sarah on the last day of my time in Malawi. I miss her. I miss that little girl singing Blessed Be The Name while we play in the dirt and her deaf sister sits next to me and touches my hair. I miss living in a hut made out of mud with a thatched roof that has no electricity. I miss showering underneath thousands upon thousands of stars while singing Veggie Tales at the top of my lungs with my sisters from other misters. I miss the lizard in Maddie's hut and the tuna casserole cooked over an open flame and sunrise worship by the river. I miss the simplicity and the closeness of His love.

Another picture is of me and the girls from the second trip to Malawi. In this picture are some of my sisters. We don't share earthly parents, but we share a Heavenly Father. We share abundant laughter and tears and hugs. We share the longing in our heart that we

feel to travel and serve and love unconditionally. We share our love for NSYNC and Christmas songs year round. We share our obsession with black kids and our intense love for anything chocolate. We share Jesus with each other, and with each life that we come into contact with. I miss these girls terribly. They are as much my family as my mom, dad, and brother are.

The third picture on my desk is of Chad. The man who has blessed me in astounding ways in the last 9 and a half months of my life. The man who has taught me so much about the Lord, music, how to almost lock yourself out of the house, how to love the unloveable, how to keep everything in perspective, how to not take myself too seriously, and how to love unconditionally. I just smile every time I see this picture of him and I from back in August. We've changed a lot. Physically (thank you, P90x!) and mentally and spiritually and relationally. But through it all, he's been there. And the Lord brought him to me in the most unconventional of ways. But that's how Dad works sometimes. His ways and His thoughts are higher than mine. And He's in control. And I'm just so insanely blessed. Golly.

It's November. I'm out of school in a month. I'm half way done with my sophomore year in a month. CRAZY. I've been insanely busy, cried lots, eaten a lot of chocolate, stayed up way too late too many times, been to Walmart too much, laughed until I cried, quit habits and picked up new ones, written many many many papers, studied many many hours, danced and laughed and taught kids just about every day, been loved, and loved. As hard as some points in this semester have been, I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Being around kindergarteners a lot is interesting. The little guys change day to day. The growth seen from August to the next May is astounding. If you ever doubt learning and education, hang out with a kindergarten class. The learning that goes on there is exponential. But I kind of feel like a kindergartner. I'm just 20 now and in college. Last year, I changed a whole bunch. This year, I've changed a whole bunch. It's almost day to day. One day is unlike the one before it or the one after it. I am on a continual journey to the King, and to His desire and will for my life.

At this point in the semester, I am RESTLESS. Yes, in all capital letters. I want to go. I want to do. I want to love and travel and adventure. I want to do just about anything other than have my nose in a book for one more moment or take one more test. I just want to get OUT of school and DO LIFE. But I am trying my very hardest not to wish my life away. Because I am in this season, this place called Lee University, for a reason. The Lord has me here to teach me and nurture me and grow me into the young woman He wants me to be, and the young woman that I need to be to do what He wants me to do. So I listen and I wait and I keep on studying and staying up late and loving on the people here and praying without ceasing.

I am clay in the Father's hands, and in Him I live and move and breathe.

here we are!

In the past month that I haven't been updating my dearest bloggy blog, I've been:

Grad partyin' it up:

This is Will. Enjoying the Chocolate Fountain of Wonder at my grad party.

Praying over my senior class:

GRADUATING:

This is pretty self explanatory. :]

Traveling to Mexico (Playa Del Carmen):

Where my family started out on vacation, but our trip wound up being a mini mission trip. Absolutely amazing. What happened could have ONLY happened through the power of the Lord. I have now found where I want to move to teach. :] After Africa and the inner city.

Seeing Coldplay LIVE here in Nashville:

Then I led a small group of 1st grade boys at VBS at my home church. Now, I had 10 first graders. Who were an absolute HANDFUL, but totally worth it. I got the awesome honor and oppportunity to lead 3 of them to Christ. Such an amazing time!

After VBS, we had youth camp:

Where we had bubble blowing competitions on the bus to camp.

And we did the Everything Skit to the song Everything by Lifehouse. It was pretty powerful stuff, and there were some campers that came to Christ that night! Praises!

And now, after all of that craziness, I am stting in the midst of Packing Chaos in my room. Because tomorrow folks,

I AM HEADED BACK TO LILONGWE, MALAWI.

I am so incredibly stoked, but not so incredibly stoked about my mile-long to-do list, or having to finish up camp laundry so that I can re-pack 7 pairs of socks. But alas, I AM GOING BACK. The flight leaves tomorrow at 1pm. Hot diggity dog, here I come, Malawi!

ONE Story.

I am 18 years old. I am from a small town just south of Nashville, Tennessee. I have big plans and dreams ahead of me, that include furthering my education at a university. But my story isn’t about me. My story is about the precious souls of the children that I had the amazing opportunity to meet last summer.
During the summer of 2008, I was presented with an opportunity to venture overseas to Lilongwe, Malawi to teach in schools and build a home for a family that adopted an AIDS orphan. I had no clue where Malawi was, and what it was like. I spent many an hour on Google researching the place that would soon steal my heart.
Google told me about the beautiful Lake Malawi, the kind Malawian people, and the wonderful scenery in this country. What Google didn’t tell me about was the absolute poverty that has stricken the country of Malawi. Like so many sub-Saharan African countries, Malawi is plagued with disease and famine. But these life altering circumstances don’t stop the Malawian people. They are a people of hope and of joy. (Google didn’t inform me of this either.) Even in the face of death, starvation, and drought, the Malawians shook me out of my comfortable American kid bubble, and into reality.
My first day in Malawi, I taught the African equivalent to an American kindergarten class. I was lead to a small brick room and 28 smiling, breath-takingly beautiful faces. The teacher I was temporarily replacing instructed that I was to teach these little ones the Alphabet, body parts, colors, and numbers. I was a valuable asset because I’m from America, and therefore have an accent (albeit a very Southern one). As I looked around the small room with one window, I thought to myself, “Man, I have more in my book bag alone than these children will ever see. I have textbooks, notebooks, and pencils. These children have nothing.” I was accustomed to having materials to teach with, like a blackboard or flashcards. But none of these awaited my use here in this brick room. So, my imagination kicked in, and we embarked on a journey that included lots of laughter, some language barriers, and even some learning- on both my part as the teacher, and their part as my students. These Malawian children are some of the lucky few that are able to receive an education. Most children in third-world nations don’t ever get to hold a pencil, or see a textbook. There are children in our world that don’t know how to add two and two, or what a verb is. Every child, from sea to shining sea, deserves to know what it’s like going to class and holding a pencil, or raising their hand to answer a question. And this can be done, if those that hold prominent positions in our world step up, step out, and let their voices be heard.
With the education of children around the world, new ideas and styles of thinking will be brought to life. Creative minds, all around the glob, working together for a common cause can truly change our world. Even children in third-world countries have dreams, just like 8 year old Ishmael told me, “I would love to become a doctor when I grow up. To help my people not be sick anymore would be so….cool.” He then burst out with an uninhibited smile, which brought tears to my eyes. Because I know the future of this small boy, along with his hopes and dreams, rests on our shoulders as a country where providence flows.
I’m not a politician; I’m not a world leader. But I am a world changer, and with the help of all those around me, including those that are prominent in the American society, WE can change the world. WE can have a positive influence on those that can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. WE can be hope carriers to those who have lost all hope. WE can change the world, starting with educating those small minds that are part of our global community.

the home stretch.

Well howdy there, Mr. Blog!

This is becoming my "Holy Crap I'm Graduating! Brain Dump Place." But I promise that I'll sprinkle in some other tidbits of news in here too.

I just planned out my next two weeks. This week is full of catch-up...both academically and socially. Mainly socially though. Because I'm a 4th Quarter Senior. And I don't do school work anymore. But get this: I HAVE 41 DAYS UNTIL GRADUATION. 41! 41 school, weekend, bummin' around school, and exam days left. In 41 days, I will be gradumatated. Praise the Lord!

I spent last weekend at Lee University signing up for classes. This was so surreal to me. I'm going to college. I'm signing up for classes that sculpt my future. I'm leaving home, and embarking on a new adventure. Hot dog! I absolutely cannot wait. From rooming with one of my best friends to discovering new cute coffeeshops to new friends and people to meet (read: boys), I am so excited!

This week was spring break. And boy howdy, was it needed! Here's some snippets of what I did...

< Raced shopping carts in parking lots...

Had Fake Fusion with the youth group, where we had great roomie boding time... ^

< and aided the Senior Boys in their fashion show at Target.
(Where we were stalked by an employee that kept giving us looks. We were just killing time before our movie!)

All in all, a great spring break. :]

In other news, high school consists of getting ready (and pumped!) for Prom '09, sending in final transcripts to our choice colleges, and eating lunch outside. :]

Summer holds: GRADUATION, Vacation Bible School, Youth Camp, AFRICA, return trip to Mexico, THE POOL, girl time, last memories with the Class of 09, Kid's Camp, a possible mission trip to NYC, a possible beach trip with the girls....and COLLEGE! Wooo hoo! Let's go!

and the countdown begins.

I am attempting procrastination. This will be an extremely random and ADD post...so beware! :]

I'm watching Little People Big World, on TLC. This show is growing on me. I think it's cute. So anyways. Molly, the daughter on the show, graduated from 8th grade on the episode I just watched. Now, I've been there. And it wasn't really that big of a deal. But it's what Molly and her friends did after the ceremony that got me.


They ran to each other and hugged each other's necks really tightly. And it hit me a little bit: I'M GRADUATING IN JUST OVER 80 DAYS. I will be a high school graduate. I will be going to college. When August rolls around, and everyone's buying school supplies and new clothes, I'll be going to Cleveland, TN for college at Lee. That is SO weird. That's uncharted waters, is what that is.



Freaky.

I'm counting down the minutes until the finale of The Bachelor. My mom and I watch the show every Monday, while we eat ice cream. It's our own little tradition...one that I will greatly miss next year. But I'm excited for the show. I know it's all hokey and television, but I still think Jason is totally cute. :]

I'M GOING BACK TO MALAWI. I will be in Malawi in a little over 3 months. Weird weird weird. We had our second team meeting yesterday...and I am so excited but also a jumble of other feelings. The idea that some of the girls and guys that went last year won't be there this year is weird to me. But it's exciting that there will be new faces and friends on this team. It's also weird to think that I'm going back. I'll be crawling in the dirt again. I'll have 6 little hands wrapped around my fingers, while we waddle back to the Adziwa village for lunch. I'll teach little guys how to play Frisbee, and play the "dancing game" with the girls. I'll be laughed at by the native workers that we work alongside with on the house. I'll be going home.

Prayer points for Malawi 09:
-peace in the journey before the journey
-protection for traveling mercies
-guidance in what to teach and how to teach it
-trust that the Lord will provide!
-blessings from the Lord in monetary and spiritual ways that only the Father can do!

Man, it's just so weird. But boy howdy...AM I STINKIN' EXCITED!!!

Countdown::
Graduation- 82 days until graduation. (includes weekends and Spring Break)
38 SCHOOL days until graduation.
Malawi- 109 days!

an ode to the things i love.

So I haven't updated this doo-hickey in a very long while. But I've got lotsa thoughts bouncin' around in my head...so here goes. :]

(That was a very Southern Slang sentence.)

Disclaimer: There are many many many more things I love. But Grey's Anatomy comes on in an hour, and I cannot miss it.

1. Winter Retreat:

So we (my youth group) just got back from Winter Retreat. It was absolutely incredible. The Lord has brought us all back together in ways that we've been praying for for over a year. Man, what a great God!

Last night we had a Fusion (our Wednesday night youth service) and debriefed what Winter Retreat was for us. Needless to say, God moved again.

Winter Retreat WAS full of funny things, like skits, copious amounts of M&Ms, and LOTS of giggles. And scavenger hunts. Which the Group 2 owned FACE at.

2. The Senior Class of 2009:
I am 54ish school days away from being a graduate. This makes me excited beyond words. But that's not why I love the senior class. I love the senior class because we are FAMILY. Just like it says in Nehemiah, when one of us is missing from the group, there is a tangible hole. Each one of us brings something different to the table. (I'm sorta stealing this from Will...bare with me.)
We each have our own strengths and our own weaknesses. But we complete each other so perfectly, it can only happen through the Lord. In the class of 2009, or Kono, we have: leaders of all shapes and sizes, artists, lovers, dreamers, scholars, musicians, comedians, dancers, prayer warriors, risk takers, photographers, directors, actors, filmakers, teachers, missionaries, justice-seekers, optimists, and planners. We are by no stretch of the imagination perfect, but we love each other unconditionally nonetheless. We are clay in the Father's hands, going anyway He leads. How incredibly blessed I am to be in such a diverse and loving family.

3. Oil Paint:
Dear oil painting, how I love you. Actually, dear any type of painting, I love you. As soon as I have a brush in my hand, everything fades away (yes, I proudly stole this from The Notebook). But it really is true. I get in my own little world when I paint...just me and the canvas. Sometimes, I get stuck. I hit a "painter's block." But usually, with some thoughtful sketching and some great music, I can bust on through that dumb painter's block. I especially love the way oil paints smell. They just permeate my memory, and I know that whenever I smell that particular scent, it will bring me back to my adventure with my canvas. Some people say that they take their cars on adventures. Or their cameras. Or even their friends. But with a canvas, I can do anything.

4. Picnik:
Oh my lanta, I never knew photo editing could be so fun. Hello a new form of procrastination. But hey, it's creative!

5. Driving with my windows down:
Oh, the wind in my hair, the clouds in the sky... just kidding. But I really do like that. There's just such a feeling of freedom while driving with the windows down. Especially to good music.

6. Del Rio:
Not "of the river" in Spanish. Well, it is. But that's not what I mean. Del Rio is this really great narrow road that winds through the fields and "countryside" here in Franklin. I especially like it while driving with my windows down. There's not much traffic on it, so it's almost like the movie Elizabethtown, when Orlando Bloom is just crusin' along listening to some really great music. Yeah, I like it. :] Both Del Rio and the movie Elizabethtown.

7. Africa:
I'M GOING BACK THIS SUMMER! Praise the Almighty Father, I've been called to return back home. I've still got dirt from Malawi in my shoes, and not a day passes that I don't think about those precious children. Hopefully I can brush up on my soccer skills before I return...

A Random List of Things I Love, But I'm Not Going To Elaborate On Because I Want To Watch Grey's:
-throw pillows.
-travelling.
-acoustic guitar.
-love stories.
-Preds games. (Nashville's hockey team)
-football.
-sweet tea.
-the Art Girls. (I see them every morning. Without them, I wouldn't have anyone to share my embarassing stories with at 7:30 a.m.)
-my car.
-my car's sunroof.
-best friends.
-answered prayers.
-God moments.
-sisters from other misters. (Not literally. But I've got some great gals that surround me. And I'm pretty sure the Lord didn't put some of us in the same family because...well, I don't think there's a set of parents out there that could handle some of us in the same family. We're a bit goofy.)
-dance parties.
-senior boys that have Lumberjack day.

because i miss it.

Brooklyn, one of the Middle School pastors at TPC is in Malawi right now. I think the day she left was the hardest day since being back. What I wouldn't give to have been on that plane with her.

There's no dout about it, my heart is in Africa. I didn't believe that for a few days on and off since I've been home. But now, more than ever...I know my heart is there.

3 months later. After blood, sweat, and tears of 15 American teenagers and 5 adults went into that house, it still stands and is being lived in. I walked that land, I layed those bricks. I prayed over that house countless times...there, and here. I think about the family that lives in that house everyday. I'll never forget spending hours in the bathroom with Court, or sweeping with my hands with Kelso and Will. I'll never forget the picture of love that the Lord showed us on that last day. This is The House That Love Built.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

So, Malawi.

I'm feeling a picture's post, because I'm a fan of pictures. :]

Lunch break for the kids in the Adziwa school.

The Malawian men show the Americans how it's done.

The children loved Magic Markers.

Leike carries his brother's school books.

One thing that I've learned about myself in these past few weeks since Africa, youth camp, and being a teen leader at kid's camp is that I'm much more laid back than I was at the beginning of the summer. I've always been laid back, but now more so than ever. I'm very "Hakuna matta," these days. And I quite enjoy it.

Last night, my mom and I were spending some quality time together at Wal Mart. Typical girls. :] We jumped on the notebooks for 5 cents, and loaded up with them to send over with the next Malawi team. While we were checking out, the lady in line behind us was getting quite huffy. I really wanted to turn around and say, "Excuse me, but these 40 notebooks are for children in Africa. What are YOU doing with your life?"

But I didn't. That wouldn't have been very Chrisitan-ly.

We (the fam) are leaving tomorrow for a cruise to Mexico! We are porting in Cozymel and Calica. I'm quite excited. Especially about snorkeling and parasailing.

Hasta luego!

VBS, Malawian Style- Day 1

So after school, we were walked back to the offices by about 500 kids. No joke. We quickly learned that the English way of holding hands (one child per hand) didn't apply here. In Malawi, we were rockstars. We were rock stars with one child per FINGER. Which made for a very interesting step-shuffle-giggle-shuffle routine. The kids loved having an "adzungu" hand to hold, of course. :]





We got back to the Adziwa offices, and chowed down on a lunch of sandwiches (or "sundwiches" as the Malawians called them). Each day the team had a choice of peanut butter or jelly, but not peanut butter AND jelly. The boys caught on quickly, and peeled their sandwiches apart then smacked them back together with a buddy, so they made two PB&J sandwiches. Way to go, boys! The peanut butter in Malawi was HEAVENLY and made from scratch. We were so spoiled.

After lunch, we then prepared for our first Vacation Bible School. Thandi prepared her lesson, which was out of Luke, and the girls worked on theirs. Emily, Heather, and I were doing our lesson first. Heather told the story of the woman touching Jesus's cloak, I told the story of Zacchaeus, and Emily told about Jesus loving the little children. The overarching theme for our lesson was that Jesus loves everyone. Thandi translated, and the kids followed us very well! We played Simon Says, and learned that there is a smiliar game in Malawi! The kids responded and interacted at a surprising level, they were almost hungry for English words. After our lesson and game, we dove into making picture frames. We were armed with popsicle sticks, foam stickers, and lots and lots of glue (in the stick form, we weren't crazy! Liquid glue = nightmare.). Emily was in charge of taking Polaroids of the kids. She taught them how to shake their picture to make it turn up. Once they realized that the picture revealed their faces, the kids lit up like a Christmas tree. They would then show if off to all their friends, and then reluctantly let me glue it into a frame. But once they saw it in a frame, their smiles got even bigger. If that's possible.

Some of the boys finished early, they were sitting next to me and got a lot of help on their projects. We went outside to play football (soccer). We had 10 balls stored away for moments like these, that we would give them at the end of our two weeks. The boys had SO much fun with the soccer balls, and quickly split off into teams without any help from the authority figures. It was incredible. I would have played, but Aefe, a young girl that had been close at our heels all day, pulled me aside and we practiced our English letters and numbers. She was absolutely precious, and pretty soon, we had a crowd in our pseudo school lesson. I was totally in my element, and could have spent all day drawing in the dirt with these precious children.

Eventually, we walked back to the offices to clean up. The Adziwa kids all hung outside while we finished cleaning. They would dig through the trash that we had piled up to find the empty Polariod boxes. I saw one girl with her frame in her box, to keep it safe. My heart broke, once again. I am so blessed.

We finished cleaning up, and decided to go out and bond with these precious children. We taught them the Macarena with English numbers, the Chicken Dance, the Conga Line, and the sprinkler. We had a ball- and I think they did too. Tionke, a 10 year old boy, could bustamove. His favorite was the Macarena, and he added his own moves. All the kids loved the "Heeeeey, Macarena!" part. I tear up just thinking about it. If the children needed to get our attention, they would start humming the Chicken Dance until we all turned around. I miss those moments.

As we were leaving, Taylor pointed out the absolutely GORGEOUS first sunset. We all stood there in wonder. We had never seen anything like it. Yay Daddy! What an artist You are!

We said our goodbyes, blew kisses, and gave out hugs. As we went back to Kumbali, we all laughed about the day. How great God is!

Once we got back to Kumbali, the Shower Extravaganza began. Since the girls were all wary of showering in the African darkness alone, we all donned our swimsuits and jumped into the showers in pairs. Our showers weren't really showers... just scoop-n-dumps. We filled our big blue buckets up with as much hot water as we wanted, then drug them over to the cold water spout. We then buddied up, and carried them to the shower stalls, which were made out of straw. They had slits in the bottom of them, which were rock. We had rock shelves that our lanterns and shampoo sat on, and no roofs. I miss having roof-less showers, the stars were breathtaking.

Showering in the dark with long hair was quite difficult. So frequently, we needed to solicit the help of our shower buddy. The joys of friendship are limitless. Sing-a-long showers haven't been born yet... that's day 7. You just wait. :]

Day 1.

It's quite fitting that I'm blogging about day one in the schools on the one month anniversary of this very day. I miss Adziwa and Kauma village with every fiber of my being. I'm so ready to go back.

We all woke up to an extremely cold morning. Who knew that Africa was cold? We all had sweats on for breakfast. We were that cold. The boys woke up for early showers (hey, at least they are showering!) and then we all met for breakfast. We had toast, porridge, and baked beans. Yes, baked beans. For breakfast. It turned out that we had to wait about 30 minutes for breakfast to be finished, which we totally didn't mind. We were used to "Africa Time," which basically means that it will get here when it gets here. Be patient. No worries. I am still on Africa Time, and it drives those around me nuts. But I find a specific serenity in it.

As we enjoyed our breakfast, and talked about the night sounds we heard, including the bird outside of Hut One's window, Kyle came around the tables saying, "Okay guys, funny story!" And we all knew that this story was not going to be funny. Kyle then launched in to telling us about how in Malawi, they don't observe a time switch like the surrounding countries do. So instead of the time being 8 hours behind American time, the correct time was 7 hours behind American time. So the little man that gets our shower water warm? We woke him up. And he was apologizing for not having our water ready. No wonder the breakfast guys weren't ready, we were wrong! Looking back on it, the story is quite funny. But we all were thinking about that extra hour of sleep we could have had. Oh well. :]

After breakfast, we gathered up our materials that we would need for the day, and headed out. I was on school duty all day, including Vacation Bible School that afternoon. I could NOT be more excited. We drove through the villages again, and people of all shapes, ages, and sizes would come running out of nowhere, just to wave at a passing bus of Americans. Many asked for money, but the younger kids all yelled happily and waved their little arms off. We felt like rockstars.

We arrived in Adziwa, were shown around, and began working. The construction team split off to go begin working and meet all the men that worked on the house. We started our walk up to the schools, being led by Thandi. She was possibly the most patient and loving woman that I have ever met. We first went to the elementary school, and looked around a bit there. The children, of course, went crazy. Many of them had never seen a white person, and they all wanted to shake our hands. It was precious. We were TOTALLY a distraction, but I could tell that the kids were eating it up.

On our way to the "middle school" (grades are different, the team called it the middle school), we noticed many of the children that were fleeing from something. Connee, one of the leaders that went with us, quickly asked if we were in danger. Thandi and the headmaster from the school system told us that we should not have fear, they would take care of us if something came up. Then they explained that the Chichewa tribe was having a funeral procession- the chief's son had died. The Chichewa tribe is a native tribe, so therefore they do not practice Christian-based funerals. The tribe had beasts that would run around town, and capture people. We had nothing to fear though, because it was a time of mourning, and the young men would not capture anyone. The children, however were terrified. The men running around would wear masks and carry machetes, which were menacing to the little guys. If captured, a prisioner would have to return to the graveyard with the "beasts" and be initiated. It was quite alarming, but really interesting to see. We were not allowed to make eye contact, wave, or take pictures of the Chichewa people for our safety. The Lord totally had His hand upon us!

We then ventured to the middle and high schools, and I was shown just how much I am so blessed. The Lord has given me a desk, a notebook, and textbooks. He has given my teachers erasers, and my friends school materials also. How blessed I am!

After we saw each school, Thandi instructed us to split into pairs, one pair per school. Emily and I went to the elementary school, and were able to teach a class of 3 and 4 year olds. They were absolutely precious.

When it was time for lunch, the teacher that Emily and I were helping instructed us to come outside and sit on a bench she had pulled out for us. She then told us that she was going to get us some lunch-the same lunch that the students in the school were eating. As she walked away, Emily and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes. Here was this precious lady offering up all she had to her visitors. What a beautiful picture. She then came back and with a distressed look on her face, told us that they were out of porridge. Emily and I tried our best to explain that we had our own lunch back in Adziwa. The woman was obviously relieved, and then invited us inside to hear the children sing. I was so humbled and amazed at the hospitality of this woman who had nothing. How cool is Daddy!

The children singing. It brought tears to my eyes, WHAT a picture of Heaven!

I'm going to stop there, this is the longest post ever. I'll pick up tomorrow with the rest of day one!

Mozabanji, Malawi!

Mozabanji = Hello in Chichewa
(I think that's spelled right.)

So we bumped and jiggled our way to Kumbali Village, where we would be living for the next two weeks. The roads were surprisingly pretty smooth, until we turned off the road the president lived on. (We literally were NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS!) Once we hit the dirt roads, things got interesting. You hear people talk about the roads in Africa, and things jiggling that you didn't know could jiggle... it's all true! My cheeks jiggled, my arms jiggled, my lips jiggled. But the ride was so fun.

As we grew closer to Kumbali and farther away from Lilongwe, we began to drive through villages with many huts that looked like this. The way these people live began to take shape and form in our minds. Driving through these villages was extremely real- I've seen this up close and personally, not only on TV. What a privelage. What a life-changing moment.

Kumbali was beautiful. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but we were so excited to be there! We met Eunice and Frank as SOON as we got off the bus. They were the most welcoming people! We met Guy Pickering (the boys on the team ADORED him) and Scott Grey (who apparently has a CD out?) after we met Eunice and Frank. Everyone in Kumbali was so excited to see us and meet us and greet us. We were already totally at home.

The huts were just huts in name. Yes, they were made of mud and straw, but where "4-star huts," as Kyle called them. Very very true.

Note the mosquito nets...the bane of my existence. Those, and propane-fueled lanterns. :]

Maybe this round I'll acutally get to Africa.

After London, we ventured to Nairobi. It was a flight of approximately 18 days. Well, not really. More like 7 hours. It just felt like 18 days. The best part was journaling, the really cute guy in the row infront of me, (Nina, sass comments to yourself, my friend!) and waking up to a KILLER sunrise in the air, and the boys singing the opening number from Lion King. (The BAAAAAAI-YA BI- YAIIII one.) That was hysterical.

Oh, I was also FINALLY given my letter from Nina. This letter was under 3 layers of packing tape. The kind with the reinforcing yarn thing strung through it. And about 7 paper clips, and 2 envelopes. It took me 45 minutes to open and 2 minutes to read. :] Technically, I opened it while in the air over Africa. Not while I was standing on African soil. Oops.

The airport in Nairobi itself was not fun. We were all so dehydrated that I don't think any of us remember it. I do, however remember a really nice shop guy, and really mean security guys. That made me down a bottle of water in 5 minutes. Because I have a b-o-m-b in my bottle of water. Yes, that's right. But we got out of that airport, and onto a tiny tiny plane that took us to a city in Zambia and then onto Lilongwe in Malawi. I don't remember any of this flight, I was dead asleep for the entire thing. I learned my lesson about water and flights and jet lag.

We got off the plane in Lilongwe and rode a bus to the airport. There were no gates for the plane to pull up to. That was an experience! We were able to breathe Malawian air for the first time, and look around. We were amazed to see how beautiful it all was! We made it to the airport, and through passport security, and then collected our bags, and walked out to the bus (The Wheels of Champions, excuse me. Not the bus.) And we were greeted by ladies from the village.

They were all singing, and dancing. They wrapped each of the girls in a Malawian wrap. I cried. They sang. I couldn't help but think that that's what heaven will be like- nationalities fall by the wayside, and old and young alike abandon all things and worship. In the most beautiful place ever. Even more beautiful than Malawi. How cool.

Ramble Alert!

The new(ish) Jack Johnson CD is the best. Especially for the beginning of summer. :]

confessions of a teenage blog addict.

I think I should go to Blog Addicts Anonymous. And Facebook Wallstalkers Anonymous.

Had my interview for the Malawi, Africa Trip yesterday. It went well, I will keep posting updates on the process! =]

So Neens texted me this morning saying that Boo Mama was hysterical. I do have to agree, her blog posts have kept me howling all morning.

I made my way into her Africa blogs, from the Compassion Blogging Trip that got back about a week ago. Alot of her posts, along with the other bloggers that went, are about the children in Uganda. I eat it up. Boo Mama mentioned that many of these children have never seen their faces before. I've never thought about that. I take mirrors for granted. Something that I use everyday, and don't think twice about. I see my face in my mirror in the morning, in the multiple mirrors in my car, in store windows (okay, sign me up for I Check Myself Out In Any Reflective Surface Anonymous too please.), and in pretty much every reflective surface. In my defense, I am not vain. Just a teenage girl.

But still. That little thought, that many children living in poverished nations have never seen their own faces. Their own beautiful smiles, and the eyes that make me tear up, even when I just see the pictures. I'm going to be a basketcase when I actually get to see these faces up close and for real. And put names with them. Names that I will never forget.

I cannot wait.

It also occured to me last night that in about 90 days I will:
-be a SENIOR.
-be getting on a plane to go out of the country for the first time. To a country that I've only read about on the internet.

Oh my lanta, I cannot wait.