One of the fun things that Rebecca, Jimmy and William got to do on furlough was to participate in Upwards Basketball and Cheerleading. Upwards is a lovely not-very-intense program that encourages the kids spiritually and helps them to better their skills in basketball and cheerleading. We ended up traveling more than we planned so they missed some of the practices and games, but they enjoyed it so so much! And they picked up some new skills while they were at it.
We had to laugh a few times at some Ugandan holdovers that crept their way into even this. The first was when the kids were asked to find a nickname for themselves for all the games. Rebecca just decided to use what all her friends...in Uganda...call her: Rebecca Kadaga. The real Rebecca Kadaga is the speaker of Parliment in Uganda...she's well respected and well liked by the majority of our friends in Mbale and our Rebecca ended up being named that by all her friends. But of course, 99.999% of Americans wouldn't know this. And so I asked Rebecca..."did you tell them where your name comes from?" She said, "Yes, I told them that's what my friends call me!" (Leaving out the small detail about how her friends are in Uganda because that's where we live...) So every game, we not only got a chuckle out of how our last name was slaughtered in its pronunciation during the announcements, but also how her unknown nickname was also slaughtered. Poor MC...we didn't make it easy on him! haha!
We also had a small incident with a snake in the gym when we arrived for practice one night. I totally thought, in my Ugandan mindset, that by the looks on everyone's faces we were going walk in to find a 4 or 5 foot good ol' southern rattler...because that's how we look when we see our cobras. It turned out to be a garden snake (I think) about 10 inches long and the thickness of my pinkie. We took care of it for them. ;-)
Rebecca and her coaches. Super sweet ladies... so thankful for how well they loved on all the kiddos.
Every game begins in prayer.
William and Jimmy playing. (Jimmy was No 34 and William was No 3)
Every practice and game the boys got stars ironed on their shirts
Then, 24 hours after basketball season finished, William jumped off this pile of mulch and fractured his arm.
He gets his cast off right before we leave and will be in a splint for a while. And the $20 I spent to get a waterproof cast? Worth every penny.... especially when he started digging in the sand, when he fell off the canoe into the water and when he went running in the rain. So much energy, this one...
Whew! Thankful. Uganda might be a rest stop for you...!
ReplyDeleteI imagine Uganda helps you guys not be so anxious about everything. My sister's cat got killed somehow either by a car or a dog, they don't know, but a friend of hers found it. Anyway, since then my mom won't allow her cat to go outside anymore. She freaks out if doors are left open. When I put some chemicals in the bathtub to fix a clogged drain, she freaked out about the door being closed because of the animals. She told me something in her past happened where a baby got ahold of some chemicals or something and got sick. There are a lot of things I've done that I was warned were dangerous for various reasons. Recently, I was warned about coyotes that might be prowling around a trail I wanted to explore near where I live. I didn't go at first, listening to the warnings. I asked my sister if she wanted to hike it with me, thinking a coyote wouldn't want to attack us both. I waited, but it didn't end up happening. I began to realize if I wait around for someone else to want to check out the trail, it might never happen. I took my dog to the edge of the trail, but then reluctantly turned back. I tried taking both dogs, but still I turned back. I imagined facing a coyote, and wondered what I would do. Running would be stupid. It only singles you out as even more tempting prey. I thought maybe I could stare it down and hope God would send it away. Anyway, finally, one day as I was contemplating going down this trail again while also thinking about how stupid fear is and how much it holds us back and how it's keeping me from doing this thing I really want to do, something told me, "You'll be okay." I had a sense nothing bad would happen. Still, I turned back, but then I realized something was telling me I can walk the trail and I'll be fine, and what a waste it would be if I never did it. So, I asked God to protect me (well I told him he's gonna have to protect me cause I'm doing it) and went, and it was fine, beautiful, pleasant. The sounds of nature, spanish moss hanging from trees shading me most of the way. The quiet. Just a few days ago I brought a friend to walk the trail with me and she seemed to enjoy it too!
ReplyDeleteIf you guys are interested in some reading material for the long flight home, you might check out the Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury and Gary Smalley. Book one was awesome. I'm working on book two and I definitely recommend the series!
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