I am SO thankful that thankful Thursday lists are a part of my life…thankful that long before I arrived in Ghana, our Faithful God had been training me to look for the gifts that He is putting along the path…thankful that He has helped me establish the habit of looking for things to be thankful for – I really believe having that little exercise to do during these past 2 weeks has made a tremendous difference…(though I haven’t been as thankful as I would have liked to have been, it’s nice to be able to look at a physical list and be reminded that God has been giving me wonderful gifts every step of the way…))
Drumroll please...thankful thursday list from July 15 through approximately July 31 (or whenever our last night in the village was!)
- Early boarding for our family for our flight to London
- The pace, schedule, flow of our day (leaving the IOC) – made it through check in and security rather calmly
- Cool “kid packs” for the flights – way to go British Airways
- Blueberry scones before we left the IOC (surprise from Shirley)(little redemption)
- Accidentally calling the flight attendant so many times (that button isn’t clear! And it’s close to my elbow!)(just amused me that i did it numerous times!)
- So many good movies to choose from on the flight! (I could fly for a week and still not get to watch all of them that I think I want to watch)
- Ben Tucker’s kindness to Eli
- So many of our teammates who are so willing to help us and invest in our children and carry luggage
- Emma fell asleep before take off (flight from London to Accra)
- There’s a bathroom on board (we’d be in bad shape if there wasn’t!)
- the play area at the Heathrow Airport in London
- Taking a quick nap while nick watched the kids at the play area
- Growing friendships
- First African sunset (from the airplane)
- the airport lady who let our family through to the head of the line in Accra
- the familiar smell of pizza
- Clean body, clothes, sheets (again and again)(well, at least the body and clothes parts again and again)
- EXCELLENT sleep (especially for the kids)
- Emma likes pineapple juice
- Clean water in a bag
- Emma’s ability to nap. Have pillow, will sleep.
- Peaceful, comfortable bus ride
- Joy comes in the morning!
- 3 lovely children sleeping
- Eli’s immediate reaction was to give to the children that we met.
- Ceiling fan. YES!!! Thank you, God, for this ceiling fan!!!
- long nap(s) for me and emma
- Coke in a
bottle (cold coke in a bottle)(x’s 15 or so)
- Making
lemonade (and even having some ice in a few of our lemonades!)
- "Can I be on Emma duty?” –stephanie duncan (and anyone else who says that or something similar)
- Bug spray
- Team meetings, devotions, worship. I like it when we’re all together!
- Listening to & napping through the rain
- Fun & crazy uno rules
- Caroline’s hair in a bun
- Headlamps. Handless flashlights – brilliant!
- Big pink & white striped circus tents (where did those come from?!)(and how did they fit so perfectly?!)
- The covering (shade & shelter from the rain) that the circus tents provide
- Excellent team meeting Monday morning (beautiful way of sharing struggles)
- Fried plantains!
- Baby goats
- Things are looking up (under a week! We’re going to make it!)
- French fries for lunch! And ketchup!!
- It (i) really will be clean again…someday
- We’re leaving on Monday! ( a day early!)
- Eli ate a banana (he likes african bananas)
- Band-aids
- Caroline’s take on interacting with the Ghanaians: “little kids….ok. bigger kids…not so much. Adults…no.” (I’m not necessarily thankful that’s it’s challenging for my children to interact with the Ghanaians…but I appreciate how Caroline put it into words!!)
- The view from the top of the hill
- Caroline’s help washing clothes
- Watching the little rascals (and when the kids quote from it)
- Hearing caroline quote from “the princess bride”
- Writing real letters (not knowing when they’ll be sent...but writing anyway!)
- Salt. It’s just the right spice sometimes.
- It is finished. Our time in Pai Katanga is done!!! Thanks, God.
