saying bye....again

its that time again. time for goodbyes and lots of emotions. its hits me like a mac truck a few days before coming or going. i hate this feeling, i wish i could aviod it, but im not sure how. my sweet friend hannah says it'll always be like that. maybe it gets a little easier, but it will always be hard. i fly back home to ghana tomorrow. im so excited to get back. some of my favorite people are there. i cannot wait to see my kids. i miss my church, i miss ghana. my heart is there, and its home for me, but there is always something hard about leaving.

its been an amazing time home. ive spent a lot of time being with people i adore. there is nothing better than close relationships. friends and family. its been a really sweet time here.

ive got to spend time with an incredible guy, someone i wish i could always have in my life. if only the timing were right. if only we lived on the same continent. if only "life" didn't happen. life gets in my way sometimes and has a brilliant way of making things hard :)

two of my best friends since childhood had babies while i was gone. it was so fun to meet them and love on them. anuty tayler loves these babies.

baby gunner

baby sydney

i wish i could take people with me. my life is in ghana, but there are so many incredible people here that i want in my daily life. friends like melisa and hannah that just knowing them makes me a stronger person. amber who's faith and transparency inspires me. julie who ive known my entire life and things are still as sweet as they were when we were 6. katie who i only see once a year and when we are together, its as if no time passed at all. alicia who loves me for me and is such a faithful friend. i wish i could take them all with me. i know they are always in my heart, but i want them in my life. i guess that's the negative thing about living an international life, i have friends all over the world and that's such a sweet thing, but im always leaving people. wont heaven be incredible because there will be no more leaving...

.

my sweet mom and dad who love me through my crazy life. emotions, comings, goings, ups and downs...they will always be here for me and they love me for me. even when the "me" is at home in africa. and for that i am eternally grateful and so blessed.

see you next in ghana ♥

there's no place like home

i made it home to texas safely! thanks for all of you who were praying! its always an exhausting trip, but i feel well rested this morning!

straight off the plane mom and dad and i went to see one of my best friends new babies! he was born while i was in ghana...ive even skyped with him...a few days old and already skyping!! gunner is beautiful and i love him so much! what a joy it was for me to be able to finally meet him. its times like these that make living overseas hard, i miss weddings, babies and my friends....but what sweet fellowship when i get home!!

saturday i got to see my sweet sister, whitney and my aunts mandi and pam. i even went straight to the theater yesterday to see the new narnia movie! popcorn and soda and a good ole movie with the parents....so fun!

yall, im freezing here. ive been wearing like 3 shirts and 2 pants....i cannot get warm! i know i said i was really looking forward to being cold, and i am so thankful not to be sweating, but its really cold!!!

cooking breakfast....i was looking for the matches to light the stove. even asked mom where the matches were...haaaa i think i forgot where i was!

my sweet dad. our first christmas coffee together! what sweet times to be home with my family. i am so blessed!!!

my sweet babies kai and oski....im so happy to be with them again. kai wasn't so sure about me at first, but she has come around :)

can i tell yall how fun it is to be able to straighten my hair...im loving no humidity!! i also had my first hot shower in 4 months! so fun. i love being home, but i do miss me some ghana.

i have so many friends to see, i cannot wait to spend this christmas season with people i love...each day is new and from god, and in that i rejoice. i love him with all that i have and im so thankful to him for all the people in my life...

xoxo

tis the season

merry christmas everyone!! im traveling home TOMORROW!!! i am super excited to see my family and friends. there is something so sweet about spending christmas at home. i cannot wait to see my mom and dad, my sister, matt and their boys! i cant wait to eat holiday food. i cannot wait to sleep in my bed and i cannot wait to see the girls! i have SO many friends and family to see...and a few new babies to meet!!! its going to be so much fun to be home for 3 weeks. oh yeah, and one thing i cannot wait for is the COLD WEATHER!!!!! ghana is 5 degrees off the equator, so you can imagine how hot it is here. and its coastal....needless to say i have big texas hair. haaa...

im really going to miss being here too. im going to miss my kids at school, my church family, my sweet sisters here...but this is the season, and im super excited to be headed home in less than 24 hours....wow.

we found a box of christmas goodies and decided to decorate our heads..haaaa

having lattes at our favorite coffee bar

santa in front of our grocery store....while christmas music plays let it snow....haaa

see you soon texas ♥

turkey day

wow, i realized today that this is my 3rd thanksgiving on the african continent! so amazing. i love this place. this was the best thanksgiving here so far! our pastor and his family invited the americans in the church over for turkey....they are american and have been in africa for over 20 years. there were about 15 of us (6 of which were his family). we ate good food and had really sweet fellowship. we had turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, soda, pumpkin pie, ice cream. i mean they did it up right! wow, it was so sweet and beautiful and thoughtful for them to have us over. what a blessing for us.

our pastor and one of his daughters...with the turkey!!

yes, thats thanksgiving blend starbucks coffee beans!!! what a treat!!!

my plate. wow a sister can eat

our famous pose! happy thanksgiving everyone!!

me and the turkey! YUMMMYYY

shari and i

my sweet ems

after we ate and cleaned up we all played catch phrase. what a hoot! it was so fun!!! im thankful for so many things today. im just overwhelmed at the power and faithfulness of god. what an unbelievable god we serve.

this verse was my focus for the day. jesus is it, period. he is all we need.

"whom have i in heaven but you- and earth has nothing i desire besides you- my flesh and my heart may fail but god is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" psalm 73: 25-26

field day

we had our field day on wednesday at AIS. it was so fun! i spent the entire day in the beautiful african sun playing with all the kids. they were on teams, one child from each grade k-12. the kids really worked well together! i have the best job ever.....

dad, the hat is for you. i love you xx

my beautiful class

american, german, dutch, ghanaian, british...what a sweet blend of cultures

team ghana

griselda

griselda

felix

kwegya

hannah

i smell real coffee

oh my goodness have i got a treat for you. today i was given one of the most fun presents EVER! one of my coworkers/parents brought me STARBUCKS COFFEE! complete with real the christmas starbucks cup and sleeve. WOW! i mean, yall when you live here its the little things that you grow to love! she and her husband and their 5 children live here and they both work for the school. they are amazing and thoughtful! she brings back coffee beans and all kinds of goodies from the states. going to their house is so fun! one time when i went there she had made brownies! who'd have thought?!?! so, back to the coffee.....a friend of hers brought her the real throw away starbucks cups and sleeves! what a great idea! it really made me feel so cool this morning having my drip coffee in a starbucks coffee cup! and the cup of coffee she made me was almost as good as my mama's! it had flavored syrup and everything! oh my, i was on cloud 467!!! she straight made my day! and of course, ill be reusing that cup until it falls apart!

oh and for those of you that know a little about africa and coffee beans.....believe it or not they are hard to find here....mainly because they are all exported. but thats another topic entirely....

yay for starbucks coffee and thoughtful friends that know exactly what you need!!

i cry out your name

Lord I worship You
With all that I am
With all that I have

Lord I worship You
With all of my strength
With everything

Let it be a sweet aroma to You
As I sing this song
with the breath You gave me

I cry out Your name
That's why I'm created
Why I'm created
I cry out Your name
As a sign to the ones who don't believe
I cry out Your name
And the rocks will be silent
The rocks will be silent
Cause I cry out Your name
Unashamed

this is my new favorite song. its by kim hill. its amazing. it really ministers to me, so i wanted to share it with you. download it now and join with me in praising the lord! we were created to cry out his name!!!!

little feet

i asked my kids to write a question to god today. here they are.

when am i going to die?

am i going to be a pastor when i grow up?

why am i so mean to my friends?

how do you turn into an angel?

what am i doing tomorrow?

why can't we see you?

why are so many people sick?

who was the 3rd person ever made?

please, can you make the cartoons real?

why isn't there enough food for everybody?

haahaa, love these kids. their questions are so real. they love for jesus is so real. i love my job. i love ghana. i love the lord for being such a faithful father.

i play praise and worship music in my class all the time. we have free time and we sing and play music. today as the music was playing i was looking around at them. they were all singing. all of them. they know the words and many of them had their eyes closed. they were not just singing, they were praising god. one girl had her arms up in the air. i fought back the tears. i adore them.

i don't know what it is about africa, but i've said this so many times. god is so BIG here. i mean the people here have this uninhibited love for jesus. its so real. they love him and they LIVE it. it consumes them. they depend on him, they expect him to provide and he does. amen to that. what an amazing god we serve.

a tribute to the ponytail

if you know me, you know the girls. oski and kai. you know they rock my world. i love love love love them. they have been with me since i was 22. wow, they are the sweetest girls ever. they love me unconditionally. even when i keep moving to africa. my parents are amazing parents and keep them for me. they take care of them and love them while im gone. what a big blessing this is for me, to know that they are well cared for and loved. my dad even takes them with him while he works out of town. and i hear they are becoming qiute popular out in west texas :)

okay, so the point here is we must talk about the attrocity that has taken place. they have had these sweet ponytails since ive had them, right. they are cute little girls, bows and pink pearls suit them quite well. they are fiesty little things and so the cute pony only lasts awhile, but you gotta love the messy look right? so i was skyping with mom the other day and she had kai in her lap and thats when i saw it. they had their ponytails SHAVED OFF. for real, i bout fell out of my chair. and i have to admit, i shed a tear. wow, poor things. i understand why they did it, but i was shocked. oh my poor poopsies.

this is oski. everything gets stuck in her hair. i have to admit, her hair is a hott mess

and this is what kai looks like most of the time "who me?"

mom and dad, thank you a million times for taking care of the girls. i totally understand and i still love yall xx however, ill try as hard as i can when im home in a few weeks to make a ponytail....haaahaha see yall soon!!! xx

no words

have you ever had a day that your heart was just really burdened with something that you didn't know how to pray or even what to say? im usually not at a loss for words...but this morning i cant find my words. i am so desperate for jesus to make me more like him. i long for him and for his will in my life. i love him with all that i have.

there is something im specifically praying for. my heart is heavy with wanting the answer to be revealed. two times this morning i was shown the verse in john 10 that talks about the shepherd and his flock. how the sheep know him and they follow him because they recognize his voice. obviously the lord was pointing that specific scripture to me this morning in my quiet time. it comforts me in my time of waiting. i desire to hear his voice today. i am expectantly praying for him to answer my prayer. and whatever that answer looks like, it will be an answer, for the answers are not what we may want but its gods best. and im waiting for gods best in my life.

i am listening to his voice today, and i will follow whatever he says. do you recognize the voice of the holy spirit? i pray you do. for there is no other way.

father, make me more like you.

feathers and fur

a funny story....

yesterday when i was at home i heard a chicken squawking. this happens all the time here, but i could tell it was in the yard. so i went outside and sure enough there was out guard daniel chasing a chicken. the dog next door had chased it into our yard. i ran downstairs to join in the action. and here is the result....

this is the neighbors dog, the one that chased in the chicken.

and here is the chicken. clearly its my first time to hold one. ive tried to catch one before, but its really hard to catch a chicken. i was super excited.

when i got to school i was telling some of my kids what happened and showing them the pictures. griselda, one of my students asked me if we "banged" it. meaning did we kill it. she was telling me about when her and her aunty go to the market to buy a chicken and how when they get home they "bang" it. and she showed me how by banging a pencil hard on the table. hahahah i love it. i told her it wasn't ours, so we couldn't "bang" it, we had to let it go.

meet griselda and her little sister clarise. beautiful

friends

god is so god. he gives you want you need exactly when you need it. its hard moving to another country. hard leaving family and friends home. i love when god provides heart friends. friends who love jesus and and are actively serving him. i feel so blessed by my new friends here. every time i start a new journey in africa i am nervous about new friends. relationships are what keep me going, they are so important to me and i am always worried i wont find meaningful ones.

i met some of the most amazing girls on the mercy ship. girls that i adore. they are all over the world.....australia, europe, north america, south america, africa....but when god brings you these people, you know you will always have them. some i havent seen in over a year, but its as if nothing has changed. god has the ability to fill the space between us as if there is no space at all. so why did i doubt that would happen here? when we seek him in everything god always gives us his best. always.

here are some of my new friends in ghana. what a blessing they are to my life.

shari and i and our "signature pose. no idea where it came from, but it makes for funny pictures!

shari, email and i

me, meghann and shari

i know i say this a lot but i LOVE this place.

where am i?

please, have you ever had a moment where you stop and think....where am i? like, your brain is telling you one thing but your senses or environment are saying something else. my cousin kasey and i call it an "out of body experience"

so this has happened to me a lot since living overseas. once in liberia i did a double take because i thought i saw someone from tyler walking in the market. REALLY!?!? its like, you know there is no way that person is in liberia, but your brain still does something so weird.

so the other day i was grocery shopping at the max mart. its a lebanese owned place with 24 dollar M&M's. (anything not local is wicked expensive) not the point. so im strolling along with my buggy (like im at the wal-mart) when overhead they start playing islands in the stream. WHAT?! (dad, old time rock and roll is forever number one) so anyways, here i am in ghana, west africa at a grocery store pushing a shopping buggy when kenny and dolly start singing. wow, talk about out of body. its such a strange feeling. i know im not at home, but everything around me tells me different.

a few weeks ago i was walking to school when i heard a whistle, i knew i was in ghana on my way to school, but i KNOW i heard my daddy whistle. i straight turned around and looked to see what he wanted. HAHAHA it was so funny, yet so sad. you know that whistle that you've know all your life. ill never forget that whistle. my heart did a little sad sigh when i realized again, where i was. man, i could really use a dad hug today.

next, while at the beach last weekend this mans phone rang and the ring tone was "bust the windows out your car" mama, did you get that!!!! can you believe it. i just stopped what i was doing to laugh. it was amazing. mama, you would have loved it!!

okay, that's all the "out of body" stories i have for now. i know i will have more. i hope you all are fabulous and delighting in all the blessings you have!

beach weekend

we didnt have school friday so my friend emily and i went to Takrobite for some much needed relaxation. we started our journey friday morning at nine. 4 trotros and a couple hours later we were standing on bojo beach. trotros are ghanas public transportation. vans crammed with people going all over the place for super cheap. we only paid about 2 USD. its lovely.

we layed in the sun, listened to the waves and read our books for about 6 hours. its funny, i had to remind myself where i was. i praise god for the amazing continent of africa. i am so thankful to be in this place for such a time as this...

we had lunch on the beach. i had a salad and yam chips, SO good!

we left the beach and taxied to big millys. its a backpackers paradise. its all rasta-farian, super chill and laid back. we had our own little bungalow complete with a mosquito net. no running water so we bucket showered under the sun. there is definitely something to say for simple living

this is a fishing boat that was on the beach. very appropriate words etched in the side eh?

the next day we slept in, had breakfast and did a little shopping (okay, i did the shopping). on the way home from our outing, i was getting into the trotro when i realized that my skirt was stuck in the door. i sure did show all of ghana something that didnt need to be shown. hahahah it was really embarassing but really funny too. i suppose when those things happen, the only thing you can do is laugh. a funny way to end a wonderful relaxing weekend.

the beautiful west african coast. its so beautiful here. i am truly thankful.

give me eyes to see

today first grade lead chapel and we sang a song about the fruits of the spirit. my kids are so cute. how can you not smile when you see this picture. they are wonderful. one sweet child came into the room today and it was obvious she was upset so i kissed her forehead. she got the biggest smile on her face and said, "thanks miss neill, that was all i needed". my heart melted. then she said she loved me gave me a hug and walked away. its moments like these that make teaching the best job ever. i have such freedom here to love these children. its such a blessing. they teach me so much everyday about the love of christ. wow, i have an amazing job.

today was just an amazing day! i skyped with dad last night, got the sweetest email from my sister this morning, and got my first package from mama after lunch. what a day! i tell you, the lord knows just what i need right when i need it! my family is amazing, supportive and such a blessing. they really believe in me. this quote is on my bathroom door so i can see it all the time. i love it, its so true. when we believe and put out hope in christ, allow the him to work in our lives and our hearts, anything is possible. i surrendered to him and i believe "he can" through me. i trust him, follow him and therefore "i do". everything is all about him, it has to be, there is no other way. when you start believing and thinking this way, you see him all around you. its as if you have new eyes.

okay, friends thanks for reading. love to you all and i hope you are delighting in jesus today! he loves you and if you allow him, he can give you new eyes too!