Christmas Time

It's just been one of those good years that somehow worked out and has not been stressful. We have enjoyed lots of baking; everything from homemade cocoa & mallows to pumpkin rolls, have attended a few parties, made snowmen and sledded (4-wheeler style anyway) and have truly enjoyed it all. Here are a few pics minus the ones from our other camera. I'll have to post those when I have enough patience to convert them to my computer (something that is really hard for me for some reason). Enjoy!

Because of our involvement in Mali Rising Foundation, each Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years break we host a Malian student from Wasatch Academy. It has been so rewarding to get to know these amazing kids. They come from a very different world than ours and I think they are very brave to come spend their high school years here without being able to visit their families much if at all. They are very good students and are getting 4.0's consistently even though they are still learning English. This year we have Fatou Sene and she is such a beautiful and sweet girl. Christmas is always fun with these students as they get to experience all of the joy and beauty that surrounds this time of year and be introduced to Christianity. It has been an honor to be a part of that and teach them how Christ is so central to our lives. Because Mali is a primarily Muslim country they learn of Christ as a great prophet but do not believe him to be the Son of God. So it has been rewarding to see Fatou and some of the other students latch on to those idea's and not oppose them. Fatou loves the song "I am a child of God". She copied it down from our hymn book while we were at church. Doctrinally Muslims do not believe God is our father, but our creator only. Truth is truth however, and I believe that those seeking it will not turn it away no matter their religious orientation. Line upon line...

All tuckered out.