Christmas Outreach Part I

I teach Middle School Bible. This year I decided to do our Christmas Outreach a little differently. Rather than buying something random to hand out, I asked my Turkish friend to help me by going to choose 3 homes that we could bless. He came back with ages of the kids. So, each of my students was assigned a child. They had to earn 20TL, buy a gift, wrap it, and be ready to distribute it. We were all very excited! I mentioned to the teachers about the idea. They wanted to join in as well. So we began collecting coats, blankets, food, toys. Any student who brought something could wear jeans. Soon, we had mountains, literally, of donations. They filled 4 cars/vans.

We loaded up and headed to the homes, just down the street from our school.

These folks live in a broken down area. Their source of income is to dig through our trash each night to get goods that can be recycled. Their homes and yards are basically a trash dump.

For some of my students, it is the first time they've ever encountered poverty of this depth.

 The first house we visited had these little babies, in underclothes, peering out the window. I had a very hard time holding back my emotions, but didn't want to upset the kids or make the families feel badly. The day went wonderfully...I'll post more pictures tomorrow!

A Christmas Carol

Just before Christmas Break, my 7th Grade English class, along with one of our ESL classes, performed a readers' theater of A Christmas Carol. The kids really surprised me, especially in that the ones I least expected asked for a big role. They came up with their own costumes, practiced, and performed for the elementary.

I was super proud of them and shhhh....super proud it was over!

Happy Birthdays

Today is my sweet daughter's 14th birthday! I am so proud of my middle girl. She started out life bound and determined to catch up to her 2 bigger sisters....she walked the soonest and when she was put behind a gate on the top floor, she simply shook it loose and rode it down like a sled.

My daughter's heart is so kind and thoughtful. I just don't know many 14 year olds like her.

And today my sweet baby girl turns 14.....one the very same day as.....

her sweet Grandma turns 70ish!  Right, Grandma?

Happy birthday to both my loves!

Staff Party 2015

The second weekend in December brought such a fun event, our annual staff party! At this point, I had no idea that it would be my last Christmas in this house. We had such a fun night...sharing delicious foods, singing, reading the Christmas story, and then our fun gift exchange. CC won the gas mask you see in the picture. Big Ben's been using it to take out the trash. I love these people!

2016

And my final picture from Prague is of this beggar. As I passed him, all I could think about was his total humility to not even look the giver in the face. This is me, exactly, before God. This is my place. This is what I want my life to look like before God in 2016.

Prague Blog: Final Pics

After our stroll through the town while all was quiet, we came back to enjoy breakfast at our hotel before boarding our plane. Mmmm. It was all so wonderful. I went for things that I would either not normally get in Turkey OR things I'd likely not take the time to do myself. Smoked salmon. Fresh cut fruit. European cheeses. A chocolate croissant.

I had to get this guy's picture, for he watched us from across the street each day while we were there.

And this was beautiful to see, flying from our hotel.

 Our final task was packing. We hit the grocery story to load up. Oh me. Oh my. I didn't factor all the "stuff" in when choosing which suitcase to bring. I bought cereal for my kids (what a treat! We only have about 4 kinds here...12 years...4 kinds...something different is a treat), canned ham, cheeses, special teas, a few gifts. It quickly added up.

And then there was Rudolph. Remember I told you my big find in the Christmas market by the castle?? A reindeer skin. Such a good price. A real reindeer. I really wanted to bring it home.

It was so bad, I almost considered wearing him home. But somehow we made it. I had a purse, a carry on, my suitcase, and Rudolph...but we made it. (CC has since named it Vixen. He says it's a better name...as "vixen" can also mean a mischievous woman. Did I mention that I didn't tell him I bought a reindeer?)

Prague Blog: Differing Perspectives

One last fun thing I did was change the settings on my camera to get some black and whites...

How did my mouth end up on a picture?

And then I pulled out a green hue only.

And some pop art color.

Blue, blue sky.

And this one I am using as my screen saver. The color draws me in.

It was fun to take the time to try some things. I'm always so busy. It was fun to have a bit of time to waste.