thankful.

What a week! One day we were celebrating Thanksgiving and the next I was getting some major sunburn. This weather thing is still something I am not used too.

Lesotho does not celebrate Thanksgiving but on Friday we had some missionaries over to celebrate it anyways. The US embassy made turkeys available for the people who wanted them so we even got to have turkey! The food was delicious and the fellowship was wonderful. I will say that even though we had the traditional food it did not feel like Thanksgiving at all to me. For the past 18 years I have done the same thing  for Thanksgiving. Spending time with family, playing dress up with my cousins, and going through black Friday adds are all the things I am used to. I was able Skype and see most of my family which was really nice. Thanksgiving was different this year. Not bad, just different. I spent more time spending time with the Lord and thanking him than worry about the food or traditions. The thing I am probably the most thankful for is my family. Cliche, I know. Through every step of this process my family has been so supportive and loving. Even though I am far away I have never felt left out or like they don't care. I have been blessed beyond belief. I am also very thankful for my "adoptive" family here, the Geurinks. They treat me like I am a part of their family. They have helped me through many of the hard things about being here and laughed with my through the joyous times. This year I have also found I am thankful for a lot of little things. Things that I am just used to but things that most of Lesotho doesn't have. Things like plumbing, electricity, running water, a safe place to live, money for food, a vehicle, and carpet are rare around here. What makes me so special that I get access to these things? Lastly, I am thankful for the kids I get to play with everyday. They have taught me, tackled me, peed on me, snotted all over me, hugged me, kissed me, danced with me, sung to me, and loved me. There was a day last week where I got bit 3 times, peed on once, and got a chunk of hair pulled out of my head. The kids were fighting a lot that day which meant a lot of kids crying. Even though it was a pretty rough day, when I came home at night I could not help but be thankful for them. Nothing they do to me or to each other could make me love any of them less. I now have a better understanding of Christ's love for us. Nothing we do could separate us from His love! I am thankful for that. Click HERE to see what all of American volunteers are thankful for this year.

On Saturday me and my room mate, Kristen went on a little adventure. She had a package in LadyBrand, South Africa ready to pick up and Geurinks couldn't go out of the country because they are in the process of getting more pages for their passports. So me and Kristen went by ourselves. It was Kristen's first time driving in Lesotho/South Africa and I must say that she did pretty good! It was pouring down rain but she still drove like a pro. We ended up getting there after the post office closed which was a big bummer but we were still able to do to Living Life which is a cute little coffee that feels like "pinterst-land" to me. We were able to reflect on our experiences so far over a delicious meal. After Living Life we went to Spar which is the grocery store. The main reason I wanted to go was to get pretzels because you cannot buy them in Lesotho. YUM :) After our little visit into South Africa we came back to Lesotho and went to the mall to see a movie. Overall, it was a really fun day to just get off campus and have time to reflect together about our BG experiences.


Today, we were spoiled. We got to go swimming! That is still crazy to me...swimming outside 3 days after Thanksgiving?? Oh well, I am not complaining. :) I underestimated the African sun today and did not wear sunscreen. I have not worn any since I have been here since I really don't mind getting sun burnt. I usually get a few good burns every summer so I am pretty used to it, but today I think that I overdid it.

ALL THE LETTERS ON MY WALL....THANK YOU!!! 

one of our many fly killing adventures...(this is my room mate Kristen :)

 jello and marshmallows...a thanksgiving must. 

 trying my first litchi on thanksgiving 

 highlight of the day: buying a fan. I was only a little stoked. 

 SKYPIN THE FAM ON THANKSGIVING

our thanksgiving meal

Mercy :)

pretty proud of her pie

a thanksgiving sunset

learning to love tea (Living Life)

movie theater....an interesting experience

RAINBOW

DRIVING LIKE A PRO!

swim.swim.

love these kids. 

tropical :)

This week I got two e-mail updates from families that have adopted from BG since I have been here. Let me tell you, those e-mails MAKE my day! I was so glad to hear that they were both doing well and settling into their new lives. God is so crazy good.

peace and love.