"You are not welcome back here."

....That was my dad's comment when I told him my opinions of chicken head and feet, both of which I tried for the first time last night. (I said they were yummy. They are!)

See, I have this little "game" with some friends here wherein I have to try one new and exotic food each month. We started in December - I ate balut for the first time then (and actually liked it!). Not sure what my task for February is, as I've proved pretty easy to please thus far and am seeking more of a challenge. Ha. :]

In other news, our trip to Manila was wonderful. I had a blast shopping and being in the city (although the traffic is atrocious), and more importantly the conference was wonderful. Anne Graham Lotz spoke twice - her first session was called "Jesus is our Savior" and focused on the cross and His death, and second session was "Jesus is our Lord" and focused on the resurrection. Hearing her speak helped me get some things back into perspective and it was just what I needed. A very tiring weekend, but a blessed one.

love,k

Fernando Ortega, here I come! :)

Ack! A month without posting! What's happened to me?

Well, to be honest -- not a lot has happened to me. I can't say that I've done anything significant or out-of-the-ordinary this month, and I guess that's why I haven't been posting. Whoops.

One cool thing I did do this month was preach. It was my third sermon ever, and I'm still not used to it. I preached out of Jeremiah and Hebrews on the new covenant and how it allows us to enter into the Lord's presence -- not like it used to be, where only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, only once a year, and only after a sacrifice was made. I discussed how Christ served as both the high priest and the sacrifice, and how He entered not an earthly Holy of Holies, but a heavenly one. When He made that sacrifice He gave us two things: 1) salvation and eternal life if we choose it -- this is the thing that most people think of -- and 2) the ability to enter into His presence on a regular basis. I then went on to explain how we should be when we do enter His presence: I used Hebrews 10:22 to name four characteristics we should have: a devoted heart, a surrendered life, a clean conscience, and internal purification. If you want more details let me know, but that's the gist of it.

Tonight I am taking the 8 PM bus from Laoag to Manila with several women from the church and other nearby churches. That's a 10-hour bus ride for those of you who don't know, and I'm praying I'll spend most of it asleep!!! We will be attending the Just Give Me Jesus crusade this February 2nd in Manila's Araneta Coliseum (fun fact: it's the largest coliseum in the country!). Anne Graham Lotz will be the main speaker, and Fernando Ortega is leading worship. It's an all-day event, and I'm so excited! We'll be spending Feb. 1 out and about in Manila, which is something I haven't done yet so I look forward to that as well.

And, as always, I'm anxiously awaiting SUMMER! (For me here that means late March through mid-June.) Maybe I'll actually get a tan - because right now I'm still just about as white as it gets. :]

love,k

Life Lesson #3

God uses every opportunity to teach us something, and we need to accept that and be thankful for it.

Until recently, probably just this year, I was one of those people who constantly asked God (and others, but mainly God) "why." -- Why are You allowing this to happen? Why do I have to go through this? Why is everything so hard? But now, I'm not. I can't ask why because I'm realizing that if for nothing else, most things I go through happen because God is trying to teach me. Little things like a friend making a rude comment to me or big things like moving to the Philippines -- they're all lessons. I feel thankful because God is giving me huge amounts of understanding. If I'm going through a hard time I understand why it's happening, I understand how God is using it to grow me and to glorify Him. I may be miserable, but I get it, and that allows me to be thankful. I used to wonder how we could possibly be thankful and joyful in all circumstances, because some things seem purely awful, but now I see that I'm learning, and that in and of itself is something to be thankful for.

:]

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling.... Or calesa bells?

Well, the holidays have come and gone. It's another year -- wow!

Probably my favorite part of Christmas here is how low-key it is. In America, I associate Christmas with hustle and bustle, with shopping and last-minute gift wrapping, with hectic schedules and with family. The last is, of course, the most important -- but it is sometimes overshadowed by the others. Here in the Philippines, though, it's not like that. In the months, weeks, days, and even hours leading up to Christmas I really didn't feel in the Christmas "spirit," and I realized that was because things weren't so commercially focused (if that makes sense). It's not the weather that makes it different, or the food we eat, or things like that -- I guess it's mostly the traditions, or lack thereof.

Let me give you an idea of a typical Christmas here, or at least what I know from the people I interact with.

On Christmas Eve (Noche Buena), everyone cooks a big meal to eat at midnight with their families and friends. They spend that entire day cooking the meal, shopping for food, etc. The next morning is just like normal -- families wake up, greet one another "Merry Christmas," then go about their usual business. People can still be seen shopping on Christmas day (and of course wrapping presents), because gift-giving is done later that evening, if at all. Most families don't give one another gifts. Here in our church we have a Christmas service, and at the end of all the presentations everyone runs around and hands out gifts to their loved ones in the church. Other than that, nothing major is done. Some people have Christmas trees, and there are usually lights up on houses, but it's just....It's just not a big deal.

What is a big deal here is New Year's. In short, it involves another late-night meal (here we had a church service so we ate afterwards), time with family and friends, and lots (LOTS) of fireworks. The streets are filled with ash and smoke and it's impossible to walk down any one street without having to stop several times to allow firecrackers to go off!! At midnight the superstitious jump a lot -- so they will grow in the coming year. ;) I had a lot more fun at New Year's than on Christmas, I think.

Oh, I left out one other detail about my holidays:

MY MOM CAME!!!!! :D
She arrived here on Saturday the 22nd. Pastor Florie had mentioned a guest who was coming but wouldn't say who she was and only said that she was flying in from Manila. I had a suspicion that it was Mom but pushed it aside because I didn't want to get my hopes up. When Pastor brought me to the airport (telling me that this person "really wanted to see me") I became more suspicious but continued to think "no, it's not Mom, it's just someone who's heard about me." But sure enough, it was her! My reaction was priceless -- my jaw dropped, I gasped and couldn't stop shaking for over 5 minutes! I felt like I was dreaming. Apparently this had been planned since September - wow! We had a great week together -- she spoke at our national youth convention (the 26-28th... it went quite well...) and at our church's Christmas service, but we mostly just got to hang out and catch up on lots of talking. She was scheduled to leave on Sunday the 30th but her flight from Laoag to Manila was canceled so we got one more day together and she left Laoag on the 31st. She'll be back in Roanoke on the afternoon of Jan. 1. I still can't believe she was here!! She told me that she was sending me a Christmas package and every day I looked for it in the mail -- well, she was that package. What a great present. :)

love,k

P.S. A calesa is a horse-drawn buggy used here for public transportation.

Life Lesson #2

"Hey, at least it's not raining." -- Meaning, it could always be worse.

I spend so much time dwelling on my own problems. When attending the necrological service of a 28 year old who recently died and left behind a heartbroken husband and a 1 month old son, I realized just how trivial those problems are.

Life Lesson #1

When traveling (or living) overseas, never use a slang expression that has the potential to be deemed cruel or disrespectful.

Yikes!

Miss Atkins, student and instructor

You know, I'm really enjoying being a teacher -- English and ballet. It's so thrilling to help others learn something new, even just one tiny thing like how to correctly releve in fifth position. And teaching is such a great learning experience, too.

I am so in love with my ballet class!!! We're currently preparing for another performance on Christmas Day, and we're all tired but having a blast! I love it, because the longer I teach them the more I learn. I'm learning to balance fun times with serious, stricter times, and I've come up with some really great (not to toot my own horn or anything) on-the-spot games and ideas for our classes/practices that have made them really enjoyable. I feel like I'm getting closer to the kids, too. They used to be shy to speak English to me, or to tell me anything about themselves, but now it's like I have 11 new brothers and sisters. On that note, my class has gro-o-o-wn!! I'm happy to know that more kids are interested in joining, but I finally had to set a cut-off date. It was getting to big for me to handle. We've practiced every day this week, which is pretty tiring -- but it's a great feeling to know that they're so excited to come every day. Last week I traveled to Baguio and they all groaned when they heard we wouldn't be practicing for two days in a row. :)

In other news, the Christmas break is coming up and I just gave my English students their second exam. Two of them have improved significantly, and I'm excited. It's better than none! As with the ballet class, I feel like the longer I teach the more ideas I get and the better I become at it. I never thought I'd enjoy teaching this much. I still don't think it's something I'll pursue as a career, but we have teaching opportunities every day and I'm glad to know that I'm not terrible at it. Oh, I just wish I was staying here another year so I could teach for an entire year and use all of my ideas!

I love you all and hope you're each enjoying a blessed holiday season!
love,k