Well, here we are . . . down to the last holiday celebrated and shared with loved ones in this house. We moved here in February 2000. Melinda was almost 12 and Candra was just 9 years old.
This place witnessed lots of great memories. . . birthdays, Christmases, Thanksgivings, and our own brand of Halloween . . . we call it FALL.
Since the girls were 5 and 7 and we lived in a different house in this part of Accra, we have made our own tradition . . . carving watermelons with great big smiles, leaves or grass for hair, and traingle eyes and noses. . . even ears!
Why watermelons? Because they are shaped like pumpkins (even though they are green). . . that's all! And we love eating watermelon too!
So, this year, we will celebrate FALL (in a country where it is getting hotter every day . . .summer is coming . . . imagine that?!) and eat special dinner with our friends and co-workers in Ghana . . . the Siscos. Then we will carve our watermelons, and share some laughs and eat lots of candy.
When it is all over, I will take down the decorations, put the leaves and corn cobs and scarecrows in a box, label it, and store it away.
We will never celebrate in this house again . . . we are packing things up. The landlord wanted DOUBLE the rent, and there is just no way!
So. . . we are closing another chapter . . . life as we know it on Forrest Avenue in Dzorwulu, Accra. For those of you who visited us here, next visit will be somewhere else . . . possibly in another part of the city . . . definitely in a different house.
We thank God for every visitor, friend, and co-worker who broke bread with us at this table. . . in this room. We praise the Lord for every lesson of school the girls did in these rooms and halls . . . tests, science project presentations, book reports, current events . . . the walls hold a lot of those.
And the giggles from sleepovers . . . dress up parties . . . photo shoots . . . and just plain "girls night out" time . . . we will not leave them here, but take them with us wherever we go.
Most especially, the prayers, devotions, table talk, special requests for loved ones and friends, Scripture memory time, Bible games and dramatic presentations, singing and worship, and the hours and hours of study and writing from God's Word. . . these go with us too. . . as we march forward . . . leaving behind walls, but carrying the memories in our hearts . . . forever . . . HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!!!!
