God of This City

A song I have NOT been able to get out of my head for about a week now is this song by Chris Tomlin called "God of This City." Download it, buy it, get it - now. Seriously. It's such a very simple song and if you only read over the lyrics... you might not be impressed because it is so straightforward and nothing fancy - you still have to listen to this song.

You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

No specific city is named. No specific people-group is mentioned. God is the King of THESE people, THIS city - all people, all cities. Sing this song all over the world, in every city of the world and every word will still be true.

We sang this song this past Sunday night at the Wright's house during care group. It was the last care group and after the sundae's were eaten, lessons learned in Ghana were shared, and advice was given to those staying for next year, it quickly became obvious that no one was in any hurry to leave that place. The Wright's house is somewhere we all go for encouragement, a time of refreshing worship, and good food - a perfect trifecta! It's a home away from home for us. As we all sat after prayer, not leaving because we didn't want it to be over yet, Ben started playing worship songs on his guitar and for the next hour or so we all sat and requested songs to sing and worship God. It will go down in my memory as one of the most powerful worship experiences of which I've ever been a part. It was truly awesome to be a part of this amazing group of people, amazing group of friends, that LOVE the Lord. A few times I stopped singing and just listened to everyone around me because I couldn't believe that I've been blessed with such awesome people around me. These people that love Jesus and show me that love every single day. I will forever be grateful to this awesome group of people for teaching me what Christ's love in friendship looks like. Thank you.


After singing this song, "God of This City," Ben started talking about how sometimes it can feel like we're abandoning these students after being part of their life for such a short time. I've definitely felt like this on numerous occasions. After teaching some of these students for two years and some for only one... I'm leaving. After becoming attached to some of these students... I'm leaving. Ben's reminder was that God is the God of THIS city right here and He's not going to leave it. We may be leaving this place and we may never see some of these people again, but God will never leave this place and he will never leave these people. I can go with peace in my heart from this place because I know that God is finished with me here - I've finished my work. But someone else will come and take my place behind me and continue the work that He has already started. Greater things have yet to come and they will come because there is no one like our God.




As I write this it is now almost 12:30am on Wednesday... this means that I leave Ghana tomorrow. Tomorrow as in Thursday. Thursday night I leave Ghana.
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There are so many thoughts and emotions running through me right now that I'll be lucky if I'm ever able to make sense of them myself let alone make them coherent enough to explain to someone else. I just can't believe it's over.

Here is a list that has been started by the fantastic Jonathan to which much has been added by a lot of us. Some of it won't make sense to you but I want this list here to be sure that I have it always...


Happiness in Ghana

Happiness is Simple Brothers chicken and rice
Happiness is when the electricity comes back on
Happiness is Amanda and Elyse's ice cream birthday cakes
Happiness is going out to eat in Osu on the weekend with friends
Happiness is getting 5 Ghana cedi notes from the ATM instead of 10s
Happiness is watching movies/The Office/Big Bang with friends
Happiness is killing a cockroach with Raid and watching it slowly die
Happiness is playing ping-pong at my house with friends
Happiness is getting a fanchoco on a hot sweaty day
Happiness is eating humongous sausage kebab hotdogs on Mondaays and Fridays
Happiness is mango season
Happiness is jollof, red-red, and yam balls
Happiness is turning in my final grades for the quarter
Happiness is Friday nights hanging out with friends
Happiness is finally slapping that mosquito to death
Happiness is Thanksgiving in Ghana
Happiness is going home for break
Happiness is hanging out with the kids at Mama Latti's in Bolgatanga
Happiness is an ice cold Sprite while riding in the back of a truck in the sweltering heat
Happiness is a half-frozen Tampico after school
Happiness is talking and eating at lunch break in the teacher's lounge hoping the bell will never ring
Happiness is karaoke and bowling with friends
Happiness is macaroni and cheese every Saturday afternoon
Happiness is meat pies from church every Sunday afternoon
Happiness is traveling to exotic places with good friends for Spring break
Happiness is my parents come to visit me in Ghana
Happiness is getting cookies/sticky buns/nacho dip during school from Laurie Korum (and eating it in front of my students)
Happiness is playing disc golf at school with my friends
Happiness is riding my bike everywhere in East Legon
Happiness is eating a real dinner with a real family
Happiness is the International Day lunch
Happiness is when someone shares their food from America
Happiness is eating at the Lebenese families' house
Happiness is Sport's Day pillow fighting
Happiness is a good conversation with a good friend at "snack time"
Happiness is a homemade meal at a friend's house
Happiness is playing volleyball with the teachers during planning period
Happiness is scoring my first and only soccer goal in my life on the sand field with the students
Happiness is getting a package from the States
Happiness is getting to know my students
Happiness is friends I will never forget
Happiness is awkwardly choosing between your friends who will get married first!
Happiness is NOT painting your face and dressing in all black to play a prank on a friend only to realize he lives in an impenetrable fortress
Happiness is getting to watch my students - the boys - fight over who will get the next sparkly happy face sticker.
Happiness is getting to debate and have spiritual conversations with my students about whatever the controversial topic is that day.
Happiness is an air conditioned mall when the power's out
Happiness is about-to-expire-so-it's-on-sale cheese.
Happiness is sitting on the porch watching the lighting storm.
Happiness is rescuing kittens from DEATH!
Happiness is having runny tummy and being able to tell other people all about it.
Happiness is learning new words in the local language.
Happiness is getting a taxi driver who asks for the honest amount for a ride.
Happiness is getting a ride from a students family as you are walking home.
Happiness is AWWWKKWARD moments.
Happiness is talking about Jesus!
Happiness is getting surprise messages/notes/cards from students saying they love you and can't believe you're leaving.
Happiness is Sunday night at the Wright's.
Happiness is a cold shower after soccer practice when you've been doing push ups in the sand
Happiness is realizing that if home is where the heart is, a big part of my home is still in Ghana
Happiness is eating a whole loaf of banana bread not caring that it was full of bugs.
Happiness is watching tv shows while eating a whole loaf of bread with jam or nutella or BOTH.
Happiness is a good run and blarin head phones to block out the world
Happiness is buying anything you want from the window of your car.
Happiness is PLANTAIN CHIPS!
Happiness is a surprise list of happy things in your inbox when you should be doing work, but ALLLLLL you wanna do is procrastinate
Melissa: Happiness is Coco-cola in a glass bottle.
Happiness is KARAOKE!
Meg: Happiness is cheating on your no-coffee rule...even if it is just for FOLDERS
Melissa: Totally spelled that wrong but yeah... Coke in a glass bottle! YUM!
Happiness is ground nut soup with rice balls!
Happiness is being okay with being sweaty because everyone else around you is a sweaty beast too!
Meg: HAPPINESS IS WHEN ELYSE CORRECTS YOUR GRAMMAR BECAUSE SHE LOVES YOU... foldGERS
Me: Happiness is when people don't yell at me when I correct their grammar or spelling... it's a reflex I CAN'T control!
Happiness is quoting movies you've watched with friends
Meg: Happiness is a bag that ways 49.9 lbs
Me: WEIGHS
Meg: CRAP!!!!! i didn't do that on purpose!!!!
Happiness is painful because I never knew it was until it was over
Happiness is an awesome, awesome worship song that you can scream at the top of your lungs because everyone else around u is super loud too!!!! PRAISE JESUS. :)



Love, love, love it!


See everyone in America so soon... Lord willing! Please be praying for my flights home... there are FOUR of them :-/ Safe trip, safe plane, baggage makes it...

Home

Home.

I never thought the idea of home could be such a fluid concept. Where is my home? To tell you the truth... I'm not so sure anymore.

If home is where I grew up and where my family is - well, then home is in America, in Ohio.

If home is where I started my first big girl job and first lived on my own and first started paying bills and building a life outside of the people I've known my whole life - well, then home is in Accra. Here - in Ghana. In this land that's not so foreign anymore. In this place I've spent the last two years of my life. With these people I can't imagine living without.

For those of you who have never been to Ghana, there is nothing I could possibly say to you to help you understand life here - nothing. There is no number of words that could be spoken to even give you a hint of what it's like here. Sure you see the pictures and you hear the stories... but LIFE could never be boiled down to a few pictures or a few stories.

It's sad that none of you at home will ever really get it. That no one will ever really understand these last two years of my life. Two years that have shaped me and my relationship with God more than ten years would have back in America.

You'll never understand just how hot it gets out in that African sun - or in the house when the electricity is off. You'll never understand what it's like when all you want is a cold shower but there is no running water. You'll never understand what it's like to sleep on a tile floor when the electricity is off. You'll never understand what it's like to just want to walk somewhere peacefully but never getting the chance because there is always someone yelling, "Obruni." You'll never understand what it's like to feel like all you are is an ATM machine - being chased by kids on the street yelling, "Obruni, give me money!" You'll never understand what it's like to be hungry because you can't open the refrigerator or cook anything because the electricity is off.

And on the other hand...

You'll never understand how hilarious and amazing my students are and how much I love being part of their wacky lives. You'll never understand the peace and gratitude when you realize God is bigger than this whole world and He really is everywhere - with you - always. You'll never understand how great it is to be able to buy pretty much anything you need from the window of your car. You'll never understand how good the food is that you buy off the street - Simple Brothers! You'll never understand the pure joy of real nacho chips. You'll never understand how great it is to buy three movies that have just come out in the theater for about $8. You'll never understand what it's like to accidentally kill a baby chicken on your way to work. You'll never understand what it's like to keep your eye on that goat because just maybe today is the day Obadiah decides to leap over and attack you.

Saddest of all is you'll never understand what it's like to make friends here.


Friends that I can't even begin to explain. I've been trying for the better part of 30 minutes to just write something, anything that would do justice to the people I've met here and can't imagine living without. Maybe when I'm back in America and can look back on these two years will the words finally form. The words to say how I'll carry each of them with me wherever I go. The words to say how each of them has touched my life and encouraged me. The words to say thank you.


Today was brunch at the Golden Tulip - an annual "goodbye" brunch for those of us who have finished our contracts and are off to something else. None of it feels real yet. "You mean I'm leaving Ghana NEXT Friday???" That can't be possible! But here it is... the necklace I received as my going away gift. The necklace we've been waiting for, for an entire year. Is it really mine? Am I really leaving this place? America has never felt so far away.






We've even begun to say goodbye to some of our favorite places...


It's hard to believe that we'll never eat at Tip Top or Monsoon again. It's hard to believe that we'll never get ice cream from Frankie's again. It's hard to believe that I'll never shop at Global Mama's again.

Never, never, never...


I can't believe that I've lived in Africa for the past two years. Really? AFRICA?

Apparently, so.


I'm looking forward to starting a new chapter in life but it's hard to imagine that this chapter is ending. It's hard to not keep looking back to where I've been and it's equally hard to not keep looking forward to where I'm going. I hope to find a balance this last week and a half in Ghana that keeps me remembering and loving where I've been, paying attention to where God is taking me in the future, and enjoying where God has me right at this moment. I'm still in Ghana because my life isn't finished here yet - God isn't quite done with me.

I can only pray that when I get on that plane next Friday, God is smiling and saying, "You fought the good fight, you finished the race, and you kept the faith. Well done good and faithful servant."


I haven't always been the light God wants me to be... I know that. I haven't even always given it my best shot - I'll be honest. There have been days when all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball, watch a movie, and not talk to anyone - and I've given in. But God is bigger than my bad days and my bad moods. God can do anything with someone who is willing to take a leap of faith, to make sacrifices, to suffer.


God has held me through these two years in Ghana and I know He'll take me through the end. Through leaving this place and these people. Through transition back to America. Through it all.

Chapel

As some of you probably know from reading Facebook, I led chapel this past Wednesday. On Monday, Joyce asked me if I would be able to fill in as the main speaker and I said I would. I've been singing with our mini-worship band each week and that has been great! Usually we sing a few songs and then a visiting pastor will give a short message. Basically it's just a mini-church service every Wednesday morning at school. It's good when I can understand what the (more often than not) Ghanaian pastor is talking about, which, unfortunately, isn't that often. Anyway, something that I feel like God has been putting on my heart lately is to really think about and learn what the songs we sing mean. So often we sing songs but don't think about the meaning behind them. "Do I really mean what I'm singing?" The thought hardly ever crosses our minds. Or maybe you're different from me and think about it constantly - awesome! I never used to think about it until someone else brought it to my attention. I just thought I'd try to turn what I talked about into a blog post for you guys to read and hopefully encourage you! How I did it was to talk about the song then sing it, then talk about another and sing it, etc.

The first song we went through was "Every Move I Make." A pretty standard worship song, I think. Here are the lyrics:

Every move I make, I make in You
You make me move, Jesus
Every breath I take, I breathe in You

Every step I take, I take in You
You are my way, Jesus
Every breath I take, I breathe in You

Waves of mercy, waves of grace
Everywhere I look I see Your face
Your love has captured me
Oh my God, this love
How can it be?

It's upbeat, it's catchy, it's hard not to sing along. But how often have you thought about what it really means? Does Jesus really guide your every step and every breath? As I was thinking through these lyrics and what they mean, I think God laid on my heart that this song is really about surrender. Surrender to God and the leading of his Holy Spirit in my life. I know, it sounds deep for such a simple song but hear me out. Is it true that every move you make, every breath you take, and every step you take is for and because of Jesus? Are you really leading your life in such a way that everything you do is for Jesus and HIS glory? I definitely am not all the time - DEFINITELY not. I'm human. I fall. I make mistakes. Even though I can't say that this song is true of me all the time, every second of every day, I'm still going to sing this song out loud because it's a desire I have in my heart. I WANT this to be true of my life - I want Jesus to lead my every move, breath, and step. I want my whole life to be surrendered to Jesus Christ. And over the past several weeks He's been patiently teaching me how to do just that. Now, you might ask yourself two questions: #1 How do you surrender your life to Jesus? #2 Why SHOULD you surrender your life to Him?

Let's tackle that second question first.

Some scripture... Genesis 1:1, 27-31

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plan on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of all the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.

God MADE us. Specifically. Uniquely. HE made us. No matter what you think about how that happened - evolution, six literal days of creation, something else entirely. Right now, that's not the point. The point is that God did it. He did it and he did it however he wanted. Don't you think that deserves some respect? Some surrender? In these verses we see that God blessed Adam and Eve and gave them rule over all the animals and plants. But what happened a little bit later in the story? THEY messed it up by eating that apple from the tree. Adam and Eve had one single rule to follow and they broke up. Adam and Eve messed up - but who fixed it? It wasn't Adam and Eve. God fixed it by sending his only son to die an excruciating death on the cross. Did you know that the word excruciating was invented to describe dying on a cross? That's how horrendous and unexplainable death on a cross was - they had to invent a word to describe it. We don't have to pay for the sin of Adam and Eve or our own sins that we commit every day because God loved us enough to send his only son to die for us on the cross.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God LOVED the world. It started with the love of God for us sinners. God loved us so God gave us his Son. If we believe in him then we will receive eternal life with God and his Son in heaven. God loved, God gave, we believe, we receive. Notice that it's God initiated! Our salvation and eternal destination depends on our response to the love God already demonstrated to us through the death of his holy Son on the cross.

Psalm 103:8-12
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

God does not treat us as our sins deserve. He has removed our transgressions, our sins, away from us as far as the east is from the west. Because he first LOVED us!

Still need another reason for why we SHOULD surrender our lives to God?

Psalm 18:30-36
As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord's word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great. You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.

We should surrender our live to God because he is worthy! "His way is perfect." He will keep us strong and lead us in the way we should go... if you ask Him.


Okay, back to the first question: HOW do we surrender our lives to God? Well, this is something I'm still learning. God has been trying to teach me this in the past few weeks - complete and total surrender. In my limited experience, I think the answer to "how" is through prayer. Talking to God and thanking Jesus for his sacrifice on my and your behalf. Asking the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin in your and my life and how you and I should get rid of it. Talk to God about your day - just stay connected. Talk to God about your problems instead of gossiping about it with someone else. Talk to God about anything and everything. Acknowledge his authority over your life. Just talk to him and believe that he will keep his promises.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

If you earnestly and honestly seek him - God won't ignore you, he will reward you. But don't expect those rewards to be immediate or the way YOU think they should be. We can't put God into our little box and say, "Okay, I prayed this way and you didn't respond the way I wanted so I'm not going to pray anymore, God you must not really care about me." God doesn't work on your time schedule or always in the way that you want. Would God really be GOD if you could control him or put him in your own little box?

If you just don't know what to pray... pray scripture.

Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.



Now, even if the words of this song "Every Move I Make" don't describe you right this second - if the words describe a desire you have of how you want to live your life or maybe even how you think you should live your life... sing it out!

Every move I make, I make in You
You make me move, Jesus
Every breath I take, I breathe in You

Every step I take, I take in You
You are my way, Jesus
Every breath I take, I breathe in You

Waves of mercy, waves of grace
Everywhere I look I see Your face
Your love has captured me
Oh my God, this love
How can it be?

This post is pretty long so I think maybe I'll do this in installments since I talked about 4 songs...

Come back again!

:-)

Spring Break - part 2

Alright, I believe I left off writing after we ran away from Afrikiko.

To be honest, not too much happened after that. We were afraid to leave the relative comforts of East Legon! Amanda and her mom made a trip to the art market and we all made one more trip to Osu and other than that... you could find us lying by the pool. :-)

Let's re-focus on the FOOD we ate over spring break. Some I've already mentioned and some I haven't. There was just too much good food eaten over break to not devote an entire blog entry to it.

First up - Thursday night dinner at La Galette! No picture of the food but the chicken alfredo pasta and 4 seasons pizza Meg and I shared were delicious!

Friday morning breakfast - bow fruit. I have no idea how you actually spell it but that's what it sounds like. And it has nothing to do with fruit.

It's basically a donut. A delicious, greasy, mess of a donut. Yep, they cook it over a fire on the side of the road and serve it to you wrapped in a piece of newspaper. Classy!

Friday night dinner at Monsoon. The amazing sushi about which I've already written and posted a picture. Here's a picture of the rest of the sushi Amanda and I split - fashion sandwich and sashimi!

Can we go back now? Please?

Saturday night at Chez Afrique. Mmmmmm red-red. I wish I had some right now!

Top: Gari Foto. Middle left: palava sauce. Middle right: beans part of red-red. Far left: rice to be eaten with red-red. Bottom middle: fried plantain, the other half of red-red. Bottom right: boiled yams to be eaten with palava sauce.

Can we go back now? Please?

Sunday (Easter!) breakfast I made cinnamon pancakes with a delicious apple sugar-y topping!

I promise it's better than this picture looks. And I don't know why it uploaded sideways.

Easter dunch/linner/something between lunch and dinner! Bar-b-q chicken, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes. Mmmmmmm.

The green beans were an especially nice treat!

Easter dinner, aka feast!!! A family from the school invited us over for dinner. A Lebanese family. Lebanese food is sooooooooooooooo good!

Dessert MIGHT have been better... do you SEE that chocolate cake??? And the Lebanese goodies on the left and the chocolates on the right. Wow.

Monday was the Afrikiko debacle so let's skip to Tuesday.

Tuesday dinner I cooked again! And Amanda made one of my most favorite desserts...

I may look a little crazy in this picture BUT the garlic chicken pasta with broccoli and accompanying salad were delectable!

Dessert was scrumptious! Hot from the oven apple crisp. Mmmmmmmm, thanks Amanda!

Just when you start to think, "How much can these people eat?!" It keeps going.

Wednesday morning I made cinnamon rolls!

Yep, from scratch. And we had some mango. You know - for balance.

One more! Wednesday night we made our way back to Osu and feasted on Chinese food.

Amanda and I each got soup noodles: her with chicken and me with beef. It was soooooo good and made even better by the new air conditioning at this restaurant!

Sadly, we are now finished with the trip through "Spring Break Food 2010."

Hopefully I'll see you again at my next installment, "Mexican Food Extravaganza June 2010."

I didn't even give a shout out to the amazing mom who provided me with all of these pictures!!!
Momma Joyce - thank you for EVERYTHING over break!!! It was fun showing you around! :-)