A Birthday for Everyone

The other day was my birthday.

Everytime one of the children has a birthday

I wish I could bring in some cake for them,

but with our busy schedule 

and the time and expense it is just not possible.

So I thought I would use my birthday as a special time to bring in some "birthday" things and to teach them about how old they are.

It is  a big deal for a 2-4 year old to be able to say how old they are.

We are learning our numbers 1-10 and so I placed those numbers around the room and asked them to stand by the number that was their age.

TWO- we are 2 years old.

FOUR- I am 4 years old.

THREE- We are 3 years old.

After establishing their age,

the students returned to their tables to color a cupcake 

(or as one of the girls calls it "a bupcake", 

which sometimes sounds like she says "butcake", which is so cute)

After coloring the cake,

they pasted little pieces of colored paper onto the cupcake.

(FYI- this works on a toddler's motor skills.  Heee, hee, hee, sneaky teacher.)

Then we asked them again how old they are

and gave then paper candles to paste on to reinforce 

their understanding of how old they are.

After that activity,

I said, "Who wants to play Birthday Party?".

The children all resounded with a "me, teacher, me!!!!!"

So, I got out the party hats and we played the blind man's bluff game.

This game was so new to them.

Some did not like to be blindfolded, but by the end of the game

were beginning to grasp the concept of the fun in it.

Giggles and laughter spilled from our room as we played and ran and laughed.

After our game, 

I gathered the children in the other room around a cake.

Together, we counted the candles : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8.

Every opportunity was made to reinforce what we are learning

(and no, I did not turn 8, just used it for the children).

As you can see, all eyes were fixed on the cake.

Not a sound came from the kids as they watched anxiously.

Then we sang "Happy Birthday"...

...and blew out all the candles.

We made lots of noise and had a nice little "party".

They all enjoyed some cake outside 

and then played in the school yard.

It really was a fun birthday for both myself and the students 

(and no pity parties).

~~~

I just want to say how thankful I am for my helper.

That day I brought my camera in hopes of getting one picture of me 

and the students on my birthday to send to my mom.

My helper asked for the camera in the morning 

and used it all day to take these nice pictures.

She says,"you are always taking all the pictures and are never in them. 

You are an important part of this ministry and their lives".

I am greatly blessed to have these pictures 

and all of the great memories that go with them.

Spider, Spider,.....

I have to admit,

when I first set foot in my house

on the night I arrived,

it was a little scary.

I HATE SPIDERS!!!

Not that I am terribly afraid of them,

but I hate things that hide 

and then crawl around when you don't see them

(like roaches and snakes too....)

I took the above picture in my bedroom when I first arrived.

A huge spider on my cupboard near my bed!!!

What that picture does not show is 

the other four on the rest of the cupboard.

Even in South Africa, 

I have never seen spiders as big as some of the regular spiders I see here.

Needless to say, that first night as I lay in the dark trying to go to sleep I had to  give it over to God and decide to trust Him to watch over and protect me.

After all, I could not live out my days being afraid of falling asleep.

~~~

Since then, I have grown accustomed to these spiders and others.

(Below you will see a short video clip 

of a huge hyper spider running around my house.  

That night, the first time I saw it, 

I didn't know what it was, because it was so fast.  

Now I know it was a Roan/Rain/Roman Spider, 

here they call it any of those three names 

and they come out just before the rains come.

These spiders are very fast, but "friendly" spiders.)

I have learned to keep bug spray and a flip flop within arm's reach

and I have also learned which ones are harmful and which ones are helpful.

~~~

In fact, I was feeling quite used to them and rather kind toward the spiders

as long as they kept away from me.

This beautiful one was living in the corner right outside my front door.

I thought I would be courteous to him and let him live, 

as long as he did not come in the house.

The kindness ended after I came home one evening.

I had forgotten to turn the outside light on, so I walked down the path with my flashlight, hesitated to point the light up in the corner to be sure the spider was there and not on the door.

It was when my light hit him that night 

that I saw the bright red dot on his belly.

God made the creepy crawly creatures with warning signs.

I went in the house after taking these pictures and looked him up.

Yup!

I knew it!

He was not a friendly spider.

In fact, he is in the Black Widow family.

The article I read said that they lay 200 eggs per pregnancy and will do that 6 times in thier lifetime.

My mind went wild:

How many thousands of spiders are right outside my door 

or even in my house..... 

in that same corner was a "teenager" of the same kind,......

Oh dear!!!!

When daylight arrived the next morning,

I found a nice can of spray to kill them with.

"Sorry spider, I was trying to be kind, but found out you were not friendly".

Not another "pity" party!

As my 36th birthday approaches,

 I can't help but thank the Lord for the life He has given me.

Is it what I expected?

No, not at all.

Like most of my friends, I had expected that God would bring a godly man into my life, that I would be married and have a handful of children.

Yes, there is a bit of emptiness that comes with being this age and not having a family to fill your life, or a husband to be your partner, comrade,
 and friend in the good and bad times.

To be honest,

 I usually have a little birthday "pity party" 

for myself.

This party is not thrown with balloons 

or crepe paper, 

more like tissue paper and tears.

 I do still long to have the full life

 that many of you have,

but at the same time I know that 

God's way is best.

So that little "party" just lasts a few moments and then the blessings of the Lord flood my mind

and I think on how great the Lord is to me.

While I still believe that the Lord has a husband out there for me somewhere,

I know that even though I don't have someone to share life's moments with;

I DO have the Lord with me 

every hour of every day.

And day by day, as I continue on in this life, I know He is always by my side cheering me on, drying those tears in my little "pity party" moments, and blessing me with every spiritual blessing because I am His and He is mine.

This week, I thank the Lord that even though 

I do not have my own children 

to train and care for,

He has filled that void by making me a 

"half-day mommy"

 to eleven little smiling faces.

Although the week brought many laughs, 
as well as,  many times where 

I was at the end of my rope on patience,

I thank God every day for allowing me 

to be here with these precious little ones.

After all, what we really need in life 

is to be "needed" 

and useful for the glorifying of our God.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pictures above of the land around the farm where I live in Zambia
and the last picture is from my classroom at preschool.

School Days, School Daze!

Thought I would share a few picks from our first few weeks of school.

Pray for us!

First Day of School

Opening Day of Independent Baptist School

Staff & Students enrolled in Independent Baptist School

We are very excited to announce that there are 16 students

(between the ages of 1-6 years old)

enrolled in Independent Baptist School.

This is my class of Nursery School kids (ages 1-4).

There are 11 students in my preschool class.

The first day was certainly a rough one, 

but every day with alot of prayer and God-given wisdom

it gets even better!

The Lord has given me differant ladies from the church

who volunteer various days of the week

to assist me in class.

Each of those ladies has been a tremendous blessing.

I know I could not teach without their help.

Please pray for our school, the teachers, and especially for the students-

to grow in learning, but also in their knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

School Preparations

ONE WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL

We were waiting for the curriculum to arrive

and when it finally did,

it was water damaged.

Whole boxes of books soaked through.

Those that weren't soaked through,

had water damage on the spine of the books

The day that we planned to spend going through curriculum,

organizing materials, and decorating classrooms...

...instead was spent laying out every book 

and piece of paper seperately to dry.

Thankfully, we had the space to lay it out.

THREE DAYS BEFORE SCHOOL

On the Sunday night before school started,

we had a special dedication service. 

This is the first year of the school,

we don't know what will be ahead, 

but we know that God has led the church

 to start a school this year.

Pastor Rich placed 18 little chairs in front of the auditorium

 to represent the 18 students who will be 

the first students at Independent Baptist School.

Three leading men at our church were asked 

to come forward to pray for the dedication.

One man prayed for the students, another for the parents,

and the other for the teachers.

After prayer, Pastor Rich called these two men forward.

They have given many hours to the

 construction & preparation of the school classrooms.

We are so thankful for their willing hearts & hands!

ONE DAY BEFORE SCHOOL

The day before school was open house.

We went in early to decorate and prepare.

Above is the room where the 2-4 year old children have school.

Below is the 0-1 year old room 

where the staff children are watched during school time.

Thanks to some families for the rugs that the children can play on.

Another great big THANKS to Mrs. Snedegar 

(one of the best preschool teachers I know)

for giving me alphabet sets, posters, and lots of learning materials.

Without those blessed contributions,

the classrooms would not be what they are today.

I know many of you helped to gather matierials and have given

 financially to the purchase of school supplies.    Thank you!

Now we are ready to start school!!!