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!

a day in the life of me

Me ma wo adwo (good evening in twi, the main local ghanaian language)

i thought id write about what my day looks like, just because i know you are all dying to know. here it goes, get excited!

4 am alarm yuk right, the day starts early here. if its not the alarm, its the chickens. seriously. quiet time, yoga, shower (if there is water) breakfast (oatmeal or cornflakes)

6 am ish...leave for school. walk takes about 10 minutes. its so early, i know, but there is so much to be done before the kids actually come. as many of you know once the kids are here its over.

7:15 am morning devotions. (we have lots of these) which is why i have to leave my house so early. sometimes there is just too much to squeeze in one day.

7:45 kids come. by the time the kids get in my room, ive already been up a good 4 hours. ive probably had about 3 cups of tea (coffee is either really expensive or instant so, ive acquired quite the taste for tea)

7:45-3:00 kids, kids, kids, kids, teach, teach, teach, teach.

5 pm my daily walk with my superstar friend emily. we call it our therapy. we have been walking everyday and have many friends that we see along the way. one thing about living in africa is that everyone notices you and you make many friends. its a busy place, people are out and about all over the place, all the time. today i bought some tomatoes from a lady on the way back home. i look forward to seeing these neighborhood people. if there is a day we didn't go, our friends on the street ask us where we were...accountability with strangers, its amazing! (oh, and if you re wondering what i did from 3-5, i WORKED. because once again the only time to work is when the kids are gone)

6:15 ish back home finally. and this is only when i dont have to go the store. which i do a lot of, because the electricity is very unpredictable. you don't want to buy too much at a time, because it will spoil. so hopefully, im home at this point. and the sun is going down. the day starts early and ends early.

shower, skype, dinner, read. im trying so hard to be in bed by 8. crazy i know, but yall its a longgggggg day teaching in ghana. we have a/c at the school 40 percent of the time. and none at home. its hot, and its really not even hot yet. its the end of rainy season still right now, come december, it will be like 110 degrees here. ghana is about 6 degrees off the equator. im telling you, its like an oven. but i love ovens, you put something in and something even better comes out. strange example, but thats what i feel like here. i am being refined by the lord each day. its so amazing. so the "hot" is so worth it :)

and the day begins again in a few hours.

the weekends here are the most fun. my friend emily and i spend a lot of time together. or im hanging out with my ghanaian friends i met on the mercy ship. we tro-tro all over the place, shop and eat and just enjoy ghana. there is so much to do and see. the tro-tros are basically public transportation in the form of vans crammed with people. its pretty comical actually but it works and its cheap. we can get all the way across town for about the equal of 50 cents. if we taxied it would be about 3 dollars. plus, the tro-tro is always an experience. its so unpredictable and exciting! one time i counted 18 people in 1 van...haaahhaaaa we have found this amazing coffee/ patisserie where we get turkish coffee and a croissant. we found this unbelievable place where they sell leather bags for super cheap. we found this little jewelry shop where the shop owner and maker is an 80 year old lebanese woman, she is amazing. we like to go to the alliance franchise and pretend to be cultural, we have so many fun weekend experiences

okay friends, its later here 830p and i need to go to bed :) thanks for reading and supporting me. please pray for me when i come across your mind!!

talk soon

pictures: emily and i, and some of my ghanaian friends from the mercy ship hanging out on the weekend (im still trying to figure out the blog/picture thing)

first time for everything

so this is my first blog. im so excited about this new adventure.

a little about me....i adore my family, i don't like capital letters, i love the sun, i love my dogs and i love africa. i'm from texas but i live in ghana. i'm so blessed to be here. the lord has called me back to africa, so here i am. i've been in ghana now for 2 months teaching first grade at an international school. its amazing here, tough at times, but amazing. the lord has definitely created me for this place.

my class. i have 10 wonderful, amazing children. i love being a teacher, there is nothing better than being able to pour into a child.

okay, blog number one down...a million to go. i'm so excited about this new journey. i hope you enjoy reading. i promise to be true and transparent. i hope you are blessed by the lord today! he is a mighty god we serve and worthy to be praised!!!