Today I learned some things.
I learned about the fact that I can, in fact, do pushups. I learned that P90X hurts when you haven’t done enough workouts in between trips to Africa. I learned a few new cultural nuances. I learned some new medical terms. I learned a little more about teaching.
But the part about today that I think I’ll remember for the longest time is that today I learned about evil.
We like to pretend that it’s not there, that there’s no such thing as a battle. We read about it in books (The White Witch, The Wicked Witch of the West, etc) but it feels far away. Today I saw the battle, it’s a sobering and hard place to be. I met a baby today who is so sick and malnourished and abused. So tiny at 2.5 years old that I think I know some kids who were born outweighing her. She has a brittle bone disease that will make her life more challenging. It was heartbreaking, to see what had happened to her. I don't want to blame anyone, I just need to grieve that such a sad thing has happened. I just want to lift this little one up to the savior.
The world is broken. Evil exists. For some reason I don’t understand it is allowed to continue. Romans says that “the whole creation is groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up until the present time.”
These are the moments when all I can say is in the words of an old song we used to sing at Jacob's Porch "Come, Lord, quickly, come" and grieve the brokenness and bentness of our world.
But I also saw hope today. I saw hope because today we celebrated the birthday of a sweet little man named Shadrach. God provided a loving family for him and a home that is stable and where he’ll be safe. Even though it’s easy to look out at the masses and despair, I’ll keep holding onto the pinprick of hope that I see. Much has gone wrong, so many babies are dying and hurting, there is so much restoration left undone, but today, I see hope in the faces of Shadrach, Esther, and Ellie. And I even saw hope in the little one who came through Tenwek at 10 pounds and 2.5 years – she is going to a wonderful orphanage where she’ll be loved and cared for an someday she’ll be given a home just like Esther, Ellie, Shadrach, and Hannah have. There is hope for these lives. And there is hope for each of ours.
Three ladies outside my apartment hanging out on a tree. They're also all in my 4th and 5th grade art class. Today we had "tea and crumpets" in the apartment and my roommate did a very convincing English accent as she served the pretend food. I struggled with the accent so I focused on my curtsies. 
A lymeric (spelling?) written by one of my other art students. I was really impressed by his poetry... I certainly couldn't manage all of that structure!
Three of the Tewnek teenagers - the two in the front are some of my three Pre-Algebra students. Those guys are all tons of fun! (Though they think a lot of my music is lame)
Ellie showing off her big smile! 
Me holding Esther (aka Eh-der aka Anne of Green Gables. Really, if they had a part for 1 year old Annes, Esther would nail the audition.) She loves cuddles too and I'm making the most of that. 
Shaddy with his brand new Tonka truck. The ladies at my church were so generous - I took 2 suitcases of donations with me, including the Tonka Truck which is being played with and loved by a newly two year old boy :)
Ellie wasn't so into the whole cupcake thing, unless her dad fed it to her. She's a little goofball.
Esther, on the other hand, was all about cupcakes. She LOVES to eat
Shaddy getting to dive into the wonders of the birthday cupcake
My wonderful roommate Carolyn and Esther in front of our apartment 5-plexMay you see the pinprick of hope in your every day, may there be majesty in the mundane, and know that "the joy of the journey is enough to make a grown man cry"
Joanna
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