$20

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,

"Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

"Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value..

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE. You are special. Don't EVER forget it"

If you do not pass this on, you may never know the lives it touches, the hurting hearts it speaks to, or the hope that it can bring. Count your blessings, not your problems.

"And remember: amateurs built the ark .. professionals built the Titanic.

If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

December 2009

"I’m dreaming of tan Christmas...just like the ones in Africa. Where the sand is so deep and the mosquitos seem to not sleep, but the love…it stretches so wide. Oh, I’m dreaming of a tan Christmas…”

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Welcome to the December 2009 Installment of the Elisabeth Chronicles. I changed the popular Christmas song to be a little more fitting for life here in Senegal. The sand is everywhere and the mosquitos never leave. However, even with those minor inconveniences, I love living here so very much. God has blessed me more than I can imagine this year and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me next year.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to go back to Alabama for Christmas, which I’m very excited about. It will be very nice to see family and friends again…and even eat American food again.  But even as exciting as that is, I know the real reason for Christmas is not presents, good food, visiting family, etc. The real reason for Christmas is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

And now for a little fun reading…The Birth of Jesus in the Words of my 3rd Graders

Now the clock struck the time that Augustus said he needed to count everybody in his empire. So Joe, which was short for Joseph, took Mary, his fiancee to his family’s city which was Bethlehem. They lived in Nazareth so it was a long ride. Joe and Mary probably rode on donkeys since cars hadn’t been invented yet. Mary was pregnant with God’s son. God was so sweet that he sent his son to our Earth to live and die, even though it made him sad.

When Joe and Mary got to Bethlehem they stopped at a hotel but the man that owned it said he was out of rooms. Then he told them that they could stay in his barn. After they’d tucked all the animals into bed, Mary and Joe were ready to go to bed. But God had other plans for them. Jesus was born that night, but since it was too late to go to a baby store and they probably didn’t have them anyway, Mary wrapped Jesus in a blanket so he was warm and snuggly and put him in a manger, which is a feeding place for animals.

That same night there were shepherds watching their sheep nearby. Angels appeared to the shepherds which probably scared them. But the angels weren’t trying to be scary. They wanted to tell the shepherds that Jesus had been born. When the angels went back to Heaven, the shepherds decided to make a visit to see Jesus. Also there were wise men who came to see Jesus and gave him gifts of gold, cents (frankincense), and a mirror (myrrh). They gave such nice gifts because Jesus was a king. He was a king because he was God’s son.

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For those of you that already support me each month financially, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you do not, and would like to, please contact me at enichols85@gmail.com or call my parents at 205-225-0255 and we can tell you how to do so. Any donations you make would be tax-deductible.

Merry Christmas from Africa,

Elisabeth Nichols
enichols85@gmail.com

Christmas in Many Languages

Merry Christmas (English)...Joyeux Noël (French)...Natal feliz (Portuguese)...Feliz Navidad (Spanish)...


Last night was the elementary Christmas program at my school. Students from a variety of nationalities sang and spoke about the birth of Jesus. It was so amazing to see everyone come together and share the true meaning of Christmas. There were Indian angels. There were Korean, American, and African sheep. The wise men were originally from Brazil, Nigeria, and Cameroon. And Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and Adam and even were all American. And the choir was made up of all of those, plus Saudi Arabian, Senegalese, and more.

As one of my fellow teachers said, Seeds are being planted and this program was proof ...that different nationalities can live in Peace! Merry Christmas!

Randomness is a part of life...

Directions: You have to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you.

16. I never cooked before coming to Africa. I just thought I'd never like it. Now, I love it!
15. My dream job would be to be working in an orphanage somewhere, preferrably in a poverty-stricken place in Africa.
14. I love watching 18 Kids and Counting. I know people don't like this family for different reasons, but I honestly think it's refreshing to see a family that's not ashamed to talk about God on tv and who have good goals in life.
13. I was in college the first time I ate sour cream.
12. I love driving...just getting in the car and driving...no particular place in mind. That's why it's so hard here since I can't drive... :(
11. I've never been trick-or-treating...and it doesn't bother me...which is strange to some people...
10. My biggest fear in the world is that I'll never get married.
9. I don't know how to swim. Although...I did take one lesson at the Women's Retreat last week. So, I'm making a little progress.
8. I absolutely, positively LOVE cold weather! ...which is kind of funny, since I've NEVER lived anywhere that had really cold weather.
7. I want to learn how to play the violin.
6. I am about to start taking the Berean classes needed to get my Certified Minister's license with the A/G and I'm so excited about this!
5. I could never be a vegetarian.
4. I'm not a big fan of Obama, but I'm not going to bad mouth him.
3. Mosquitos seem to love me. There can be one mosquito in a room full of people and he'll zoom in on me. Grrr...
2. I love reading, but I have a hard time remembering what books are about...that's why I read a lot of books over and over again.
1. God has called me to be a missionary in Africa. I'm currently in Senegal (West Africa) teaching and ministering. I just feel so incredibly blessed that God trusted me with this gift of the call on my life. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. It is hard to believe that in a few days I'll have been in Senegal for 4 months. Where has the time gone? I have so many reasons to be thankful this year. Here's just a few (in no particular order)...

1) I serve an awesome God. I just love knowing that! :)
2) I am living/teaching/ministering in Africa. Wow! How absolutely positively amazing is that?!
3) I have the best group of students ever!
4) God has made my transition into life in Africa a good one. There have been minor bumps in the road, but nothing major. And I feel those minor bumps have made me better in the long run.
5) I have made some really good friends in the teaching and mission community here.
6) I have so many wonderful friends and family around the world that support me through love and prayer and encouragement.
7) My French is getting better each week. I have a wonderful French teacher. And I finally was able to carry on a whole conversation (more than just a few sentences) with her.
8) Somebody somewhere had the wonderful idea to invent Skype. This invention has not only saved me a lot of money, but has allowed me to stay in touch with my family and friends even while living thousands of miles away.
9) Cool season is finally here in Dakar. I am sooooo thankful for this one! :) This morning (Nov 24) was the first day that I said "I'm cold" since I've been here. Now, granted, that feeling didn't last all day, but it was wonderful and I was very thankful while it lasted. :)
10) I teach at a school where I'm able to freely talk about God and post scriptures on my wall. This is so wonderful and still brings a tear to my eye when I think about how great this is.

Now...what are some things you're thankful for this year?

Our Ticket in Life

This is a true story about something that happened to Corrie Ten Boom, the lady who protected and hid Jews in her home with her papa and sister, and was imprisoned in horrible concentration camps during the Hitler years.

As a small child, Corrie loved her papa. He was so kind and loving, and more jovial than the other members of the family. One day as Corrie sat on her papa's lap, she asked him, "Papa, what will I do someday, if a horrible trial comes to me? How will I handle it? I am afraid that something bad is going to happen to me, Papa."

Her papa said something like this: "Corrie, supposing I planned a train trip for you."

"Oh, papa! A train trip! How lovely!"

"Yes, but it is not time for the train trip yet. You will have to wait a few years, so I will not give you the ticket right now. You might lose it. When the time comes for your trip, darling, then I will give you the ticket. Until then, live for God and don't worry over things you can't control."

Just like this young version of Corrie, we are small children to our wonderful Father God. He knows when we are not ready to handle certain situations. He will make us ready in His time. He will give us the words to say when the right time comes. So don't worry, for the Holy Spirit will fill your mouth when that moment arrives. And this is your ticket, so to speak, to living for Christ. Each day has enough worries of it's own, Jesus says.

P.S. I got this from someone else, so I can't take total credit for this one. :)

Things I say now that a few months ago I would've never said...

Things I say now that a few months ago I would’ve never said…

1. I just bought some fruits and veggies. Let me get the bleach out so I can soak them.
2. Why’d I get ketchup and mustard packets with my pizza.
3. I’m walking to the store after I walk home from school.
4. Make sure you put filtered water in the ice trays, not straight faucet water.
5. I love going to Casino.
6. Hey – that person spoke English!
7. How do I tell the meat guy I do not want the head, feet, and other nasty internal nastiness in the bag with my chicken when he cuts it for me?
8. Can you translate this can of fruit for me?
9. Why do they keep milk on the shelf and not in the refrigerator?
10. I just paid $5.60 for a 2-liter bottle of diet pepsi and I don’t care. (only said this once)
11. I’m buying a liter of Obama.
12. I can make homemade spanish rice, salsa, sour cream, alfredo sauce, sloppy joe sauce, pizza sauce, etc.
13. She has a lot of kids in her class. She has 12.
14. How do you convert CFAs into US dollars?
15. I went to a dinner to help my new Canadian friends celebrate their Thanksgiving.
16. The smallest turkey, that will feed 3 to 4 people costs 20,000CFA (a little over $40.00).
17. How do you ask for a big bottle of water?
18. Cool season is almost here.
19. I miss driving.
20. Je voudrais un kilo viande hachee. (I would like one kilo (2.2lbs) of ground beef.)