Trip to the US

At the end of January, my poppa went to be with Jesus.  I had the opportunity to travel to the States to celebrate his life with my family.  It was such a blessing to spend a short, but sweet, time with my family.

First hug in more than 13 months!

This man will always be one of my heroes!

Richardson Gang

We were all able to celebrate Nana's birthday together. 

Got to see one ball game while I was there 

It was so great to spend time with so much family. 

Chicken Pox

In January, I was assessing a child's reading.  We were reading a book called Spots. It had a picture on the front cover of a child sick in bed with chicken pox. When the child was asked what the book was about, he answered, "He has flea bites!" Only a kid who grew up in Africa would say that!

After that, chicken pox went through my class.  For almost two weeks, I had child after child out with chicken pox (or other sickness). I only had half a class for two weeks.  It was funny to hear their commentary:

"I need to get the chicken pox.  I could really use a day off school." -A five year old.

"I don't want to go home! I love school!" -Another five year old.

"I was soooooooo itchy! I had to scratch like thisssss!!!!" -Yet another five year old.

Needless to say, they all know what Spots is about now!

Spring Break: From the Kindergartner in Ethiopia...

Student 1: I went swimming and put my face under water! 

Student 2: My friend came over for a play date at my compound 

Student 3: I saw hippos!

Student 4: I saw hyenas!

Sometimes you expect the answers, and sometimes you don't! 

The Long Version... (with pictures!) Pt. 1

A lot has happened! If you need the short version, see the last post, but it doesn't have pictures!

Right after Christmas, every two years, SIM Ethiopia gets together for a Spiritual Life Conference outside of the city.  It was a great time of worship, fellowship, and resting together.

The pool was nice, but the monkeys on the other hand...

Ethiopian Christmas is celebrate on January 7th, so we get to celebrate twice! You can't be upset about that! This year, I had the opportunity to celebrate with my teaching assistant and her wonderful family. We celebrated with a traditional meal, and I enjoyed some cooking lessons.

Learning to cook and enjoying sweet time with this beautiful lady and her family

It was also so great to have my lovely friend who used to live here visit from Australia

In January, we had Spiritual Emphasis Week for our elementary students at Bingham.

Field Days are a highlight of the year at Bingham.  As usual, fun was had by all, young and old.  It was especially fun to watch my kinders participate in their various races. (5 year old in a sack race? enough said!)

It's been awhile...

A lot has happened recently.  You always think that the time before Christmas is exhausting for teachers, and it is! But this year, the time after Christmas has given me a run for my money.  With everything going on, the blog (and newsletters) have been kind of quiet. Here's what's happened, and maybe some individual blog posts will follow soon.

• Right after Christmas, all of SIM Ethiopia went out of the city for a few days to spend time together in prayer and fellowship at our Spiritual Life Conference.
• One of my friends from my first visit to Ethiopia came to visit for a month. 
• Two fun filled Field Days at Bingham. 
• My sweet Poppa went to be with Jesus after a long battle over the last several months. I travelled to America to spend time with my family for ten days. 
• 100th Day of School.
• I travelled to Kenya for professional development (and a quick safari!)
• Chicken pox epidemic in my class.

It's good to get back into the normal routines again (well maybe after the chicken pox passes)!

Christmas in Ethiopia

This year, Christmas looked a little different.  I thought it would be unbearable to be away from family.  But God is good.  I was surrounded by friends who have become like family, and we had fun making new traditions!

One of our family favorites! I was sent all the special ingredients in a care package.

Christmas Eve weather

Christmas Eve Dinner: chicken and steak

Christmas PJ's

So people don't decorate their houses like we do back home.  It didn't feel like Christmas because you didn't see all the lights and decorations.  There is one roundabout that has some Dr. Seuss like trees that light up at night.  We put on our jammies and drove around the roundabout three times while singing songs from the Grinch.  I'm sure we looked like crazy people, but it was a fun new tradition!

Lots of fun surprises came via care packages!

And since the weather was so beautiful, and we were making new traditions, we spent the day at the pool! Such a great treat on a special day!

Christmas through different eyes...

The longer I live in Ethiopia, the more the Bible comes to life. (I know it's not in the Middle East, but look at a map, it's pretty close!) Things like separate your sheep from your goats-- that didn't make sense until I lived here and saw how similar they look. This Christmas has been different for many reasons, and this year, I saw the story through different eyes... 

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 

This journey wouldn't have been a piece of cake. The sun is hot, nights are cold, and roads are anything but smooth. All while very pregnant! 

Donkeys aren't actually mentioned, but these guys carry heavy loads all over the city. 

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 

Who knows what it actually looked like, but I do know that animals stink! What a statement... The most important baby in the world was placed on a place where animals eat (and full of slobber according to some KG2 kiddos).

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 

A job that wasn't (and still isn't) held in high regards. 

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"  When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." 

Sitting in fields outside the city. I love that God chose to first share the greatest news with a group of smelly shepherds. 

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:4-20

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Again, no actual mention of camels, but it's cool to see them! 

 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:10-11

The smells of tradional coffe ceremonies: coffee and frankincense. You can't help but think of the gift for Jesus every time you smell it! 

How will you see Christmas through new eyes this year? Maybe you'll find a way to serve as a family. Maybe you'll focus on making new traditions after a year of loss. Maybe you'll spend more time with our Savior. 

Merry Christmas! 

Stay tuned for a look at Christmas in Ethiopia! Coming soon!