UNTIL NEXT TIME---

(William, Will, me, Augustin & Theogene- my family for 2 weeks)

At the beginning of November, I started my Christmas wishlist. This year, I thought Will and I should get a "family" gift. My thought was a Wii. We had talked about it a couple of times but no decision was made. We were going to think about it because I was going to start working part-time and we didn't want to over extend ourselves.
Fast forward to two and a half weeks later. Will & I were able to host a couple of boys from the Asante Children's Choir. These boys were loving, entertaining, and wonderful. (I have written about them in previous posts.) After hosting these boys & an adult chaperone for 2 weeks, my life was changed. The weekend the boys left, it was very difficult for me. I did not want them to leave. They did get to come back for one night and stayed with us for that one night. What a glorious night it was. It was nice to have the boys back in my home even if it was for just one night. Because of this experience, my Christmas wish list changed. You may be asking, "what could be on her list now"? My new wish was not anything material. My Christmas wish was to visit the boys in the Tri-Cities. That is all I wanted for Christmas.
(When Augustin saw us)
Well, I am happy to say that my husband granted my Christmas wish. We went to the Tri-Cities to see the Asante Children's Choir. It was lovely seeing them once again. We went to a church service in the morning that they were performing at. William (chaperone) was surprised to see us. He thought we were just going to be at the evening perfomance. It was nice to surprise him. We did not let the boys know that we were at the church. Instead we sat in the church service and enjoyed the performance. I then noticed Augustin smile a mile wide. He had noticed us. It was so nice to see that HUGE smile. I missed it so much. After the concert, we helped with the product tables for a bit until the crowd was complete. We were then taken to the room where the children were waiting for lunch. Augustin came running to give both Will and I huge, wonderful hugs. Then, several of the other children came running & gave us hugs as well. Once Theogene saw Will he came running and gave us hugs. We found out later that many of the children recognized us and came running to give hugs and check around the corner. They were looking for their Spokane host families. They thought or at least hoped that they had come too. This made me sad, but I was glad that we could represent the Spokane host families as best we could.

That night, we went to the choirs last performance in the Tri-Cities. It was AMAZING! I loved seeing the choir perform. They did all of their songs. I loved seeing the children perform. I love how each performance is unique. It was a great Christmas present. Hanging out with the boys, even for just a little bit was wonderful. It is a Christmas present that I will cherish forever. It was a present of LOVE!

I was able to hold back my tears this time. I was able to do this because I was thinking that this was not a Goodbye, it was an UNTIL NEXT TIME! Something I believe with all my heart. So, Asante - until next time, keep singing for the LORD!


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