to glorify HIS name

hey friends:)

          It has been too long since my last blog update! I apologize, time really does fly and I cannot believe I have been in Malawi for almost a month! A few months ago, I would not have believed that I was going to be moving here with Ballet Magnificat to teach at ABC Christian Academy. However, I am so thankful that God brought me here and love to see how His plans always pan out better than ours. I am going to give you a (hopefully) brief summary of what Carrie and I have been up to and then share a bit about what the Lord is teaching me. I'll probably add prayer requests too- I always need those:)
          Honestly, Malawi feels like another home to me already. Home is such a funny word and can mean so many different things, but I am thankful for the friends that have made me love this place. Whenever we do have any free time (which is rare) I love to hang out with people from the church we go to called Flood. Some of our friends run ministries in villages outside of Lilongwe and getting to be a small part of those really made me want to do long term outreach with the kids here. We have also gotten to go to a crisis nursery which is what I really wish I could do all the time! There are around 20 babies there who all need love! It is so very hard for me to see kids who don't have families. I want to adopt all of them! Maybe someday;) Anyways, we have also done a lot of eating out since that seems to be the only thing to do once it gets dark at 6. That and exploring around town has been fun though, especially since I've learned to drive on the other side of the road. A normal day for us looks something like this... Every morning Carrie and I assist teaching 4th grade in the school here for 10 hours a week. After that, we teach ballet from around noon until at least 5 or until 6:30 pm. There is also a ton of planning to be done for our Christmas show along with other dancing opportunities that we have this semester. All in all, we have about 140 students and teach upwards of 30 some classes each week. This week, we have been working on choreography and have hopefully not bitten off more than we can chew! There is so much potential for the Ballet Department here and we really want to see it become as great as we know it can! We are so excited to be getting a real dance floor installed next semester! It's hard to get a nice ballet floor in the states, so to have one shipped here truly is a miracle! We are super thankful to ABC and Ballet Mag for making this possible. Another highlight so far was our trip to Lake Malawi. It was so beautiful and we had fun seeing other areas of the country. I'm hoping to go back soon! That pretty much sums up our every day life:) Its probably similar to many of yalls, but I am excited to see what God has in store for this year.
          "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” In the words of CS Lewis, this is what I have been thinking about lately. When I was preparing to come here, I knew that the most important thing would be to stay in the Word, to abide in Christ, and to stay focused on the cross. To be completely honest, its been hard to spend as much time with the Lord as I would like and I have been easily distracted with the craziness and business of our schedule. If I am spending more time with Anything than I am with God, it is so easy to be 'unsatisfied.' It hit me yesterday how quickly I try to do things in my own strength and how quickly I fail! It's only when I surrender things to the Lord that I have joy and fulfillment. He is so good and has been reminding me of all that He has saved me from along with all that He has done in my family and friends. Romans 8 has been on my mind lately and I have been praying that God really would continue to give me a mind that is ''in accordance with the Spirit.'' How encouraging is it to know that He who began a good work in us will carry it out to completion!

Prayer Requests!

My family. I wish they were here and that's really the one thing I miss. Please be praying that God will continue to grow them in their walks with the Lord.
Carrie and I. That we will not get burnt out and that we will continue to work well and love our jobs!
Our students. That they will love the Lord and learn to use dance as worship. I also would like prayer for a way to really invest in our older girls and get to know them- its so hard with the time and scheduling.
ABC and all the people here. That God will really give everyone a desire to seek Him and use this ministry for His glory.

Thank yall for your prayers! Below are pictures of life here:) Ill try to take more soon!