Africa bff

My Africa BFF, Katie, surprised me on Thursday with an early Christmas present! She left Thursday morning to ride a bus into Joberg, South Africa to fly home for Christmas. I stay over at her house on Tuesdays so we can go to bible study and run together. That night we were talking about gifts and what we were doing for our families. She was showing me her gifts & I saw this CUTE bag. She had bought it from a student who lives at the Machava-IRIS orphanage. One of the orphans had made the bag. Anyways...I fell in love with the bag & asked if there were more. Katie was kind of awkward about the bag but I did not really think much about it. I asked her if she could ask her student if there were more to buy. SO the next day (Wed.) I asked K if she found out anything about the bag & she forgot to ask the girl. So I did and she did not have anymore  like the one K had but would see if they can make more like it. Fast forward to Thursday morning- I get to school & guess what was on my desk!? Yep...Katie had actually bought the bag for me but had to lie to me about it b/c it was a gift! It was such a surprise! She even included coke, candy, chips, & a book for the plane ride.  I know you must think I am crazy to love a bag so much, but look at it...it's so cute. Katie has been such a GREAT friend & my time here would not have been as good if she was not here. Even though it is hard to be away from friends & family, it helps to have someone here you connect with so well & someone to talk & laugh with. God is so loving & caring that He arranged for the both of us to be here at the same time so we would have a friend. He is so good to us & we don't even deserve it. He knew how lonely it would be sometimes here for us & how much the both of us LOVE our sisters & would miss them, so He placed us in each others' life for this season. Katie is 2 yrs older than my sister & I am the same age as her sister. We could never replace the bonds we have with our sisters, but we do have a bond here in Africa & with God & I know that will last forever. Thank you Jesus for sisters & friends. 

THANK YOU KATIE...you KNOW how much I LOVE this bag!