Be Thou My Vision

I've been humming this great hymn all week. I finally looked up all the verses to it. It's been my prayer this week.

Be thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart.
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night.
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom and thou my true word.
I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father, and I thy true son.
Thou in my dwelling, and I with thee one.

Riches I need not, nor man's empty praise.
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart.
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won.
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Pothole update

Ok, so do you remember pothole #8 in front of our house that I posted about back in Septmeber??? Well, this is an update about what it looks now. Ha! Not much improvement, huh?

Another cute, quick story from my kids today.......
It was raining today when it was sunny outside. One of my girls, Chanil, says, "Ms. Griggs, do you know what we say in Rwanda when it rains when the sun is shining?"....We say that a frog is getting married.

WHAT??? And this whole time in America, we thought it just means a rainbow will appear! Haha! I got a good laugh out of that one. :-)

Hard question

I have very thoughtful students. They are very intelligent too, and inquisitive. I knew that this question would arise out of them sometime during our Bible lessons this year, just not this soon. As you know, we've been studying about how God is omniscient this week, and how He knows everything we need and desire even before we ask Him. He is omnisicent. He knows it all. So during our discussions today, one of my sweet girls, Norah, asks the question..."So if God knows everything and can do anything, then why did he let the genocide happen? Why did he let my grandparents be killed?" Others piped up...yeah, why did God let my auntie be killed, or why did my parents have to flee Rwanda?" I was kind of starting to stumble over what I would tell these 4th graders...this question can be so difficult for adults to understand or comprehend! But 4th graders? I said a quick prayer and said God just speak to me, Help me to answer them in a way that is true that they would understand. And then, almost immediately, another sweet student of mine, Orla, raises her hand and says, "Ms. Griggs, I think it's just like that song we sing during morning worship...He gives and takes away...but blessed be his name." Wow. It gave me chills. That was one of my proudest and most precious moments being a teacher. I just smiled and said, Yes, Orla, you are absolutely right. Blessed be His name! I am learning so much from my students. I'm thankful God chose Orla to teach us today.

Language Lessons

So on top of everything else going on this week...fall festival, report cards, parent conferences, etc... we still had Kinyarwanda languauge lessons after school yesterday. I'm really not complaining! I want to learn more of the language, but practicing Kinyarwanda for a couple hours really does a number to your already-tired brain! Let me tell you a little bit about Kinyarwanda. It's been said that it is the 17th most difficult language in the world to learn. But for English speakers...it becomes the 7th most difficult language! After a few lessons, I can understand this!

I really love learning and studying new languages. I was hopeful my French would improve and be restored from when I learned it in college....but so many people can speak Swahili here, so it's been easy to just speak Swahili. I know what you're thinking...too many languages in one tiny country the size of Maryland! Yes, I know! There are many French speakers due to Rwanda once being colonized by Belgium, and later France. And of course, theres the national Kinyarwanda language. And many of the adults also speak Swahili and perhaps even another tribal language due to their days of exile living in Congo, Uganda, Kenya, or Tanzania. And to complicate matters, now President Kagame has said that his country will no longer speak French, but will instead become an Anglophone country, and beginning this year, schoolchildren will be learning English too! (Apparently there's some bad political blood with the French now...they have even refused French parents to adopt Rwandan orphans.)

So, you basically have your pick of languages, and out of all those, Kinyarwanda is by far the most difficult one! Swahili is really easy...all the words sound exactly like they are spelled, and they easily roll off your tongue. Plus, you can travel to almost anywhere in East Africa, and they will know Swahili. But Kinyarwanda is only spoken here. So I have to admit, I haven't felt this huge desire and need to learn Kinyarwanda, even though I know I really need to learn many phrases just out of respect for the people here since this will be my home for at least a year. It's been a slow learning process thus far!

For example...here are two words....mwiriwe? which means Good afternoon. Yes, you have to say it like a question you are asking them. Then theres, mwiriwe! which is spelled the exact same, but sounds a bit different right there in the middle, and you don't say it like a question. This one means Have a nice day.

Nibyiza is what you say when someone asks you how is everything? Nibyiza means everything is good. But here's how you pronounce it....neebeegeezay! Not at all like it is spelled!

The plural form of you is mwebwe...but you say it like this...mwebgay.

Basically there are no G's in the Kinyarwanda alphabet, but there ARE "G" sounds. Go figure. Also there is no "L" in the alphabet, but again, there are L sounds. All their "Rs" are pronounced as "Ls." Also, most "D's" you don't pronounce, but a few you do. And all "K's" are pronounced with a "ch" sound.

And there's some Kinyarwanda words that totally sound like they belong to another country....like "iki niki." You pronounce it like, "ichi nichi." It means what is this? To me, that sounds like Japanese.

And how about the word, turasubira? Sounds and looks like Spanish to me. But it means See you later. And this word actually sounds just like it's spelled!

The funniest thing to us Americans is the word for "No" which is "Oya." They say it all the time, and we still think they are agreeing with us, and saying, "Oh yeah!" :-)

I love language...I really do. But I need help with this one!

God Knows Me

In our Bible lesson this week, we've been studying about how God is omniscient and what that means. We've marveled at how He knows all the hairs on our head, He has names for all the stars in the sky, and He even knows what we need and desire before we even ask Him! God is cool! Today we wrote acrostic poems with the word Omniscient. Students had to complete the sentence or phrase and list something God knows about them. Some of them were sweet, some were so honest and innocent, and some were just hilarious. The innocence of children is so refreshing! I wanted to share some with you...

God knows that I like otters.
God knows that I like obeying Him. (precious!)
God knows that I like my friend Orla.
God knows that I like Oreos (American kid!)

God knows how I like my eggs cooked.
God knows how I like to milk my cow.
God knows how I manage to forgive myself when I sin. (precious!)

God knows that I will never hate Him.
God knows that I will never steal anything.
God knows that I will never stop respecting my elders.
God knows that I will never be a boy! (written by a girl. :-))
God knows that I will never punch anyone.
God knows that I will never forget him.
God knows that I will never give in to Satan.
God knows that I will never stop loving Him! (Amen!)

God knows when I feel ill.
God konws when I feel immature.
God knows when I feel ignored.
God knows when I feel invisible.
God knows when I feel incouraged. :-)

God knows that I can skateboard down a mountain in New Zealand.
God knows that I can sleep late on Saturdays.
God knows that I sin sometimes because I'm not perfect like Him.
God knows that I can scream. :-)
God knows that I can say, "Yes, God you rock!"
God knows that I can scare my sisters.
God knows that I can stomp on an ant.
God knows that I can seek Him every day.

God knows that I eat Cocopuffs. (American kid!)
God knows that I eat crispy, crunchy chicken.

God knows that I love Irisse and Inah, my sisters.
God knows that I love icecream.
God knows that I love Indiana Jones.

God knows that I have excellent praises for Him.
God knows that I have embarrassed my parents before. (haha!)
God knows that I have everything I need.
And my favorite one....God knows that I have enteligense. :-)

God knows that I am not giving up on being a good Christian.
God knows that I am not really a bad person.
God knows that I am not a burgular.
God knows that I am nice.
God knows that I am never alone because He is with me!
God knows that I am never going to be 1,000 years old like the people in the Bible. (haha!)
God knows that I'm not gonna lie or steal ever again!

God knows where I take my breakfast. (this is the term they use for eating.)
God knows where I take naps.
God knows where I track down the termites and catch them.


Sometimes I need to remind myself that God really does know everything about me, and He still loves me completely and wants to bless me! Psalm 147:5 says.. "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has NO limit." None. Nada. Zero. No limits to his abilities and understanding! :-) What have you been trying to "keep" or "hide" from God lately? Whatever it is...it's really just KEEPING you from Him and enjoying the fullness of His presence!

Be blessed! He knows us and still loves us!

Happy Halloween!

This is the scariest picture I could find to post. I saw this really weird plant in Nyungwe rainforest a few weeks back. How freaky! It looks like a witch's finger or someone coming out of the grave. I would NOT like to grow this plant at home. Still haven't figured out what it is.

Our school had a fall festival today for the entire community. It was great seeing all kinds of fun, creative costumes, and eating food from all over the world! Falafels, samosas, chapatis, crepes, shawarma sandwiches, pizza and more! Yum! Another teacher and I dressed up as "the salt and the light" from Matthew 5:13-14. I know it's cheesy! :-) Here are a few pictures for you! I hope your Halloween was fun and festive! Love you all!

The "Salt"

The "Light"

The Light and the Mosquito Net girl, aka "Ella Jade"

Lazarus, aka Mr. Bryan, 3rd grade teacher

Prayer Request

Can you please pray for our school cook, Leonard, and his wife, Jillian. They are Rwandan, and Leonard is the best cook ever! He can even make burritos! Leonard's wife was just hospitalized this week, with a miscarriage. This is her 2nd one recently, and it's been very traumatic for them. Added to that, they had a child that died at birth 2 years ago. It's been a very painful journey for them, and they need your prayers for physical, emotional and spiritual healing. Thank you for praying for these special people.