I feel like a stay at home mom sending her kids out the door for their first day of school. The girls officially started school on Wednesday, September 11th. On Tuesday night, the school supplies were sorted, the uniforms ironed, and the girls prayed over. Courtney, Rita, Tina, and I all walked them down the street to school and held their hands as they walked through the gate. Many of the girls are starting in a class that is lower than the class they were in at their old village. I hope it will be humbling for them to be in a class with children 1-5 years younger than them. I hope it causes them to want to work hard to get promoted at the end of the term. God has been so faithful in providing for their schooling. He placed our house down the road from the best school in the Central Region of Ghana. They are so caring and have the best intentions for our girls. They have had students come from all over, so they know how to provide special attention to children who are unfamiliar with actual schooling. They girls go to school from 7-2 and then have extra classes from 3-5. I love that they learning so much, but it makes me sad when they are gone all day. This just means that I have to be intentional and present during the times I do have with them. One thing we are trying do use as a learning opportunity is giving the girls all new things for school; socks, shoes, uniforms, supplies, backpacks, ect. We want them to have thankful hearts and show gratitude for what they are given. This is not about me wanting them to constantly thank me for everything, but learn to always be thankful for what God provides. This also teaches them the differences between necessities and privileges. Sometimes they get them confused and I want them to take a minute, remember where they came from, and what God has done for them. They must learn what it means to be a pearl of Christ and not a pearl of the world. After only going to school for about 2 weeks, the English in the house has improved tremendously! I love hearing them try to explain something to or trying to sound out a new word. We also have started The Pearl House language:
~Most Engligh words have either and O or a Y at the end (example: picky picky- picking up trash or biggly- big
~If you do not like some thing it is either eating you, fighting you, or insulting you (example: "the sun is eating you"- what the girls say when I have a sun burn or "the water is insulting me"- it is raining.)
~A lot of the girls mix up L and R (example: "Sister Clara, bring me back some blood"- they are actually asking for some bread. I was very concerned the first time I heard it.)
~If you don't know a word you just replace it with "the this" (example: "the this is paining my this!"- there really is no translation, it could mean anything. Watch for hand motions to help.)
My prayer for these girls is that God will use them as a light in their school and that He will surround them with classmates and teachers and friends that will help them mature in their faith and constantly encourage them.
