Day 5 and Overdue

So JB keeps nagging me telling me that I need to do the next post.  I told him to chill out it was okay because even bloggers take the weekend off to go on dates with their husbands, Christmas shop with Grandma's, have dinner for Papaw's birthdays, share Zambia stories at church, and attend Kate's choir Christmas performance.  Then this morning he said, "You didn't blog again yesterday."  No dear, I did not.  I was at this not so important UIL competition that I am paid for with my team that has been practicing for months. Who by the way won 2nd and 5th place.  I haven't been busy or anything.
So, I decided that I better get back to blogging so the blog monitor my husband will stop bugging me politely reminding me that I have readers waiting to hear about the remainder of my trip.

Whose ready for day 5???

Day 5

What a blessing this day was!  This was the day I realized how fortunate I am to teach in America no matter how imperfect it is.

My turn was up on day 5.  That means that little ol' me stood up to teach a room full of Zambian teachers.  I basically did an entire lesson like they were children from beginning to end.   No one fell asleep, threw things at me, or protested that the little red-headed Texas teacher sit her caboose down.  When I first started, one teacher did raise her hand and ask me to talk slower.  Go figure. This was an issue for all of us the entire time.  We even had to remind each other with hand signals like we were air traffic control from the back of the room.  Apparently, we Texas folk talk real fast. I have been told that I have an extra thick accent, talk extra fast, and tend to have an extra high pitched voice.  Not to mention I talk...ALOT.  I have indeed mastered the art of talking really fast but with a loooong Texas draaaaw and the enthusiasm of a Kindergarten teacher on steroids (I was a Kindergarten teacher).

All was well and the teachers completed their own lessons that we would get to see them try out in the classrooms in the coming days.  This was a challenge because they had to come up with ideas on how to complete these lessons with minimal materials.  No seriously, like NOTHING. And (ooh I just started a sentence with "and" like I tell my students to NEVER do) apparently they liked my teaching because everyone in my group asked me to teach a lesson in their classrooms after I observed them. Wait to hear what the students had to say about my talking.  It's a hoot!

After training was complete we presented the teachers in our groups with gift bags full of various items that were donated by other teachers, schools and companies here in America.  I have to say this was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  Megan (our leader) and Teddy (their leader) slowly pulled each item out of the bag to show them and I was suddenly transported to Oprah's Favorite Things Show. I mean they hooted and hollered and shouted "Praise the Lord", thank you thank you thank you like we were giving them all brand new houses and cars!  We gave them 1 package of crayola markers, notecards, rubberbands, 1 sharpie, 1 highlighter, a Dolch phrase test kit that we made, number strips for multiplication, a timer (see funny story at end of post), stickers, a teaching book, and a super cute bag to carry it all in.  It was crazy!  I mean they literally jumped up and down with excitement!  I have a cabinet at school full of those things that I complain about having to store.  Talk about blessing your heart and making a girl grateful.  I wanted to burst into tears of joy for them because I knew this was the equivalent of the Oprah Show for them.  Good thing the Oprah show is ending because I am pretty sure they would all pass out and go to be with the Lord in front of our very eyes if they ever went there.  Seriously folks, they were that excited!

 

The last thing they pulled out was a certificate in a frame that stated they had completed the 2 day Lifeway Leadership Institute.  It was like they got their freakin college diploma and were going on to that big high-rise office to make bookoos of bucks!  Megan and Teddy said, "Oh and look who signed your certificates..." a girl in my group jumped up and shouted, "JESUS!?" We all looked stunned for a minute and then burst into laughter. I said, "Umm no girl. We're connected but not THAT connected.  It was just Greer (the founder of Family Legacy)." I began to wonder...

"Do they think we are that close to the Lord?"

"I mean Jesus is my homeboy and we're tight and all but really?"

This was the first time that I felt like through example and through my career I was able to touch another life deeply with my faith.  It wasn't, "Hey let me talk to you about Jesus..." it was just through simply serving Christ.  I did however remind them of the verse Proverbs 22:6 "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."  Let me tell you how important this verse really is.  As a mother and teacher I have seen many children from many different walks of life and parental situations but no matter where they are from...

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

By Dorothy Law Nolte

and my own 2 cents (for what its worth)

If children live with YOU doing everything for them, they will learn to be lazy and dependent.

If children live without guidance, they will learn to wander the world with no direction forever.

If children live without discipline, they will not learn respect and obedience.

If children live without the word of the Lord, they will always have an empty place in their heart.

Amen.  That's my preachin for the day.

I have always known that God led me to teach but I have had a difficult time understanding why when I felt like I had so many other talents that he could have chosen to use.

Once upon a time I had decided I was going to be an attorney.  Real Estate law to be exact.  As a kid I told my grandparents and anyone who would listen that I was going to grow up, be an attorney and move to Malibu.  My Papa (Mom's dad) would say, "Don't you know that place is gonna fall off into the ocean?" I didn't care I just wanted the high life.  It was gonna be all about me!  Now, I'm not sayin all attorneys are selfish.  I do know a few with families and a few that are single and they all manage to be good giving people.  But those were not my intentions.  I was gonna be a royal pain in somebody's arse.

As I grew up I started to feel God's call.  I struggled immensely with what God was calling me to do and I refused to be obedient.  I was determined to do things my way.  I started noticing that every job opportunity that came my way had to do with children and teaching.  I loved kids but I didn't want to be a teacher.

When college time rolled around I decided to attend SMU over other schools because it was the prime place to be for a MEGA  career.  I had it all figured out.  I thought.

I decided to major in real estate finance and business.  I began my course work and I HATED EVERY MINUTE.  I freaked out!  How on earth would someone that likes to talk as much as I do be able to sit and read contracts and crunch numbers ALL DAY LONG???

UH OH... It must be the boy (JB). His dream of wanting to spend FOR-FREAKIN-EVER with me must be cloudin my brain up and makin it all domestic and stuff.  I can't focus with him around. OH HE HAS TO GO.

OH YES...I was prepared to toss away the love of my life for a big fat career that I wouldn't even like.  The only man (other than my dad and grandpa's) on God's green earth that would ever be willing to put up with this crazy, bossy little red head.  I mean let's be real folks...most of the time I don't know which way is up because I am soooo ADHD,  I despise laundry, I can't cook, I spend too much money, I ALWAYS run late and did I mention I'm a bossy little heffer? He musta seen something in me that I didn't see in myself at the time. OR maybe he just thought I was hot and couldn't get past the physical attraction. Who knows.

I was gonna walk away from the love of my life, the best man I know, an amazing father just so I could make a little money that would still leave me empty and lost.  Thank goodness he was patient with me.  Thanks babe! Sorry, I don't mean to make you all jealous. Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to put him on an unrealistic pedal stool and he certainly has his share of flaws, but any man who can put up with me deserves an award and some recognition. In the words of my father in law, "I could never be married to you." I laughed. He finished with, "You redecorate your house and make JB hang up 100 things every few months."  In my defense...it isn't that often and I'm working on being more content and less impulsive. Now before you all go "ahhh"...I'm not hatin on myself.  I'm just telling God's honest truth and after all HE is my creator and HE's supposed to know what HE's doin so HE's got a plan for all my flaws.

Anyhow I figured it all out and ended up graduating with a degree in psychology (which you can all clearly see I needed to figure myself out) and education.  And guess what?  I'm a teacher... and I talk all day long :)

Disclaimer:  I had a fabulous education but I do not recommend going to SMU to be a teacher.  Teachers make no money and SMU is expensive.  Just sayin.

So I say all this to tell you that God called me to be a teacher and even though I was determined to be disobedient HE is always in control.  You can take as many detours in life as you want but HE will always bring you back to HIS divine plan. Don't waste your time with your own plans.  They always lead to heartache and trouble. If I had never followed God's plan I would have missed all of the blessings that have walked through my classroom door year after year and I would have missed out on the biggest blessing of traveling to Zambia and serving. Oh, and my fabulous husband and awesome kids!

THE STORY OF THE TIMER...

While in Zambia we gave the teachers timers to work on time management.  I could totally live in Zambia because they don't worry about time.  JB will tell you that I have this issue.  If I am not at school I have no clue what time it is and I run on slow motion Amber time.  In fact Brad Paisley even made a country song about me but somebody musta forgotten to tell JB...

Waitin On a Woman

Sittin' on a bench at West Town Mall

He sat down in his overalls and asked me

You waitin' on a woman

I nodded yeah and said how 'bout you

He said son since nineteen fifty-two I've been

Waitin' on a woman

When I picked her up for our first date

I told her I'd be there at eight

And she came down the stairs at eight-thirty

She said I'm sorry that I took so long

Didn't like a thing that I tried on
But let me tell you son she sure looked pretty
Yeah she'll take her time but I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

He said the wedding took a year to plan
You talk about an anxious man, I was nervous
Waitin' on a woman
And then he nudged my arm like old men do
And said, I'll say this about the honeymoon, it was worth it
Waitin' on a woman

And I don't guess we've been anywhere
She hasn't made us late I swear
Sometimes she does it just 'cause she can do it
Boy it's just a fact of life
It'll be the same with your young wife
Might as well go on and get used to it
She'll take her time 'cause you don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

I've read somewhere statistics show
The man's always the first to go
And that makes sense 'cause I know she won't be ready
So when it finally comes my time
And I get to the other side
I'll find myself a bench, if they've got any
I hope she takes her time, 'cause I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

Honey, take your time, cause I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman.

I dream of the day that JB will say that last line to me.  I might be waitin a while.

For the first few nights we had a cook come and prepare our dinner in Zambia.  He ALWAYS showed up 2 hours late and by 7:00 we would start asking when it was gonna be ready.  He would say, "20 min."  At 8:00 we would ask again and again he would say, "20 min."  So by 9:00 we finally ate dinner...EVERY NIGHT.  Clay even started telling us, "Be ready in 5 min. and I don't mean 20 min." By the end of the week I asked a teacher what time knock off (get outta here) time was and she said, "About 20 min."  I finally said, "What's with all this 20 min. stuff?  What does that mean?"  She told me that 20 min. is like saying "later" kinda like we say "just 5 more min." when we really mean "in a little bit".  At that moment I decided the queen of late I could live in Zambia. From now on I'm tellin JB, "Just 20 more minutes dear."  It's not my fault he doesn't understand Zambian.  

Ready Set TEACH

Day 4

First Day of Teacher Training

This was an exciting day!  It was the first day of doing what we came to do...train and teach! We hosted the 2 day Lifeway Leadership Institute in our very own living room. We made cute little color coordinated name tags for our teachers and excitedly waited for the teachers to arrive. They arrived and I couldn't believe that they had even bigger smiles and were more excited than we were!  If we're being totally honest, as teachers we sometimes get bored don't always love training.  It is alot to prepare for.  You have to create sub plans and hand your class over to someone else with an already tight and rigid schedule. But these teachers, these teachers were excited.  Really??? I still can't wrap my mind around why anyone would be excited to come listen to me speak and teach about something that I am still learning and growing in myself everyday.  I'm glad they did though.  You see, I just thought I was there to teach and train them but they ended up teaching me.  Teaching me about life, loving my students, letting the small stuff go, and teaching a lesson with practically nothing.

They were troopers.  They had enthusiasm the whole day and took our every word like scripture.  I'm gonna be real honest here folks...this was our 3rd day in Zambia.  Hello jetlag.  We each had a part over the 2 days that we were responsible for training on.  Whoever was up teaching was good.  The rest of us sat in the back laughing at our rolling heads and heavy eyes.  It was re-donk-u-lous!  I had never had jetlag before but that 8 hr. time change kicked my rear end there and back again.  God got us through it.  He gave us the stamina we needed.  We may have wanted to crawl  on the floor and sleep but I promise no one did.

Okay, back to the teachers.  This is supposed to be about them.  Our main focus was  how to create and execute lesson plans.  Our goal was to teach them how to teach in a way that is fun and interactive.  THEY were fun and interactive!  We couldn't have asked for a better group.  They were excited to try everything and ask questions.  We were each responsible for a small group of teachers.  My group was A-W-E-S-O-M-E! They asked tough questions and they were sharp.  My most challenging question came from 2 teachers who co-teach in the same classroom...

"How do you teach effective, interactive, differentiated, challenging lessons in a classroom of about 30+  kids grade pre-k, kindergarten, and 1st grade?"

My response...

"Umm I'm sorry did you just say they are all in the same classroom?  And there's only 2 of you??? Well heck, let me know when you figure that out cause I sure would like to know the answer to that!" 

I was joking but I was serious. Dead  serious.  I have taught pre-k, kindergarten and 2nd grade.  But not all at the same time!  Geez!  They needed applause just for showing up each day!!! If I had to teach in that situation I would probably just go into survival  mode and give every kid a book and hope that I make it through the day without losing one of them.  I'm kidding, totally kidding.  Kinda. I mean geez! Can you imagine???

I also had a teacher in my group who taught 5th and 6th grade.  He wanted me to help him with a lesson on improper fractions.  First, I had to remember what those were. Kidding. Kinda.  I teach 2nd grade and our fractions are 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1 whole.  Improper fractions?  Not  my favorite, especially since I don't like math, but I survived.

You are probably thinking, "Those poor teachers!"  I told you I was kidding.  I knew what I was doing.  You'll see it all comes together in the coming days. Kinda.

The biggest challenge of the day by far was trying to teach these teachers how to teach like us but with next to nothing. Really.  I mean we're talking white board on the wall and maybe kids with some sort of writing utensil and paper to write on. That's hard to stomach.  No childrens book to introduce the lesson, no premade kit, no text book, no handouts, no copies, no file folder games, no cute stuff,  no workbooks, no construction paper and crayons. It's all on them.  I have never been so challenged as a professional in my life.  Until that day I had no clue how to do what I do without all of my resources.  I learned to be grateful, to appreciate broken itty bitty pencils, to conserve paper,  to not be such a perfectionist. 

I had no idea. We HAVE no idea.  We've got it soooo good.  They sweep the dirt out everytime their kids move.  I have a custodian who comes and vacuums up all of the pencil shavings and scraps that we don't even bother with. Education  in America may not be perfect but we are priviledged.

It was a long and full day.  I applaud each and every one of those teachers for what they do each day.  I ain't got nothin on them.

Each evening we ended our day with mass PB &J production

Share time

and intense giggle and click fests that were supposed to be planning sessions for the next day.

I can't wait to tell you about the next day...

Day 3- Chills, A sign from the Heaven's, Love at First Sight

Day 3

This was the day I got it, had my aha moment, woke up, realized, understood, felt the closest to God that I have ever felt in my entire life.

It was Sunday and what do we do on Sunday??? Well, we go to church of course!  We headed out to Tree of Life which is Family Legacy's largest and most amazing project.  It is basically acres and acres of land with houses for children who came from the most destitute situations. The children are sponsored by Americans and live there full time.  Each house has a house mom and the children all have chores just like they would if they lived in a safe normal traditional common  well, I don't know what to call it but they are chores that are commonly expected of children in Zambia.  Good chores.  Chores that prepare them for life and teach them good values. If you want to know more about Tree of Life you can go here to find out the master plan.

Kids houses at Tree of Life

The drive out was nice and green and lush.  From what I understand, when it is not the rainy season everything there is usually very dusty and dry.  No, I did not see zebras, giraffes, elephants, or monkeys.  Everyone asked me this.  Honestly, I was kinda hoping I would.  I did not.  I guess the Dallas Zoo will have to do. 

I knew we were in for a treat because we were getting to go to church with the kids on their turf and not many have had this opportunity.  As soon as we stepped off of the bus I could feel HIM.  There was a slight breeze blowing the most beautiful sound over us that I have ever heard.  We began to walk and this time no children were running to greet us like rockstars.  They were singing praises to the Lord and even we were not taking their attention off of Him.  We arrived at a pavillion where many, many children and just a few adults stood celebrating, singing, praising the Lord.  We were greeted with glancing eyes and quietly excited smiles but still very calm.  It was clear where the focus was. We joined them in their worship and let me tell you, if we all worshipped like them the lines out of our churches would be miles long. Seriously. MILES.  Most of the songs they sang were a cross between English and Njanja (Zambian) but it didn't matter if you didn't know the words the meaning was crystal clear. 

As soon as I sat down I was joined by 3 little smiling faces all about Kate's age.  2 of them were little boys and 1 of them was a little girl.  The 2 boys were reserved but they would occassionally nudge and push each other because they both wanted to sit right next to me.  The little girl plopped herself right in my lap.  We locked eyes and it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.  I immediately felt love for her like she was my own child.  I wanted to take her home and keep her FOREVER.  We hadn't even spoken a word. 

That's my little Anna in my lap!

The children grabbed hands and we all stood to sing praises.  As we stood singing the heavens opened up and rain began to pour.  It was more than rain.  It was a presence.  A SIGN FROM THE HEAVEN'S. It felt like God saying, "I here you and I am here.  Do you get it now Amber?"  Oh, I got it alright.  The funny thing was that it was probably a good 75 degrees with a slight breeze and I was in heaven but those poor babies were freezing!  They had a serious case of the CHILLS. The older children were running all around trying to grab laundry off of the clothes line and grabbing jackets for the little ones who were shivering like it was 40 degrees out.  It was amusing.  Clearly our current temps might be a little shock to their systems if they were here.   As we continued through worship I noticed that the only instrumental music was coming from a drum made out of a trashcan.  It was amazing.  I've never heard such a beautiful sound.  It really drove home a story that our pastor had told...it was about an organ.  Basically, some individuals were unhappy and wanted organ music.  All I could think was... forget the organ lets get some trashcans!

The kids told the Bible story and lesson for the day.  Ironically it was about obedience.  The very thing that had brought all of us there. The story of Abraham and his son Isaac.

The next part puzzled me.  They took up an offering!  I watched carefully as one by one each and every child placed money into the offering plate.  Children who have nothing and are basically in an orphanage were giving back to God what he had provided them with.  Even if it is the same money recycled and placed back in the offering plate each week (we thought this might be the case) they are still learning to give God what is His. I began to wonder...At what point do we go from having nothing but STILL giving back to God what he has provided to...Having so much and holding onto our pocket books only giving to God what we think He should have???

When worship time was over the rain stopped.  Just stopped.  The sun came out and the weather was perfect for us to enjoy the rest of the day with the kids.  Each of us went into one of the houses to get to know the kids and enjoy lunch with them.  I walked into my house and guess what... Do you remember my little love that sat on my lap??? It was her house!!!  Now I could know her name and everything about her.  Anna.  Her name is Anna.  I love Anna.  We ate a meal of rice with ground meat and learned an important Zambian lesson.  You know how we all sit down at the dinner table (once in a blue moon) and talk about anything and everything?  We catch up.  Ponder out loud.  Well they don't do that. I kept trying to ask the kids questions while they were eating and they would just look at me.  Usually the house mom would answer for them.  I didn't get it so I asked.  Ha!  Basically  you are not supposed to talk and carry on conversation during meal time.  Sit down, eat up, and shut your trap.  That's REALLY hard for me.  After the meal we sat and chatted with all of the girls.  Beautiful, beautiful girls!  Have I mentioned Anna???  If they would have let me I would have brought her home.  I am pretty sure I asked.  When they said no, I told them to tell her sponsor to sponsor someone else so I could have her.  "No." Sigh.

Anna doing her chores.

After our meal and girl talk we went outside to play.  We had so much fun!  I was of course reminded that gravity is no different in Africa and jumping on the trampoline after having 2 children is still not a good idea. It was still REALLY fun!!!

I had a special treat for a special little boy.  His American sponsor had passed along a gift to me for him to take on the trip.  I found little Temba and his cute little self and gave him his gift. He smiled from ear to ear for the rest of the day.

We also had the opportunity to pray over some slabs that are soon to be houses for more children.

That's my little Anna in the brown jacket and pink pants.  We were like glue!

When we had to leave the children were really sad but luckily we would have a chance to return.  I hugged my little Anna and many other children and jumped on the bus.  As we were about to pull off a little boy shouted and pointed, "You!" Then he grabbed Anna held her up and we waved goodbye and blew kisses to each other.

Special...

I have to tell this story.  I can't help but feel a little proud of my daughter Kate.  In the weeks before I left for Zambia we noticed that many of Kate's shoes were getting a bit small.  Especially her beloved sparkle shoes of EVERY color.  As I began to walk away she said, "Mom!  I know!  You can take them to Africa and give them to the kids!"  Tear.  When I heard that, I couldn't help but feel like as a mother maybe, just maybe I got one small thing right. The night before I left Kate remembered and came to me with an arm full of shoes and said, "Don't forget these!"  Now I was a mom on a mission.  When we arrived at Tree of Life we began searching for a little girl that the shoes would fit.  Lots of little girls but lots of big feet!  Kate has tiny feet.  I started to get worried.  There had to be a little girl who could fit into these shoes!  I felt like we were searching for Cinderella with sparkle shoes and all! Alas we found one little girl named Doreen.  And the slipper fit!  She was so happy and she changed shoes 3 times before we left because she was so excited to wear them.  Here is a photo of the shoe being tried on Doreen.  I have another photo of her holding the shoes but now I am starting to panic because I can not find it!

Can you imagine a full day of just feeling like you have been walking alongside God?  NOTHING can make you feel more joyful, happy, fulfilled, renewed.  Everything we did that day I felt like God was sitting right next to me and we were sharing this special time like best friends.  Sometimes I felt like if I could see him we would both have the kinda smiles on our faces that let each other know we knew what each other was thinking. Nothing about this day was sad or painful. Bliss. Pure bliss. I knew I was priviledged to be there and to have that experience.  This was also the first night we were able to send communication to anyone.  I was on cloud 9.

PS...The older girls kept telling me how much they liked my hair and asked me if they could touch it :)

PSS... Tomorrow is day 1 of teacher training!

Day 2 Finally in Zambia

Day 2

On Saturday we finally landed in Zambia!  We made it through the airport with all of our supplies and luggage without a hitch.  This was a really BIG deal because we were carrying items to teach with and gifts for all of the teachers we were training.  Give me a few days and you will see why that was such a BIG deal.  We were greeted by a film crew that would be with us for the remainder of our trip as well as other Family Legacy Staff that we would come to know and love over the next several days.

We unloaded at our villa, took a moment of rest and then hit the streets of Lusaka.  Our drives to each of our destinations each day were the most breath- taking and I don't mean 7 Wonders of The World breath-taking.  I mean startling. Cruel. Harsh. Painful. Tear jerking. Unimaginable.  Of course I knew where I was going, I was told of the conditions, and I had seen many photos.  But, nothing prepares you for what you really see in the flesh.  The first thing I noticed were the people. Everywhere.  Most of them were children running after us, laughing and barefoot or people standing wondering who we were and why we were there. Then I noticed the houses... How do you live in a house 3 cinder blocks tall???  And then a flood hit me...Who is watching all of these children?  Have they eaten this week? month???  That child has to be 2 years old like my son...who is with him??? Is that safe?  Is that person laying down alive? How can any of them be smiling??? Look at this place!!!  Ugh!  It is still painful to think about as I sit here in my warm house after I have just tucked my children into their beds. 

How can this be?  Where is God???  Oh, HE AND I have to have a chat ASAP!  It is so easy to default to that question and assumption.  "God can't be here."  "If He were here this wouldn't be happening."  "If He were here these children wouldn't be orphans, some of them raped daily, HIV/AIDS stricken, STARVING FOR CHRISTS' SAKE!!!"  But don't.  Don't let the devil fool you into thinking this is only his playground.  Look a little deeper, open a door, listen...

Our first stop was at one of our CRC's (Community Resource Centers) for boys.  We walked in and God kindly greeted us through the little angel's voice above.  It was kinda like God saying, "Hello my dear.  You didn't think I stayed behind in America did you???"  These boys (I believe 5 or 6 of them) live in this house because their home situations are either not safe, not sufficient, or non-existent.  They have house dad's, apostles, pastors, and other staff that take care of them and make sure their needs are met.  They also have American sponsors that fund their home, food, medical care, and education. These boys were such a joy!  They welcomed us into their home, showed off their artwork in their rooms (having paper and a writing utensil is a true blessing) and shared their love of Christ with us through...

SONG

and their Evange-cube skills!  Children being prepared not to just sit in their decent new digs but to go out and share the word of GOD.  PAY IT FORWARD!!! 

The boys were an incredible delight to my soul but nothing could prepare me for my next experience.  We arrived at another CRC surrounded by cinder block walls and a gate.  We stepped off the bus and they opened the gate.  I KID YOU NOT there had to have been at least 100 + children that RAN to us, HUGGED us, SMILED at us, TOUCHED us, GREETED us!  I was so overwhelmed and I wanted to sit on the ground right there and boo-freakin-hoo like a baby and tell GOD how much I did not deserve all of this!!! Who was I??? They acted like we were ROCKSTARS!  Seriously folks, the closest thing I am sure I will ever experience to ROCKSTARDOM.  It took all I had to fight back the tears.  I wasn't sure how they would react to that.  I am sure they have experienced more than 100 lifetimes worth of tears and I didn't want them to be confused by my tears of joy.  Pure joy. 

We went inside the house (a girls house this time) and sat down to meet the girls who actually lived there.  No, all of the kids in the photos don't live there.  The CRC's also function kind of like our version of recreation centers.  They are a place for kids to go to be safe, stay out of trouble, and stay off of the streets. Some of the girls told parts of their stories and again tears were fought back.  Most of the time I couldn't even begin to belive my ears.  How can these things be happening to children no less???  The children who know the Lord have such a peace about them no matter how devastating their little lives have been.  Soooo much was hard for me to understand and I felt soooo torn about soooo much.  I mean on one hand I don't want to have to experience anything painful to get me to need the Lord and depend on the Lord the way these kids do.  But on the other hand it is such a beautiful thing to see children who ONLY need Him (They have nothing else!).  He is their EVERYTHING and I truly believe that is what CHRIST desires from all of us.  These children were the perfect example of the transformation...without God we have nothing because we have no hope after we leave this flesh and these worldly objects behind...but with God we have SALVATION and HOPE and UNBREAKABLE LOVE and ETERNITY IN HEAVEN even if we have no family and no worldly objects to claim as our own while here on earth.  Children taught me this folks.  Children.  Aren't I supposed to be the teacher???

After our chat we were able to spend time outside with the kids playing and being touched. ALOT.  Let me just go ahead and tell you this...I am not so sure that Family Legacy has ever taken a red-head with them. Or maybe just not one with red hair like mine. Or maybe just not to those children. They sure did like to touch my hair. ALOT.  They examined my hair like it just might be one of those 7 Wonders of The World. 

One of girls said, "What tis this? What tis this?", as she held my hair up to the sun like she might be looking at a precious stone.

I said, "What do you mean???" 

She said, "Cola (color). I don't see before." 

I laughed and said, "Well, it's red. Or auburn. Or Amber like my name." 

She looked at the other girls and said with her eyebrows raised, "Red!" 

Then all of the girls said, "Red! Red! AHHHHH."

Priceless.

I am quite sure the only other soul that has ever been so excited about the color of my hair was my Japanese grandmother, Memaw (Yuki).  As you can imagine Japanese people don't tend to have red-headed grandchildren unless there is some miracle by God.  I am the ONLY red-head in my ENTIRE family.  And now, my children are almost 1/2 Japanese and look... I FINALLY have a red-headed friend in my little man JT. Good thing I didn't take him to Africa and good thing my Memaw was already in Heaven when she saw him...I just don't think they all coulda handled 2 exquisite miracles by God ;)

Oh just wait until tomorrow...chills, a sign from the heaven's, and love at first sight...

I'm Back! Day 1 of Zambia or Bust

I am BACK and in one piece physically (kind of) and mentally (questionable)!  WOW and PRAISE THE LORD is all I can say!  I am going to have to give you a day by day play or else you will never return after having read a 100 page blog post.  You will have to check back each day over the next 10 days to hear about my trip. So be patient and go on a 10 day journey with me from Texas to London to Zambia and back again one day at a time...

DAY 1

Well, day one was actually spent in Jolly 'Ol London (which ain't so jolly I might add).  We arrived in London in the morning and enjoyed a nice bike tour around London.  I use the word "nice" VERY loosely.  You see, when I first heard we would be doing this I thought to myself, "Uh oh.  Amber do you even remember how to ride a bike?  What if you fall off???  What if your legs get really tired and you can't keep up because you are really out of shape???" I soon found out the answers to ALL of my questions.  

My first impressions of London...

It is really nice, everything is beautifully built,  the airport is hu-mongo (really big), the weather is quite dreary.  

We took the subway (which in my directionally challenged opinion was really confusing and one might easily get lost down there) to the bike tour place. We selected our bikes and I encountered problem #1...people in London must be really tall because I (and I was NOT the only one) could barely reach the seat.  Getting on the bike consisted of throwing my leg over and jumping about 5 feet (ok maybe I am exaggerating) in the air all while trying to stay balanced just to get on the stinkin bike.  Even the bar in the middle that connects the front of the bike to the back (totally not proper terminology I am sure) was too tall.  Let's just say if you were a man about my height you may of needed to go see your urologist after that bike ride... just sayin.  

So we began our lovely (I use the word lovely very loosely) bike tour of London.  First stop was Kensington Palace of course!

 We road down paths and met the friendliest squirrels you have ever seen in your life.  No, seriously folks...like pet 'em like a puppy dog friendly.  Craziness I say craziness!

 

We also saw the change of guards 

(I think that's what it was called)...

 We ate in a pub (Disclaimer: No alcohol was involved.) that had gluten free options.  Okay okay maybe England is a tad bit jolly.

We saw Big Ben (I think that's what it is called)

and various other sights that I can't remember the name of because I was too busy trying to stay on the dang bike and at some point I became really focused on how much my rear end hurt. Seriously bike rider people...how do you do it???  We see groups of bike riders everyday in our town and now I just want to walk out and give them all cushions to sit on.  There should be some kind of recall and new safety standards for those things they call seats. I am sure some group some where has done a study on the health hazards of bike seats. Oh, wait according to Google there are several!  See I DO have a legitimate point and it turns out I am not the only crybaby...there are actually lots of us.

and for the grand finale... 

Above is the documented photo journalism proof that I was indeed riding a bike. And not in the very back I might add because someone did have to take this photo. I must say that it is a terrible terrible shame that no one got a video or photo of this comical relief that is my life.  You see, while riding bikes in London we had to fit our bikes through these little bitty posts on the sidewalks that I assume are meant to keep cars off.  While riding my bike down a straight away my handle bars started to spin around and become detached.  Luckily I gracefully (yes, I did just use "I" and "gracefully" in the same sentence) hopped off of my bike before I crashed without incident and the guide came back and fixed my handle bars with his trusty tool that he just so happened to have.  I am guessing that I am not the only person this has ever happened to hence being prepared with the special tool and not to mention the "incident waiver" that we signed.  Well, we continued to ride and the front of my bike kept pulling to the left but it was manageable...until I came to one of those posts.  I rode up onto the sidewalk, began to enter between 2 of those posts (very similar to the ones we are now using as HOV lanes on 635 and 75 only these aren't flexible so when you hit one guess what...), my bike pulled to the left and it was all down to the pavement from there.  Yep, I fell off of my bike in front of all of London and into the mud of course!  It was the longest fall ever and it totally reminded me of those videos they show in slow motion on America's Funniest Home Videos of people with not so bright ideas.  As I began to fall I of course tried to catch myself and of course my big 'ol jacket sleeve got caught on the handle bar.  I still continued to try and catch myself until I realized the hand that would be catching me had my brand new camera in it.  So of course I clenched my camera to my chest and embraced the fall...into the mud.  Righty 'o good time I must say!  It was hysterical!  No REALLY, if I had been one of the people watching me, I would have laughed for days and told EVERYONE.  1/2 of our group was behind me so of course they all saw me too and came running.  They were REALLY worried (apparently they didn't know me so well yet) and began to frantically help me and check me over.  By this point the rest of the group had circled back including our tour guide who I am assuming at that point was wondering why he had to have the group with the clumsy red headed American girl.  I laughed and laughed and laughed.  I think they thought I was delirious and they all looked at me with a puzzled look.  Welcome to my life folks... it don't get much more exciting and dramatic than that right there.  I assured them that I was indeed still in one piece and that there would not be any lasting wounds on my self esteem because I had long ago come to terms with the fact that I am Queen Clutzo and these things just seem to happen to me.  I managed to stay on my bike the rest of the trip (except for when I walked along side of it because seriously that seat thing hurts).  When we arrived in Zambia I finally realized the damage of my bike fall and the bruises from hip to toe were something to brag about.  I did spare you all a photo of those because my legs were porcelain (i.e. without spray tan, casper white) unmoisturized and quite possible unshaven.

By the end of the day I had my last impressions of London...

It's dreary.
People smoke alot.
People aren't extra friendly.
The buildings and architecture still look really nice from the mud.


Overall, it wasn't terrible but not really my cup of tea (no pun intended) to go on a vacation or anything.


So day 1 wasn't anything earth shaking or mind shattering but I had to warm you all up to prepare you for what came next...