The 78th Dear _____ Post

Dear 1 month, Has it really been that long since I last wrote a Dear ____ post?

Dear Water Situation in Dakar, You're getting worse and worse. Some people have been without water for over 2 weeks now. Many people who can't afford the luxury of bottled water have had to resort to using dirty, unhealthy water for drinking, etc. Can you imagine? Think of all the ways you use water in a day. Now imagine that all taken away because there's NO water at all. Thankfully we still have water at home. The school's water isn't coming as frequently though. But at least we can afford to buy bottled water if need be.

Dear High Heat and Humidity, We've been experiencing you all week. Oh my goodness... It seems like every day is hotter and more humid than the day before. I can't wait 'til cool season!

Dear Air Conditioning, I've never had you at home (in Dakar), but for the past 4 years I've had you in my classroom. And I don't believe I ever truly appreciated your awesomeness. Now that I don't have you in my classroom (where I spend the majority of my day) OR at home, I feel as if I'm never able to get a reprieve from the high heat/humidity that I mentioned above. When you get used to something and then don't have it anymore, it's hard. I seem to be "sweatin' for Jesus" even more now. Occasionally my students feel the effects of it, and even with the fans on, beg me to teach outside at one of the picnic tables in the shade. I realize that some people have it far worse than me. I do. But wow... I keep telling myself, Cool Season's coming... :)

Dear Survivor, You started back a couple weeks ago. I must say... I'm pretty annoyed with some of the people playing you this season. I really thought this new theme would be a cool one. And it was at first. But it's getting annoying... I'm hoping things get better as the season goes along. And you know what Survivor? This is the first year since coming to Africa that I'm watching you by myself. I've always had friends that are on the Survivor watching bandwagon, but far this year, I haven't found anyone. But I do have one friend that is nice enough to not post spoilers on Facebook before I've had a chance to watch. Then once I've finished the episode, we can dissect the show and complain/rejoice with each other via Facebook. Go technology! :)

Dear Oatmeal, I've never been a big fan of you. I never liked you growing up and as an adult, I'd only eat you if I absolutely had to, which was rare. But recently, I've discovered that all of a sudden, I love the taste of you. Can our taste buds (tastes?) change like that? Too bad all the yummy flavors of instant oatmeal found in America don't exist here. Anyone want to send me some? I'd totally be your BFF if you did. Kidding...sort of :)

Dear Money, You're pretty tight right now. Thanks to my stupid mistake in which I totally blamed on my sleep-deprived-broken-hearted-emotionally-whacked week in the States and missed my original flight to Dakar, I had to pay a whopping $1300 to fly back later the next day. BOO! I now know what broker than broke means. I'm so thankful that I had some (Senegalese) money saved up before leaving for Dakar. Yay for food and bottled water :) FYI...I will now check and recheck my plane tickets over and over and over and over (get the idea?) before flying out, so as to NEVER EVER EVER make that mistake again...

Dear Kids Club, You're going great. You are definitely one of the highlights of my week. And I'm sad when I can't be there. I'm so grateful for the 3 other adults that stepped up and volunteered to help run you. These ladies (and gentleman) are awesome! The kids love them! It makes this teacher's heart happy to know that there are other people out there willing to teach this program that I love so much!

Dear Life, Wow! You've been quite the doozy here lately. Here's hoping that things settle down for a while...

Dear Broken Heart, I've felt like I've had you for a while now. My sweet Papa died. My Daddy had a major heart attack and subsequent surgery to repair a majorly blocked artery. I had to sit through the hardest funeral EVER, complete with military honors, such as Taps being played (major heartbreaker there, let me tell you...). I had to broken-heartedly watch my dad struggle with a painful recovery. I then had to broken-heartedly say goodbye to my family just 9 days after arriving back in the States. I came back to Dakar and settled back into work, teaching my students, and spending time with friends. I'm not going to lie. This past week has been exceptionally hard. I still felt as if my heart were broken. I was still in the weird in-between phase of loving my life and work here while being glad to be back, and at the same time, feeling sad that I wasn't "back home" with my family. The intense heat and humidity, power cuts, and looming water cuts didn't really help matters either. But thankfully by the end of the week, things got better. I'm so thankful for a God that loves us, that hears our prayers, that says it's ok to cry and be sad, and that gives us mercy, grace, peace, and comfort when we need it. I'm so thankful for friends that know when to ask how things are going and when to just give a hug or write a note or just be there. I'm so thankful for this life God's given me. I'm thankful that even in the bad times, He's still there!

Blogtember Day 5 - Free Day

I'm participating in a fun blogging "party," known as Blogtember. Every day in the month of September, we're given a different prompt to write on. Some are serious. Some are fun. The point is to get you thinking outside the box, so to speak. I know I tend to write about the same ol' things a lot. So, this is a fun way to "force" me to write about new stuff :)

Are you a blogger? Do you want to join in this blogging awesomness? Click the button below to see the prompts for the rest of the month.

Today was a "free day," allowing you to write about whatever you wanted. So I chose to include the words of others, rather than my own. 
Oh, and so I don't break any copyright "rules," I should probably tell you that I got all of these images from the ever-helpful Google image search :)

Blogtember Day 4 - A time when you were afraid...

I'm participating in a fun blogging "party," known as Blogtember. Every day in the month of September, we're given a different prompt to write on. Some are serious. Some are fun. The point is to get you thinking outside the box, so to speak. I know I tend to write about the same ol' things a lot. So, this is a fun way to "force" me to write about new stuff :)

Are you a blogger? Do you want to join in this blogging awesomness? Click the button below to see the prompts for the rest of the month.

Today's prompt was... Tell a story about a time you were very afraid.
Rewind to February 2011. I'm living in Dakar. I'm a few thousand miles and an ocean away from family. I get a text from my mom telling me to call ASAP because something's wrong. What I hear when I call makes my heart feel like it's going to break in two. My mom says, "Your dad's had a heart attack. We're on our way to the hospital. Pray."

Over the course of the next 24 hours, I kept in touch with my family via text, skype calls, and emails. I am so thankful for my roommate at the time and for my mission supervisors for being there right away - for letting me cry it out, for being there, and at the same time, for giving me space when I needed it. I was so incredibly afraid. What if something else (something worse) happened?

He recovered from that and was able to go back to work not long after. But then, a month after the first heart attack, he had another one. So the fear, once again, started rising up in my heart. I became fearful of the phone ringing. I was so scared that it would be even more bad news. 

He recovered from that heart attack and went back to work. Things were going well for him, but then a month later, he lands back in the ER. It wasn't a heart attack this time. He was diagnosed with peritonitis, a severe infection of the area where his dialysis tube is located. This infection was bad. ...real bad! In fact, it was so bad, there were times we didn't know if it'd make it or not. Because of how sick he was and because my mom had already missed a lot of work, I, after receiving the blessing of my bosses/supervisors, made the decision to change my flight and come home a month early. This way I could be with my family and could help out wherever needed. 

I remember being on the plane, flying over, and feeling like I was going to suffocate from the fear gripping my heart so tightly. I was so scared that I wouldn't make it to see my dad again. I know it was God's awesomeness that gifted me with a row to myself. That way no one else was sitting next to me to see me crying periodically :) It was so hard! The feeling of the unknown. It was scary.

But you know... We all had the best summer ever! We became closer than ever before. And as for the fear? I just remember crying out to God one day, asking Him to take that fear away. I didn't want to live with that anymore. And He did. ...just like that :)

My dad's doing better now. He's had multiple heart attacks, multiple stents put in his heart, and more. He's still on dialysis. But he's doing great. He pastors a church. He teaches full time. He coaches. He spends time with his family. He just lives life to the fullest, doing what God wants him to be doing. 

Blogtember Day 3 - Pass on some useful advice...

I'm linking up with Jenni at Story of My Life and participating in what she's calling, Blogtember. This is where you write a new blog post every day, using the prompt given here.



Today's prompt is... Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered.


1. Dig into the word.

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2. Rest in Him. Take a nap. Get away. Stay refreshed. Focus on Him!

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3. Take time for yourself.

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4. Learn that it's okay to say "no."

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5. Have someone to confide in.

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6. Life life! Enjoy it!

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What about you? What would you add to this list? 

Blogtember Day 2 - If you could take 3 months off...

I'm participating in Blogtember, hosted by Jenni at Story of My Life. Want to join along? Click on the button below and you can see the prompts for each day's blog post. Enjoy :)


Today's prompt said... If you could take three months off from your current life and go anywhere and do anything in the world, what would you do?

Let me preface this post by saying that I absolutely, positively love love love my life, my job, and the place I live. I honestly don't think I'd want to ever take three months off. But the whole idea behind Blogtember is to have fun, be creative, and to think outside the box of our normal blog postings.

So, with that in mind, if I could take three months off from my current life and go anywhere and do anything (and money was no object)...

I think I would want to stay in some awesome hotel, like one of these places...

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I would be doing a lot of this...

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Of course, I'd also be taking naps, throughout the day, in a place like this (with the A/C on course)...

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And since I'm still in "dream mode," I'd get to eat delicious food, like this (without fear of gaining weight)...

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Blogtember Day 1 - Where did you come from?

Describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

I am an American and I am an Alabamian. I'm extremely proud to say both of statements. I love my home state and home country. Are they perfect places to live? No. Do they have their share of problems? You bet. But that's ok. They're still where I call "home." They're where I'm from. 

My family has definitely helped to make me into the person I am today. I was so blessed to be raised in a loving, Christian home. My parents and grandparents taught me by example of how godly people should act. I'm so grateful for their constant state of love, encouragement, and support. Again, I'll say that it's these people that have helped me become who I am today.

Blogtember

Hi Blog Readers! I'm linking up with Jenni and a few other bloggers and participating in "Blogtember," where we'll write a blog post each day in September (starting tomorrow), using a prompt found on Jenni's blog. Want to join the fun? You can find the list of prompts here.

I'm thankful...

I'm thankful for the heritage I have. I'm thankful for parents and grandparents that have taught me what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I'm thankful for parents that raised me with the love of attending church and sharing the Word of God together. I'm thankful for the role models they've been. I'm thankful for their never-wavering support. I'm thankful for their prayers, their encouragement, and their support. I'm thankful for their love.

I'm thankful for friends here. I'm thankful for friends who offer a listening ear and good advice to go along with it. I'm thankful for friends who come over for a meal and stay for hours just chatting and catching up. I'm thankful for friends who invite me over and make me feel like part of their family. I'm thankful for friends who I can share stories of successes and failures with. I'm thankful for friends who trust me with their own stories. I'm thankful for friends who are simply just there.

I'm thankful for friends around the world. I'm thankful for emails and Facebook messages and Skype calls. I'm thankful for postcards and letters in the mail. I'm thankful for those messages of "how's it going" or "what's new" or "I'm praying for you." I'm thankful for them sharing in their lives - sharing about their latest adventure or achievement. I'm thankful for them telling me the little details of their lives like what they're studying this week in class or what new recipe they tried or  what funny thing their kid said. I'm thankful that even though we're a zillion miles away (or so it seems), that we can still keep up with each other's lives.

I'm thankful for the Word of God. I'm thankful for an instruction manual for my life. I'm thankful for the men, women, and children whose stories are included in this amazing book. I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father who gave them the words to write. I'm thankful that even though it was written a long, long time ago, it's still TRUE and applicable to our lives today. I'm thankful for the ability to read it anytime I want. I'm thankful for the help it gives me each and every single day.

I'm thankful for answered prayers. I'm thankful for a God that listens to me when I pray. I'm thankful for the countless ways He's answered prayers in my life through the years. I'm thankful that He gives us the desires of our hearts. I'm thankful that He knows exactly what we need when we need it and He'll give it to us. I'm thankful that He shows us time and time again His amazing faithfulness by answering our prayers.

And at the same time, I'm thankful for unanswered prayers. Although it sounds almost weird to say, I'm thankful that God hasn't answered every single prayer I've ever prayed. I'm thankful that, as I said earlier, God knows exactly what we need. I'm thankful that He has a plan for my life. And I'm thankful that He gives me grace and comfort and peace and patience when a prayer is not answered. I'm thankful for the lessons He's taught me through the years about acceptance and being thankful even when I don't understand the "why." I'm thankful that He's in control and not me. I'm thankful that He knows my future. I'm thankful that He's going to always take care of me.

I'm thankful for the people that have joined me in this adventure I've been called to. I'm thankful for the amazing ways God has used people to support me through encouragement, through prayer, through financial giving, and more. I'm thankful for the backing of these people, because I know it'd be so hard to do it without them. I'm thankful that God sees fit to bring these people along with me. I'm thankful that I'm not participating in this adventure alone. I'm thankful that while many of them will never visit Senegal in person, they can experience a little of this place I call home, through my letters, pictures, and stories. I'm thankful for the opportunity to bring just a little exposure to this part of the world.

I'm thankful for the calling God's placed on my life. I'm thankful that He chose ME - ME...someone who fails Him so often, someone who is by no means worthy. Yet, He did. He chose me! I'm thankful that God has equipped me for this calling. I'm thankful for the big and small ways He's allowed things to fall into place for me to fulfill this calling. I'm thankful for the students I've gotten the opportunity to teach over the past few years. I'm thankful for the gift of teaching students from all over the world. I'm thankful for the opportunity and blessing of teaching in a Christian school - where teaching about the Bible and the love of Jesus is a given. I'm thankful for the chance to pray with students and to show them the love of Jesus. I'm thankful for the chance to use the education I've received to further the Kingdom of God.