international day

we had international day at school friday. its where the kids come dressed in their cultural clothes and families bring food. we have a feast and enjoy food from all over the world. it was a really fun day!

dont you just love that face!

you know i had to borrow her hat!

a few of my kiddos :)

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shari, the special education teacher and i

lynn, the 5th grade teacher and i

over the hump

a friend gave me a book with a short daily devotional for each day. it never fails, i mean never fails that it is always spot on. it is always true of what im going through in my daily life. funny how that works huh? ive been having a rough season being back in ghana. i love it here, im just really trying to find my place if you know what i mean. i want so many things for my life. i have desires and visions, things that seem way too big sometimes. and here is the bad part.....i want those things NOW. and yet i still find myself waiting, always waiting. so what can i do but wait and trust? i want gods best for my life and so i choose to trust the lords perfect timing and let him lead me through the dark times of not understanding. glory to god for being such a faithful father and loving god. without him i would be nothing. he makes a way for me in the dark and i will wait, trust and follow him always.

hers is the devotional for today. its written as if jesus is the one talking.

"give up the illusion that you deserve a problem free life. part of you is still hungering for the resolution for your difficulties. this is false hope. as i told my disciples, in the world you will have trouble. link your hope not to problem solving this life, but to the promise of a problem free eternity. instead of seeking answers in this fallen world, pour your energy into seeking me. it is possible to enjoy me and glorify my in the midst of adverse circumstances. in fact, my light shines most brightly in believers who trust me in the dark. that kind of trust is supernatural. when things seem all wrong, trust me anyway.

i have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. in this world you will have trouble. but take heart! i have overcome the world. john 16:33

even in darkness light dawns for the upright,

for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. psalm 112:4

they will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the lord. psalm 112:7

meet yovo

do you remember the dog in my other blog entry? the one that chased the chicken in out compound?? okay, well it was the neighbors dog right? they didn't take very good care of him. i always went and played with him next door. about 3 weeks ago i got news that the man accidentally ran him over and broke both his back legs. they took him to the doctor. they paid like 900 ghana cedis (like 700 USD) for the dog, so i was glad to hear they took him to the dr. they stitched and wrapped his legs....okay, so on with it right? he didn't heal so well, his legs are a little wacky now....and their guard came over to tell me they were "getting rid of him" aahhhh i was so sad to hear this. and i knew it was going to happen. once they realized his legs were bad they wouldn't want him anymore....so what did i do? i straight went over and rang their bell and asked the man of the house if i could have him. haaaaa.....so guess what?! he lives at my house now. outside with daniel and abdul (our guards) they love him :) i wish i would have taken pictures before so you could see just how messed up he was. he practically had dreads, he looked like a rasta dog. he had never been bathed, or had a haircut. so mama tayler got out the scissors (dad, i know you are laughing) and i cut SO much of his hair off. then i removed his stitches (they never took him back to the dr and his stitches were disgusting) and then i bathed him two times. eeewwwww...he was so dirty! but now hes happy and getting fatter and clean and wonderful! all but his back legs....they might be a little jacked up, but at least he can walk!!!

"yovo" is what they call white people in benin

hurray for miss neill

this is a poem i received from one of my sweet first graders, hannah

"hurray for miss neill

she is perfectly sweet

even the hair on her feet

she teaches us writing

she teaches us sums

and everyones happy

whenever she comes

hurray for miss neill

we've just heard her say,

you've done your work well

now go out and play!"

one of my boys today in the middle of a math lesson raised his hand to ask a question ( i assumed it was about the lesson, so i called on him) he asked me, "miss neill, why are you covered in dots?" i had no iead what he was talking about. then he got up and pointed to one of my freckles. hhaaaaa i had a good laugh, then i went about teaching math.

this morning, one of my girls came in after recess and had this bad look on her face. she says...miss neill, my feet are not feeling too well. i looked down and she had her shoes on the wrong feet. haaaaa...im sure they aren't feeling too well i said. :)

today after school while waiting for parents one of my boys yelled at the another one and the first one said "ahhhh, you just broke my ear"

and in my bible lesson today someone asked me if noah took killer whales on the ark. ahhh kids are the best.

and by the way. i DO NOT have hair on my toes :)

knee deep in first grade

i might have had an unruly child in class today. and so i did the only thing i could think of. i gave him my camera and told him to make himself busy taking pictures. here is his work.

me happy to have found something to occupy his mind so i could work :)

a wide shot of the room :)

nothing like a good ole game of candy land

me and the boys

matching game

a little solo guided reading

my little sticker monster

queen hannah

i pulled both of his front teeth before cmas. love that gummy smile :)

word to yo motha

i pulled her tooth today. that makes 9 teeth this year in my class. i should win an award for "queen tooth puller"

new student today. poor thing. no telling what hes thinking.

we started with a smile and ended with a roar. he was taking pictures during our read aloud. i think that was the last one i let him take. priceless. totally what i was feeling.

bye for now... xx

cold showers and love

ive been back in ghana about a week and a half now. i had tears in my eyes as we landed at the airport. my heart was so happy to be back. although, the tears might have been bittersweet. leaving wonderful for wonderful. oh, and crossing time zones is so exhausting. but im back to normal now :)

when i got home from the airport i went for a short walk, i was so excited to be back. i inhaled the africa aroma around me and couldnt help but smile. so many things made me smile for no reason. dont you love it when that happens. when you find yourself smiling for no reason at all. what a cool feeling. for instance: the dumb chicken that i always see walking to school. he only has one leg and i call him "nubs" i just think hes cool because he only has one leg. i saw so many neighborhood friends and guards. you know that you really live somewhere when people notice your absence and miss you. its so comforting to me. the word that comes to mind is "settled" thats such an incredible feeling when you live overseas. sometimes going back and forth leaves you with an unsettled feeling. but this is good, settled is good.

i got to see my favorite neighborhood kid, felecia...she spotted me after a day and ran screaming "aunty tayler, anuty tayler" she was super excited, she jumped into my arms. she lives with her mom and 2 siblings as a squatter (in an unfinished house) in our neighborhood. she is probably 8 or so..i was able to bring her back some clothes and some bracelets. (she always tries to take mine) i need to get some pictures of me and felecia. yall will love her.

the kids came last wednesday and it was so fun to see them again. teaching is such a rewarding job. its so incredible to be able to pour into children. and so starts second semester. im going to go ahead and say that its going to be a great semester. 22 weeks until school is out! haaaa, sounds short huh?

sunday at church was such sweet fellowship with all the people i left here. it was so great to be able to see all of them again. i am so blessed by my church. the leadership is incredible and the people there are absolutely amazing. im so thankful to have found a church home.

you know how i wrote in a previous post about leaving people. well this time has been the hardest. i had such a good time at home with my friends and family and its hard not to feel like im really missing out on life there. ahhhh. please pray for me, for ghana, for my vision and direction. most of all that i would hear and obey the lord.

happy wednesday friends...xx