Busy & Blessed

BIZZY BIZZY BUSYYYYYY.  But very blessed in the preparation for my move.  I need to journal it and honor some people.

Why do we spell it "busy" anyway?  First graders sound it out "bizzy" because that's what should follow the language rules.  Crazy English.

Although I'm going to teach 2nd grade in Chiang Rai, I'm essentially assisting in a church plant.  The Penningtons (more info. on them in post soon...) are hoping for their school to be a platform for the Kingdom of God to enter into the city of Chiang Rai.  The presence of God is already affecting families in the school, and I am thrilled get to be a part of it.

God is fulfilling some of my dreams, and I'm only 26 years old.  *thankful*

But today I just want to give honor and shout-outs - I'll expand on the mission of the school, the Penningtons, etc. later.

Mrs. Mollie Newcom, who calls me her "other granddauRghter" (she's so southern and fantastic), invited me, my mom, Aunt Cindy, and her own dauRghter Nancy to attend a luncheon today sponsored by the Fort Worth Christian Women's Connection.  Mollie regularly attends, but this was my first time.  We enjoyed a delightful, girly afternoon with pretty food and presentations made by a lady named Dana from Girls 'n Grace  and Jana Vick from Stonecroft Ministries.  (Jana, if you see this, check the link and let me know if it's the right one...).  I've been so bizzy recently that I haven't had a lot of time to spend in prayer like I want to before I prepare for a big change.  But, God knows my every need, and He used Dana and Jana to speak life into me today through the messages they gave.  I shared a bit of my story with Jana, and she even prayed with me.  So sweet.  She mentioned Psalm 139 verses 17 & 18, "How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand...."
God thinks about me...He is thinking about you.  He knows, and He will be there, always - His presence is REAL. Just step into it!  
It was a happy time getting to see Mrs. Mollie and Nancy, too.  Love them.


Also super blessed by my co-workers April & Camilla!!!  Camilla took down EVERYTHING off of my classroom walls, and April put every single teaching document that she owns onto a flash drive for me to take to Thailand.  PLUS, they make me laugh from my gut, and you know I think the best thing is laughter from your gut.

Suuuuper thankful for my family, too!  Mom has helped me clean out and organize my classroom AND my to do list (she thinks I have ADD, I don't, she says "I know you don't think you do"...and really, sometimes I think I do) =/  Haha.  I like to attribute it to my ENFP weaknesses WHICH I really do try to work on.  

<3 you momma.  :)

Dad is helping me get the confusing things sorted out like International Insurance, plus he and mom cleaned out a storage space for some of my things when I move.  Also thankful for the fun times with Whitney, listening ears of Ami, a night out on a downtown rooftop with Cindy, and MANY more.  MANY, many more.

I may be bizzy, but I am blessed and thankful. 

Yes, I'm moving to Thailand.

You know I LOVE COWTOWN, love love it, but it's time for a change of pace for awhile.  And so I'm moving here:

At the tip top of that map is Chiang Rai where I'll be living for the next 10 months.  I'll be teaching 1st or 2nd grade at Chiang Rai International Christian School (CRICS), and I'll be living in a little apartment there near some other teachers/missionaries.  I'M. PUMPED. 

Here's how this all happened:  

I had been considering getting another job for awhile (had some health problems, I'll save that for another post), but hadn't considered going overseas again until later in the Spring.   *SIDENOTE - if you're thinking "wait, overseas AGAIN??" read the rest of my blog, it'll clue you in*  I was also open to staying at my school for another year if that's where God wanted me to be, but I juuuuust wasn't feelin' it.  Things even started to point toward closure within my classroom and the school, but, still didn't want to close that chapter of life until I was certain about it.  Actually, the decision was made when I ran out of Expo markers MAJOR BUMMER.  "No more Expo markers?!?!  THAT'S IT! I'm outta here! BYEzzzz."    

Kidding... that's not how it happened.  Although I did run out of Expo markers.  =]  And my projector broke. and my printer. and my school ID.  yada yada yada (who got that reference?).

We had to lose a 1st grade teacher at school due to numbers decreasing, so my team all applied within the district for another job.  The day before my first interview, I texted my sweet friend, Ami, :) asking for prayer for wisdom.  I was uneasy about the interview and was beginning to think more seriously about living somewhere else.  She sent me a sweet reply and that was that.  The next day (the day of the interview), she texted again and said, "You're not going to believe who just emailed... The Pennington's in Thailand still need 1st and 2nd grade teachers for this next school year and asked if I knew anyone interested."  

Ok I didn't credit it as God's divinity JUST YET.  ;)  I was sort of hoping for a completely different turn, maybe something outside of teaching.  However, it made so much sense, and it got my heart excited.  

• I wanted to try living in Asia at some point in life. 
• I left Kenya thinking, "I need to do this again...but in Asia."  
• I wondered if the reason I felt so uneasy about traveling to Haiti this summer was because God was POSSIBLY sending me out in the Fall.  
• God knows my heart.  He gave me a desire to work with international students.  He has ordained my days and knows each one of them before they come to be.  
• And considering the rest of this crazy year, of course I would move to Thailand, right??!  ;) 

After thinking, praying and researching, I decided to apply for the job and was accepted.  I feel so peaceful.  

I am a volunteer teacher so it is an unpaid, support-based job.  How humbling.  It will be good for me to sort of "detox" from worldly things and live in simplicity again.  I'm looking forward to it.  

I am sad to leave Cowtown YOU KNOW I LOVE IT, but thankfully it will still be here when I come back.  And maybe with some of the construction finished?  Have to admit, I kind of like seeing the construction - change is good.  :)  

I will try to update frequently so check back soon!  

it gets in yur blood

Stuart Baliles told me the day I flew out to Africa, "I better warn you - Africa gets in yur blood." (he said it like that, yur, bc he's from north carolaihna.) =)

He was right, it did.

"May the peoples praise You, Oh God! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!"

Time Flies

This time last year I had just returned from Kenya.

It's fun to think about how much anticipation of the unknown there was when I came back, that's exciting.

It's strange to think that my experiences in Kenya are still affecting me in new ways all the time.

And so now I'm gonna leave you hanging bc I really need to go to bed. Why was waking up at 5:30 in Kenya so much easier than waking up at 5:30 here??

Back to blogger soon...fo rill this time.

kt

bok choy & memories

the photo above is a sneak peek at the post below....

I wrote this on 11/30, didn't post it, and now i am. sometimes i just feel like blogging!

2 1/2 months since my last post? -laaaame kt. (now it really is lame since it's been almost 3 1/2 months, haha)

This time last year I was on my way to Tumaini! I had already spent a full week in Nairobi and had the yummiest sweet potato casserole EVER (ryan....where are you? and almost as important, where is the recipe to the hawaiian sweet potato casserole??).

Lots of things have been reminding me of Kenya lately, I hope my co-workers don't get tired of hearing about it. =/ Thanksgiving, Apples to Apples, getting out Christmas decorations - all that reminds me of Kenya? yep.

I cooked bok choy tonight (never had it before, it was pretty good!), and I was reminded of all the times Lindsey and I watched Ryan cook up some fancy sakumaweke (spinach-like plant) on our skillet...the same skillet that we had probably cooked eggs and raw meat on earlier that day. =) I didn't know we had green onions growing in the shamba (farm) until Ryan brought them in to cook one day, haha! So tonight when I washed and chopped my green onions, I had a flashback to picking green onions out of the dirt and rinsing them under the faucet in the shamba, the same faucet that the kids used to wash clothes. One time, sweet Isaac saw me rinsing the onions, and he came over, took them from me, and didn't give them back until he had thoroughly washed all of them. =) Could I picture one of my current students doing the same thing? Not really...but if I dropped an onion, it'd be a fight to see who could pick it up for me first. Kids really are sweet, even if the first words out of their mouths after a week long break are, "Miss Thornton, my tummy hurts." "I don't feel good." "She kicked me."

So glad to see you, too!!! =)

I also watched the new Hallmark Christmas movie last night, "A Dog Named Christmas." I didn't used to watch Hallmark movies, but they're Lindsey's FAVORITES, and she had about 6 or 7 different ones plus the Love Comes Softly series, and we watched them ALL the time. I'd walk into her room during break times from school, and she'd have on a Hallmark Christmas movie in the background while she worked. So in honor of Lindsey, I watched A Dog Named Christmas.

Our movie nights used to be like a little getaway back to our normal lives. We figured out how to make homemade popcorn (grew the seeds ourselves! not.), and we'd add cinnamon and sugar to it. We even had a system for it (leave it to the Americans) - the plain popcorn stayed in our big metal pot, while we filled our own little metal bowls with popcorn that we topped with either salt or cinnamon sugar. We'd usually get a Coke from the duka and save it for a special night, OR, if someone had sent us a Cosmic Brownie, we'd eat that. No matter what we were eating though, the movies stayed consistent - chick flicks.

Balancing rest time and immersion in Kenyan life was tricky. With purpose in mind and only 5 months in Africa, it was hard to justify rest time or alone time. But, I guess it was needed, or I would've been worn out. Maybe it was tricky because I lived at my ministry...ya know? Nothing was really separated, I lived and worked and taught all in the same place.

That was it, I didn't really finish it, but I thought I'd go ahead and post it because it's just a little more of a look into my life in Kenya. Here are a few pictures that I love.

that's a moth.

chicken feet make great toys.

my card game buddy, margaret njoki - miiiiss her & her wonderful laugh.

me & rindsey (as the Kikuyus called her)

sheep heads also make good toys.

Coming Soon...

I'll be updating again soon. Life got really busy.

Really, Really busy.

But if I can make time for ABC & NBC Reality Shows, then I can make time for blogger.

Besides, I have WAY too many funny stories from my new job NOT to document them somehow, so I might as well share them with the public in hopes to cause a few laughs and make your heart healthy. =)

Tip for the day: Cast your anxiety on the LORD, He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Tip #2: Eat yogurt.

=) kt

Summer, Kenya, and Vampires.

I didn't realize it'd been so long since I updated! Almost a month, wups. I've been super busy...I got a job! I'll be teaching 1st grade in Eagle Mtn./Saginaw. I've also had quite a few Kenya presentations to make, which is FANTASTIC, I love it. I worked at camp for a week, I took a quick trip to see California with some friends, it was way fun, and this weekend, Jessica and I drove to Austin to float the river with Christine. Amidst all this, I've gotten TOTALLY HOOKED on the Twilight series. I'm looking forward to when I get settled into my new apartment so I can spend time reading about intense mysterious vampire love.

8-D

I need to continue blogging so I'll have an easy way to remember a lot of my experiences in Kenya. Let me tell you some funny stories since my last few posts have been somewhat sentimental. Okay they might not all be really funny, but they're interesting.

I was sitting with the teachers one day during a break from class when Madame Sarafina said, "Do you eat Ugali in your country?"

me: "No, I'd actually never heard of something like Ugali until I came to Kenya."

she said (loudly and with very much intrigue), "THEN WHAT DO YOU EAT?!?!"

This might not be a great story to post online, but man, it was hilarious. I wish you could hear me say it, and even more, I wish I'd captured a picture of her face.

Another funny story, Lindsey and I were sitting around in her living area, and I got up to go to the bathroom, and on the way I picked up the bread bag and started walking out the door. I suppose this kind of wack could've happened anywhere, but it made it funnier that I was in Kenya. Linds & I were probably exhausted or something. Why did I subconciously pick up a bag of bread on the way to the bathroom? What was I gonna do with it?! hahaha! Even though that really has nothing to do with Kenya, it was probably one of the funniest moments in my whole time there.

I have lots of little random stories.....

such as the time Lindsey and I took public transportation back from Nairobi, and we got on a matatu that smelled awful. It smelled like dead fish. We were sitting at the back, so we opened the windows and stuck our heads out the window to keep from gagging, only it was really windy and cold (remember I lived in a cold part of Africa). Leaving the matatu, we did indeed spot a raw, dead fish on the floor of our matatu. big ew.

The first week I was at Tumaini, I got to go to a traditional Kenyan wedding. It was really sweet and interesting, simliar in some ways, I think I remember posting about it back in December. It was in our church, and the center aisle was about 20-25 feet long. The bride walks a certain way, and it took her 3 minutes and 40 seconds to get down the aisle. almost 4 whole minutes! That's so fun for the bride, but wow, there were probably only 12-14 rows of chairs. I mean count out 3 minutes 40 seconds...that's a long walk! I got a video of the whole thing, but I might not post that one. =]

Later on at the end of the wedding, the parents of the couple give them a gift. One set of parents brought a sheep into the church, it was really sweet, until the sheep peed right there at the altar.

Have a told you about "The Case of the Missing Retainer?" Let me know, I can't remember.

Looking at pictures reminds me of more stories, but it also makes me miss the kids more. They're soooo sweet. I really do miss them a lot sometimes.

Here's a video from the wedding. When you "baa" at sheep, they "baa" back at you. We didn't even "baa" at this one, hahaha, sheep are so funny.