The Greatest Thanksgiving Ever

While myself and my kitchen are still recovering from the weeks events, I think I can confidently say that it was quite possibly one of our greatest Thanksgivings ever. We knew that cooking for, seating, and entertaining about 20 of our local friends was ambitious, I don't think we had any idea how special the evening would be.

Here is the first (of a few) grocery store/market trips to prepare all the bounty:

Lesson learned: when you buy new furniture, make sure it's not scheduled to come the day (4) rented tables and (15) chairs are also scheduled to be delivered, or that it's not the day before you host a major event in your home. Your home turning into a furniture warehouse in a 15 minute time frame can be a bit stress inducing. 

 

This is my "hair back, no makeup or shower in about 2 days, pretending it's all under control and you are confident that the 10 lbs of potatoes you put into this dish you've never made is delicious" look.

Table set and ready! (and yes, I am a bit OCD and had tablecloths made and stole colorful leaves from the park so that the table would look "pretty")

 Friends arriving and making "hand turkeys" of thankfulness. 

Friends sharing what they're thankful for, and me using the camera to hide my tears at the meaningfulness of it all.

My hand turkey:

 And quite sadly, there is no video evidence of our dramatic reading of "The First Thanksgiving". My genius husband wrote a brief summary about the history of Thanksgiving, and assigned a friend or group of friends a role in the story. When he read their name at any point in the story, they were to say a sundry of hysterical things. For example, every time he said the word "pilgrims" a group would say "ENGLAND STINKS", and give a big thumbs down. The Mayflower would say "All aboard! TOOT!! TOOT!! (I almost wet my pants every time this group said their part! The word "toot" is foreign to most locals here : ) But perhaps the best was Squanto, who said "HOW . . . can I help you?" It was an absolute riot, and our friends participated and enjoyed it immensely more than we could have hoped.

All in all it was a wonderful night, one that moved me to laughter and tears on several occasions. I can't imagine a sweeter way to celebrate all that we're thankful for!

Thankful and Thoughtful.

As I approach this week and all that it holds (a test (boo), THANKSGIVING, friends in town, and the Iron Bowl to name the big events), I am already giddy with excitement. There's not much more I love than hosting parties, laughing with friends, and delicious food - and this week I get to do all of it!

However, as I was perusing my usual blog reads, I couldn't help but be struck by my friend Callie's post. (Tip: the little link means you should stop reading and go there now). Callie was a roommate of mine in college, and I mentioned her situation earlier here. Long, super crazy story short, Callie is now in remission from brain cancer. (Yes, that's right. And yes, she is about to be 28.) Her bravery in the post above is one of the things I love so dearly about her, that and her faith that found new depths and life through her ordeal.

In her post Callie also mentions our friend Katherine, who suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke a few years back. (And yes, you should again stop now and read about her miracle at the link above). While both Callie and Katherine's stories are the kind that shake us to the core, what stirs me the most is not just what happened to them, but how they responded.

These beautiful women, who faced medical, emotional and spiritual challenges I can't even begin to fathom, were not embittered by what they endured. But rather they weathered the storms of treatments, doubt, and despair, and found themselves rejoicing in the sweetness of the God who gives new life. I think Katherine's husband Jay said it best in a recent speech at our alma mater:

"We have become less concerned with healing, and more concerned with our relationship to the healer. And we are less concerned about deliverance  and more concerned about our relationship to the deliverer."

Tears fill my eyes as I read this again, and my heart so desperately longs that each day of my life would echo his words. This week is absolutely a time to be thankful, because goodness know how much we have been given. I am overwhelmed this season in particular at the new and abundant blessings before us, but in this, I don't want for a second to miss the heart of He who gives. My prayer for myself and you as well this week is that the remembrance of our blessings would not only compel us to give the deepest thanks, but move us to a greater love and intimacy with the Father.

A Few Things.

Today finds us neck-deep in the whirlwind that is mid-November through mid-December. We're on the road quite a bit these days teaching all ages and topics. Seriously - this week we will cover how to say "apple" as well as the dangers of HIV. You've got to be ready for anything around here!

I honestly have about 4 semi-meaningful topics whirling around in my brain, but for now here are a few things that have made this past week both interesting and great:

Don't worry, this is not my oven. Our situation was not so dire!

• My super awesome/huge for Asia oven caught on fire
• We began planning the "Ultimate Original Thanksgiving Party" for about 20 friends (meaning Baxter has plans of making foil pilgrims' shoe buckles and talking to our local friends about squaws and firewater)
• I was able to not entirely freak out about the oven and the implications on the aforementioned party
• I was able to locate AND communicate with an electrician who successfully FIXED the oven!! There was great rejoicing in our wigwam!!
• We taught 200+ itty bitty ones and did not catch any kind of airborne illness
• I taught my high school students the word "toot" (don't worry, it was completely appropriate for our lesson)
• We went joy-riding (legally! Teammate Tim got his license!! Woohoo!!) in a rented car on part of our travels and shaved a good 1.5 hours off of travel each way. SCORE. 

And to think, the craziness and adventures for this month has just begun! I often find myself truly astounded that this is my life, it's fantastically bizarre and wonderful all at the same time. While there are inevitable lows and moments of missing or frustration, I can honestly say the sweetness of these days overrides it all.

Here's to hoping for another wild and wonderful week!

A Lazy Girl's Blog

So . .  things are busy. There is so much swirling around around and inside of me, but somehow I haven't found the time yet to spill it all out for the remaining 4 faithful readers. But to pacify these faithful readers, I thought a few pictures of late might be appropriate. It's what's most interesting anyways, right? So here's a bit of what's been going on:

Our teammate and buddy Tim-o-tai had a birthday party for his 16th birthday . . .

 

Kidding Tim! I know you turned 21! (We like to give him a hard time because he's 2-3 years younger than us. What a young'un . . . )

At said party we carved pumpkins!

 

Ok fine, they were actually watermelons. The pumpkins here more closely resemble gourds, which wouldn't have had the same spooky/awesome affect as a watermelon.

Right after we got back from teaching in KM I got a nasty head cold, which I saw as the perfect opportunity to get all cultural and practice traditional Xnese medicine. What you see below is my tutor administering the "guasha". Basically it's a process of light scraping, thought to help the body release bad toxins and illness through the skin. (The red dots you see are the sickness coming out.) I would show you the final product . . . but I think my parents are still recovering from the picture I sent them. It doesn't hurt at all, but basically looks like you lashed yourself for a few hours with a cat of nine tails. Awesome, right?

 

So, here is Team Bentley (one of us slightly washed out from said head cold) hoping you had a Happy Halloween and are enjoying the greatness of fall! More to come soon!

Land O' the Little Ones

This past week we had the joy/challenge of beginning our stint as teachers in yet another realm of education - kindergarten. But before you think it's all legos and storytime, let me mention that kindergarten here includes tiny tots from ages THREE to six. Yeah, that's right.  Trust me, nap time is a TOUGH act to follow!

Now sure, our English lesson in each class lasted only about 30 minutes - but there were up to FORTY of these little bits in each class, and we taught six classes each day. So after this experience, it has been decided yours truly has officially earned the title of "buffoon". I will let the photos below give evidence to this. 

Ok, first one - not so bad. Eager teacher challenging the students to phonetically say "BIRD".

Hmm, here teacher has realized that screaming children means attentive children (for most - disregard Smiley Mcgee here in the front of the photo), and therefore pretends she cannot hear or understand. 

 

Teacher becomes delirious with the task of entertaining . . . I mean teaching 40+ 3 year olds, and secretly wonders if biting them might help. 

Dancing . . . surely dancing will teach these ankle biters that this is NOT my hand. What? They haven't learned foot yet? CRAP!

Teacher has officially cracked up after 6 classes in a day, and its starting to show. Or maybe she's just imitating the fly on her flash card. Scary. 

Teacher decides to quit teaching English, mash their little cheeks, and take them all home with her. Husband won't mind, right?

While it was an exhausting few days, there honestly isn't much more fantastic than being dogpiled/hug mauled by these little munchkins. And sure, I had lots of snotty noses rubbed on my pants and even a curious little devil nuzzling my backside at one point, but when you get a few "I LAUVA YU TEECHA"s, somehow all the exhaustion and buffoonery became worth it.

My Week in Pictures

 

 

 And to think that we once thought 20 years of education could ever been enough . . . riiiiight . . .

My Confession.

I had my first language test today.

I cried before it even started and then gave a less than stellar performance. (I might have test anxiety).

I wandered around town for about an hour trying to find a book store that was BELOW the very store I started at. (I don't do directions in my own language well, let alone another language).

I had a semi-meltdown when the new TV we bought arrived. (I hate spending money).

I let internal expectations dictate my understanding of myself and others. (I have issues).

I am learning.

I am growing.

I am hoping.

To be not as I once was, to see not as I once have, but to emerge wholly changed.

To bear witness to a power that continues to transform, a strength that sustains, and a hope that dawns new every morning.

I don't know about you, but I am grateful that in death - is life.

Praise Him who makes all things new, even me.