Mondays with Allee

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.  For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:11-14 I hope that you are thawing out after what has been a week of ice, snow, and uncomfortable living conditions for many of you.  I pray that your homes were spared from expensive damage and that you were able to access necessary supplies to keep yourselves and your families warm, hydrated, and fed.  As I scrolled through FaceBook and Instagram over the past week my heart ached to read the posts about frozen pipes, intermittent or total loss of power, and people making the best of a difficult situation.  Living in a developing country these past few years, I know all too well the feeling of dread when the power cuts just as you were starting...

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 Things at school have settled back into the usual routine.  The new students finally have their green and navy KEMPS uniforms, and the daily schedule has been set after several rounds of changes.  This year I have been made the “class teacher” of fifth grade.  While this title comes with additional responsibilities – taking attendance, being in charge of discipline, making sure the class is clean and orderly – it has given me a sense of ownership and permanence that I didn’t feel before.  Fifth grade is a new class for me.  Coming from fourth grade where their entire curriculum was focused on the national examination (the entire class scored A’s!), these students are focused and hardworking, but also excited, and a bit unsure of what to do with the new independence that they are receiving in fifth grade....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13           Long time, no blog!           As I thought about writing my blog this week after a nearly two month break, I felt overwhelmed trying to decide where to begin and what to include, as so much has happened.  First, I hope that you had a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season and that the start to your 2021 has been full of those things as well.  Second, Joseph and I are married!            After spending Christmas in Zanzibar, we met my mom, dad, sister Lauren, and cousin Christine in Dar es Salaam and then travelled to Bukoba.  It was the first time for my parents and Joseph to meet in person and it’s hard to describe the incredible joy it brought us to finally all be together.  We had a few days to just relax together before the chaos of wedding preparati...