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How do I begin to describe this past week? In my last post I was sad that school was over and I have to admit that I really had no idea what I would be doing over the school holiday here. But I shouldn't have worried! It has been a very busy and blessed week. As much as I absolutely love it here, this past week I did have some days of feeling homesick. Days when I saw pictures of the cute baby moose and freshly green trees against the snowy mountains in Alaska and I could just feel it, that feel of being “home.” There have been days when I miss the people at home so very much that my heart longs to be with them. There are days I wish I wasn't here “alone,” that I hadn't packed my suitcase and headed off to a third world country all by myself. The other day as I was getting ready for bed I “might” have found myself literally talking out loud to the gecko in my bathroom!

But even though I have had those days, I wouldn't trade my time here and the experiences for anything. Being here isn't always fun and it's certainly not always glamorous. It's not ALL just loving on, teaching and playing with children! There are days when some of the tasks that need doing are dirty and tedious, maybe even boring. But I've come to see that so often it is in these simple day to day tasks that God teaches us the most and reveals himself in new ways. I'm thankful for the things that He is teaching me about serving and having a good attitude. I'm thankful for the times when I'm by myself in my cottage, through which I have been encouraged to seek out God more than the company of others.

As I think back on this busy week, despite having some of “those days,” I still see so many blessings. I hear the children laughing, singing and talking. I feel those precious hands in mine and their little arms around me. I hear an African Maama, who has become such a wonderful friend to me, say, “we missed you so much today” when I wasn't able to go visit them one afternoon. I watch kids' faces light up as I teach them how to type. I laugh as I supervise a group of 4^thgraders watching a movie at the school (you wouldn't believe the gasps, screams, laughs, finger pointing, talking and entertainment they provide!). I listen as a woman shares her story with me. I want to cry as I help clean the wounds of a beautiful little girl who is covered in open sores all over her body and has lost the use of her leg due to injections given badly and infection caused by her living conditions- and this is just one of many stories here. There have been heartbreaking moments and moments of hysterical laughter all pieced together into a collage of experiences that are difficult to even explain. I have been able to read to children, teach some of the boys how to play chess, teach/play volleyball with some of the girls, spend the afternoons weaving with a cottage of girls and their Maama, who I adore more and more every day, and I fall in love as I interact with these people. I feel blessed beyond belief to be here... and it is these things that make the hard days and homesick days completely and totally worth it. So I thank God for every single moment I have here, because I know that when I am back home in Alaska, I will feel homesick for this place and ache for these people in the same way that I miss home.