A smorgasbord of thoughts...

I am not feeling so hot today....but, being as "determined" (also known as hard headed) as I am, I went to school anyway. I ended up laying down with my head on my backpack in the supply closet and fell asleep during school. If you knew what a zoo that closet becomes, you wouldn't believe that I was able to sleep through such insanity! So, I think I am officially under the weather. I have a headache and am just not up to par. No big deal...but will stay home from our afternoon class and rest up.

I do want to share something that happened yesterday that had great spiritual meaning for me. Abdala's brother, Alfani, is an awesome kid. He is so kind to his brother and always has a smile on his face. The volunteers are all crazy about him. He sat next to me yesterday in our morning class and was all smiles, putting his arm around me and saying "Good morning, teacher". I just eat him up. He then proceeded to pull a broken lighter out of his pocket to show it to me. It was clear that it was his newest find and he was excited about it. It was clear that he didn't know what this item was or how it was used. Loving him and wanting to keep him safe, I smiled and gently took it from him and put it in my pocket saying "pole, Alfani" which means "I am sorry, Alfani". He burst into tears and held his hand out for me to give it back to him. he didn't understand why I would take away something that was so special to him and made him so happy after he shared it with me. I asked Emmanuel, one of the Swahili speaking teachers, to explain to him that I loved him and wanted to keep him safe, and that was why I had to take the lighter away from him. He just bowed his head, continuing to cry and doubt why I would hurt him. It broke my heart to see him so upset, knowing that I caused his pain. I rubbed his back and just kept saying that I was sorry.

This was a crystal clear example of my relationship with God sometimes. Knowing that He loves me, wants to protect me and knows what is best for me, I still doubt when He takes things away or withholds things from me. I seem to think that it is because I have made Him angry or He is disappointed in me and this is my discipline. I believe, though, that He sees the big picture and knows what is best for me. He takes away things that are potentially dangerous, hurtful or just "not our best". That being said, he longs to comfort us while we hurt. He loves us that much. I have had plenty of times, like Alfani, when I doubt, hang my head and cry....but at the end of the day, I have to trust His plan.

The below pictures and video are from the last several weeks- they have just not made the blog, yet.
Enjoy.

Some children on their walk to school.

This is Sammy. He is a total pistol, but we all really love him.

This is a "piki piki" and is a taxi type vehicle that you see all over Dar. They are like glorified golf carts...and look like a lot of fun!

A typical house here

The below video is more footage of my precious little Mwadenny. It was taken last week, but I forgot to post it. He is too cute!

motiono.com/watch/tsReuNit

This is a video of the kids coloring. They love it!

motiono.com/watch/treNouoU