Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

So I was thinking...that I love any kind of celebration! I am blessed to get to have two celebrations this week. Sunday was my roommate's birthday, birthdays are my favorite celebrations, as well as she is getting married this weekend, so we are packing up and preparing to party it up in Andalusia to celebrate their marriage!!!!!

On Sunday, my other roommate and I spent the day preparing a cake for the birthday girl! We went and bought funny cards and the supplies for the cake. We quickly whipped up the cake and then let it cool while we went to our sorority's philanthropy event: a walk for JDRF. After the walk, we were excited to get to decorate the cake. Here are some pics of our process.

 Then came the most fun part. We decided to add sprinkles to the sides, so with a little help from Google we discovered the best way to achieve this is to just throw the sprinkles at the cake, which was hilarious and left our kitchen speckled with color. 

The finished product was delicious and our roommate was surprised when we met her at the door, cake in hand, singing at the top of our lungs.

I love birthdays! In my family, birthdays last the whole week long! Mine is close to Christmas, and a lot of my friends always ask if people combine my b'day with Christmas, but my amazing mother always made a point to wait till after my birthday to put the tree up and start the Christmas holiday. She made sure that it was my week, which made me feel like a princess. I love other people's birthday as much as mine. I have thought about birthdays alot lately. One reason is because my roommates' was Sunday, but also because one of my students had a birthday last week. He told me that his family didn't do anything for his birthday, that his parents had forgotten that it was that day.  This upset me, but I have to realize that everyone's tradition is not like mine. It is interesting to come to college and hear about how others celebrate and how that compares to your traditions.

I think I love birthdays because it is a day to remember all of the amazing things you have accomplished in a year. It means that hopefully you are another year wiser. This year at 22 its a whole new step in my life. Graduation and hopefully my own classroom are in front of me and I can't wait to see what these steps will bring. I can say that in my classroom I will make the most of birthdays, because everyone should feel special about themselves for at least one day!

I am so excited about my next celebration, M and D's wedding this weekend! I can't wait till I get to hop in the car and head down South! Be looking, early next week for a wedding post!

Remember to celebrate yourself, you are a beautiful creation of our Father,
Rachel

An Inspiring Song

So I was thinking, about how many things I have, and how much I take for granted.  I know this sounds like a depressing thing to think about but I was given a gift today that came all the way from Africa.

This morning I went to church and witnessed a beautiful message. I went expecting great music, because Cornerstone's band touches my heart every time I go, but today this uplifting message came from a group of 9-14 year olds. As a teacher, I know the joy that one can receive from children, but these children not only brought me joy they challenged me this morning.

Mwangaza Children’s Choir
This choir is a group of children who are from Uganda and are almost all poverty-stricken and/or orphaned, but you would never know it from the smiles on their faces. I saw them preform one song this morning and then had the pleasure of going back tonight with two friends to see their whole inspiring show. It was such an uplifting experience.

These children come from towns that are without clean drinking water. They are surrounded by horrible environments, where some families even starve to death. The worst images you can imagine are what these children are brought up in.  The choir, however, has a happier story than most. They are the lucky children who have been sponsored; people have given money so these children can go to school, have a uniform, and have food to eat. The thought of children not being able to go to school and not having food tugged on my heartstrings, especially the school part since I am a soon to be teacher.  This led my thoughts to the classroom I am in right now, and how much food my children throw away at lunch time.  I have children in my class that will throw away most of their meal if they don't like it.  I know that I have let meals go uneaten at places where I did not like what I had ordered and this makes me sad knowing that these children are thankful for every meal that they are given, not caring about the taste.  They truly know what it means to go without. I feel like in today's time, we live in a very material obsessed society, always wanting more, even when we can not afford it. (but this topic could be a whole other post, so I will move on.)

These children have already overcome many obstacles in their life, but what was most impressive is their LOVE for our Lord and Savior.  These children know that they are loved by the One who created them and know that He is the reason that they were the lucky ones to be sponsored. These children shone with pride singing about their Father who loved them.  Their singing was amazing but their love of God and devotion to him was inspiring. They quoted their favorite verses(some quoting 5 verses at a time) and children, not even teenagers yet, shared their testimony in front of a church of hundreds of people.  If ever there was a picture of courage, hope, and a passion for God, it was in the eyes of these beautiful young children.

Tonight they challenged me to be a better follower: to really make an effort not to take anything for granted, to grow closer to my God through scripture, and to thank Him for everything He has given me, because I am truly blessed to have grown up in the way that I did. Thank you to everyone who has made a difference in my life so far; I know I am not finished growing as a Christian woman, but today I was reminded to challenge myself in my walk, to know Him on a deeper level and to remember how blessed a life can be when God is in control. These children know how important these things are and are only 10 years old. They should be an inspiration to all of us.

Jeremiah 29: 11
Rachel