The End

654 posts on this corner of the internet.  Stories, pictures, highs, and lows of our life in Uganda have been recorded and shared.  Abundant adventures, lots of laughter, plenty of tears, and so many prayers were recorded on this page.  I would even wager that lives were saved, as we shared physical needs and you guys stepped up, dug deep and sent resources to help.

However, since we are no longer in Uganda and life has taken a radically different turn, this blog has reached its end. It is my great hope, that if anyone in the future ever happens by this internet space again, that they will see a great story of God's faithfulness to us over and over again.  Even in the past 8 months, while my earthly life has fallen apart, I still see God's faithfulness and goodness because he has been just that: faithful and good.  It's the thread that has weaved itself through this whole story.

But if you know me, you hopefully know that this is not the end of my blogging days.  Nope.  You will still find me hammering out my thoughts on life and sharing the adventures of my kiddos, on a new space (and a new platform!)

https://findingriversinthedesert.blogspot.com/

I hope to see you there!

(A little about the feet picture... we had a similar ending to my first blog and so we thought we'd try again...only teenage feet...and dirty feet at that!... aren't quite as cute as baby feet! Lol!!)

A Long Week

Whew...what a time we've had lately.  Malaria season has kicked in...with the rains returning the mosquitos are also returning.  William and Benaiah had malaria first, then Katelyn came down with typhoid, then Talitha came down with malaria and some sort of bacterial thing going on, then Benaiah got malaria again, and Rebecca followed that with a tummy bug.  In the middle of all that, I ended up with a blocked kidney (but seemingly not from a stone) that left me in excruciating pain (way worse than childbirth) on Sunday and I spent the day in the hospital getting an Ultrasound and ultimately a CT scan.  On Monday, Talitha spiraled down further and we ended up in the clinic with her for IV antibiotics, antimalarials, and fluid.  Now Eric is playing catch up with the rest of us by coming down with malaria too.  In these seasons, we sure take comfort in God's mercy and compassion and also the prayers of very many saints.  I was listening to Paul Tripp's recent talk at the Gospel Coalition Conference on suffering.  His final point was that suffering happens in community as brothers and sisters in Christ pray for and support one another.  We really felt that last weekend as we walked through some difficult moments, but knew people around the world were praying for us.  

Towards the end of the week, the smiles finally came back out.  Praise God!

And the kids got a turtle as a gift. 

Today, I was able to run in a 5K for CURE hospital.  We have been very thankful for CURE hospital.  They specialize in pediatric brain surgeries...hydrocephalus, spina bifida, and brain tumors.  But they also have helped us out on more than one occasion with stitches, asthma attacks and this past weekend with my CT Scan.  (The radiographer even came back in after-hours from over an hour away to do the scan).  I was so thankful to be able to run today and support a great cause while I was at it.  And running in races here is just an overall great experience...late start times, dance party warm-ups, and dodging bodas and traffic... so much fun! I couldn't convince my family to join me this year, but it was a fun time to catch up with friends.

Updates and Visits

::First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for all your prayers after our break-in.  We still praise the Lord that no one was hurt and that we didn't lose any possessions.  The intruder has been in jail this whole time and will appear in court soon.  Eric will need to go to court also.  Please continue to pray that God's will be done.  It appears that this is not his first time in prison.  In the meantime, Eric has a student that is from the same tribe as the intruder and has gone a couple times to meet with him in jail.  He was able to share the gospel with him and pray with him.  It also appears that he was not alone in his plans to break into our house.  His cohort is not locked up at this time however, as the evidence against him is still technically considered "hear-say" and not enough to imprison someone for.    The kids have recovered quite well from all of the trauma.  The first few days were rough, but God carried us through.  To Him be the glory!  It was such an encouragement to know that so many were praying for us!  The Lord has also sustained me, particularly in regards to my adrenal insufficiency which really doesn't like stress (I took lots of extra steroids!) and I praise him for that.  It does seem, however, that the stress and busyness have thrown me into an RA flare and the past couple days have brought lots of joint pain.  I know it will pass soon though!

:: We were blessed this past week with a major distraction from the heaviness of the break-in, by a visit from Eric's mom.  Her timing couldn't have been more perfect as she was not here for the break-in, but was here right after!  We enjoyed introducing her to our friends, our church, the college, and our lives here.  We're eagerly anticipating her and Dad coming back one day soon!

Driving up Mt. Wanale:

Visiting Eric's students at the college: (who's that cute little student right up front?! ;-) )

We also were able to visit some friends in the church.  Mama Evangeline is the oldest member of our church (past 90 years).  She broke her leg a couple months ago and has not been able to recover her mobility.  She's a precious dear sister in the Lord.

Last Nights Break In

Last night God carried us through some scary moments as we had someone break into our house.  It was about 11pm.  Everyone except Eric was sleeping.  If you look at this picture that I took today, Eric was sitting by the window where Jimmy is pictured reading a book.  If you look in front of the doors, you will see a hole in the ceiling.  That hole is the access point to our attic.  The perpetrator climbed onto our roof (we aren't sure if he did this during the day or just before the incident), broke through the clay tiles on the roof, into our attic and started to come through the hole.  Eric saw the door slowly close and thinking a child was perhaps hiding behind the door needing something, he watched, but then through the screen on top of the door he saw two feet start to come down.  

He immediately yelled and our security guard came to help.  The perpetrator went back into the attic.  In the process, I woke up and the Magalas (whom we share our compound with) also woke up.  Pastor Charles sounded an air horn to alert neighbors and we called in more security. (our security company responds more quickly than the police in situations like this)  In all the noise, our big kids woke up, but we also realized that we didn't know where the guy was, if he was alone or if he was armed.  So we also woke up the little kids and ushered them out to the van and locked them in the van, which was parked right by our water tower, which is close to the roof.  About 10 minutes passed of the men trying to look for him.  Suddenly, as Timothy (age 18) was starting to climb on top of the roof, the perpetrator came up onto the roof and Timothy chased him.  The kids in the car saw Timothy running after him and then he jumped from the roof to the water tower and down.  He started to run.  We all yelled.  Then Matthew (our 15 years old) rushed him from behind, grabbed him around the waist and threw him to the ground.  (His courage and strength amazed us all and I'm so proud of the man is becoming!  If it wasn't for his courage and quick thinking we probably would have lost the guy. When we asked him about it later, he said, "I just did what I have always seen them do in the movies." hahaha!)  Our security guard was about 20 feet away.  He came and jumped on him.  Then Eric was the next to the scene and jumped as well.  The three of them, after a short struggle, subdued him.  

We still didn't know at that point if he was the only one.  So while we were waiting for the police, we began to search the compound and stay on alert.  Then the police came and took him away.  

The kids were understandably upset and afraid to go back in the house and try to sleep, so I took them to the hotel while Eric and Timothy stayed in the house to make sure everything stayed calm.

The police hypothesized that his goal was to get into our house and unlock the doors for his friends to come in.  These guys almost never move alone, but we're quite certain his friends didn't actually make it into the house.  Once the alarm had been sounded they probably took off.  These bad guys need to realize that between us and the Magalas and all our children, we have a small army on this compound!  haha!

Please continue to pray for our safety, that none of these guys or their friends try to get revenge on us, and for the hearts of our kids that they will be full of peace.  While it was super important to get them out of the house and away from possible danger, it meant that they didn't blissfully sleep through the trauma (the little ones surely would have!) and instead they were alert to the fear and unknown of the situation for quite a while before the guy was arrested. 

Loading up on the police truck

Rehashing the nights events, encouraging small hearts, and answering many questions over a yummy breakfast at our local hotel.  Turning their eyes once again to the goodness of God to keep us safe, framing a practical theology of God's love, power, and sovereignty and our ever-guarding warrior angels that God sends to take care of us.

December Photo Project: Day 23

Today is a bit of an unusual photo... it's actually an excuse to say thank you for praying for me and to give you an update on my health since so many of you have prayed for me in this area.  If you aren't aware, quite a few years ago now, I was diagnosed with Primary Adrenal Insufficiency. (Fun history fact: it's the same disease that JFK had, but kept very well hidden during his presidency) It is considered a rare disease in which the outer cortex of the adrenal glands fails and the body stops producing cortisol...a hormone necessary for life.  Cortisol is a stress hormone: whenever your body is under any type of stress (life stress, sickness, happy stress, emotional stress, etc...) it produces cortisol and prevents your body from going into shock.  For those with Adrenal Insufficiency, our bodies produce none, so we must rely on a low dose of steroids to give us all we need.  For several years, I was very stable.  Like most AI patients, I would need to pace myself and get plenty of rest and take extra medicine when I was sick, but it really wasn't too big of a deal.  But two years ago, I started to spiral.  No matter what I tried, I constantly struggled to make it through the day.   I have been exhausted all the time...and my exhaustion has been accompanied by deep, sharp, shooting bone pain, low-grade fevers, debilitating brain fog and would, more days than naught, leave me on the couch.  It's been a real struggle that many people have been praying for.

A few weeks ago, I started to realize that there was a real potential that I wasn't actually absorbing my steroid tablets.  Maybe it's my struggles with celiac or maybe just years of being on a steroid that has done damage to my stomach...not sure... but I knew my digestive system has issues.  A few weeks ago, I was extremely discouraged one afternoon and I cried out to the Lord in a torrent of hot messy tears and during that prayer, an idea came to me that maybe I should try to inject all my steroid.  I actually had never heard of this, but I started looking on an Adrenal disease facebook group that I'm a part of to see if there was anyone else who had done this... turns out there was!  Lack of absorption can actually be a fairly common problem and the solution is to use insulin needles to inject the steroid...and best yet...I could find everything I needed right here in Mbale!  (even a box for sharps! ha!)  

So for the past few weeks, I have been injecting all my steroid (following a circadian rhythm dosing schedule, so it ends up being 7 injections a day) and I can hardly believe how much better I feel!  It's been amazing!  I have had zero bone pain, zero brain fog, much more energy, and my blood pressure has risen so that I have no more dizzy spells when standing up!  It truly has been an act of God's grace to me to bring me up out of the pit that I've been in for the last two years.  I can still get tired (sometimes very tired), but it is NOT the same kind of painful/can't see my way through to even communicate with the family tired.  So while I'll have to pace myself the rest of my life (and that's okay...not a bad thing!), I feel like I've been granted a huge measure of healing these past few weeks!  And to top it all off...I'm taking less steroid than I was in pill form!  Don't need as much anymore! 

Some people in my situation will end up getting an insulin pump and using it to pump the hydrocortisone instead.  Perhaps, if God wills and the insurance company will pay then that will be in my future.  (I hope so!!)

In the meantime, I am ever so thankful for this answer to many prayers and ask that you continue to pray for God to protect and sustain me!  Adrenal failure is no fun...it's a beast of a disease...but I can really see how even this, God turns for his glory and for my good.  Much praise and glory to God!

We're back in Uganda!

Thank you for praying for us this past week!  It's hard to believe that a little more than a week ago we packed our bags, said our goodbyes and hopped on the plane.  It's been a good week, although we struggled more with jet lag this time around.  We are thankful to be here!  We have finally finished unpacking and are starting to sleep a little better.  The stress of packing, traveling and jet lag wasn't too kind to my AI, but I'm starting to feel normal again too.  Here are a few pictures from the last week.

We had 25 bags on the plane!

Saying good bye to my sisters...

These two...they look alike and have a similar drive in life (read: high energy with a sprinkling of mischief thrown in).  They traded clothes at the last minute...down to Williams splint... and Daniel jumped in the car with us.  Hmm... Thankful for siblings that are more observant than parents...

More cousin twins...

Our last lunch in America was Cracker Barrel...we got takeaway and went to a local park.  Only problem? We forgot to ask for plates!  Ha! Cardboard it was.

 We flew out of Philidelphia and had to be at the airport very early!

One last prayer before checking in...prayers for safety and many prayers of thanksgiving for how God used our furlough to bless us in so many ways.

On the plane:

Flying over the Nile:

So our first flight had been super delayed and by the time we were landing in Doha our next flight was boarding.  As soon as we were off the plane we began to run!  Our next gate was through another security check and across the airport!!  Eric ran ahead to ask them to hold the plane.  The rest of us ran as fast as Talitha would go.  We passed one man in a suit with a walkie talkie and he asked us which flight we were on.  I called out as we were running, "Entebbe!  There's 11 of us!" He radioed ahead.  Then another lady met us..."Are you the 11 for Entebbe?"  Yes!  And she directed us down the stairs to where Eric was, we all jumped on a bus and were driven out to the plane, still parked and waiting for the party of 11 to board.  Whew... So we barely made it.  Unfortunately, 19 of our bags didn't make it.  When we arrived in Entebbe we had to spend a couple hours in the airport...first Matthew and Jimmy didn't have the proper stamps on their yellow fever cards so the poor guys had to get vaccinated the moment they stepped off the plane.  Then we went through immigration and then the bulk of our time was spent filling out crazy amounts of paperwork to get our bags back.  But Qatar airlines did great.  The next day they met us at a shopping mall in Kampala where we were picking up a few things and brought all the bags to us.

We loaded everything up to travel back to Mbale in this bus.

Then the sweet reunions began!

The Magalas even made a huge Ugandan feast for us!

Moses!!  He's grown up so much!

Talitha is so happy to have her 'big brother' Ivan back.

The kids have done so well throughout our transition!  It's always difficult, but were so blessed and encouraged to see how God carries them.  Goodbyes are hard, but their hearts were full of peace.  They were peace-filled, joy-filled and tear-filled goodbyes...I'm thankful for that.  All of us are happy to be home.  Talitha is very happy to be home...especially since home included a brand new kitty!  Mind you, we have also had many power outages and 2 days without water...haha!  Back to normal life, right? ;-)

Health Update

As we have driven all around the country, we have been so filled with gratefulness to hear how many people have been praying for us.  Specifically, how many people have prayed for Benaiah's asthma and Katelyn's back.  What a blessing!

::Benaiah

I took Benaiah to the pulmonologist for a recheck on his asthma and adenoid removal.  He is doing so so well!  His lung function has improved dramatically. So she said we could try to drop his asthma meds for a trial basis!!!  His sinuses are still a bit swollen and stuffy, so she gave him some antibiotics to help clear him out and hopefully he will stay clear.  All in all though, we have seen a huge improvement in his energy levels, his ability to learn, and his ability to run, jump, swim and play like a normal boy his age.  Praise be to God!  As you know this has been such a huge burden for so long, it's hard to believe that this trial is most likely coming to a close!  He will have a recheck on his lung function one more time before we head back to Uganda.  So please pray that this improvement continues!

::Katelyn

Katelyn's back is healing up very nicely.  Her two compression fractures are completely healed.  Her two pars fractures are still there but stable.  She was given the go-ahead to start Physical Therapy, which we did last week.  She has also been able to start running again and picking up more and more activities. While she still often uses a donut pillow to sit on (thanks to the pars fractures), she doesn't wear her back brace any longer.  She still has days where she gets tired and sore, but overall we thank the Lord for his healing.  We are praying for continued improvement and a good push in the right direction with re-strengthening her core before we head back to the not-so-friendly-to-a-sore-back roads of Uganda.

::Dianna

I haven't ever really written much about my health stuff here.  For years I've had Hashimotos Hypothyroidism and what we previously thought was Addison's Disease....both auto-immune disorders.  It seems, with more recent testing (MRI and blood work), that my troubles with my adrenal glands aren't actually auto immune.  While I have adrenal insufficiency, we aren't quite sure what is causing it.  On January 23, my case is going before a board of Doctors at Duke University.  We would really appreciate prayers for clarity, so that we know how to best treat it.  In the mean time, we've been educating ourselves and the kids on what it means to be steroid dependent and how to use my emergency injection if I were to ever need it.  I also got a medical alert bracelet.  At the beginning of the new year I had chosen the word "HOPE" as a word to focus on this year.  Psalm 42:5 "Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him!" and I Corinthians 13:7 "Love...hopes all things."  So, when I saw a bracelet with the word "hope" on it, I knew it was for me...a continual reminder for the next few months to hope in the Lord...our rock solid foundation that we can trust in.

A Great Way to Start the New Year

Today was a great day.  Today we legally gained a daughter and sister in full.  No more foster parenting, no more guardianship...today was Adoption Day!  And it is here, that we can raise our "Ebenezer" and tell you how great our God is for bringing us to this point!!  We trust him to continue to make it a full reality in all our hearts... no longer an orphan, but a daughter... it's just so beautiful, isn't it? 

Our judge was great!  He did a superb job.  He even let Benaiah be a judge for a day.  All rise for the Honorable Judge Benaiah Tuininga. ;-)

He signed the papers and then had Denise press the fancy gold seals at the bottom.  It's official!!

The younger members had a great time noticing the courtroom policy.

Especially points two, three and five (thank you Judge Benaiah)...

What a crew... love them so much!

We loved having the cousins around to witness it too.  Only that one group was sick today so they couldn't all come. :-(

I love this picture on so many levels.  These two... if you remember the post of our family pictures, it might remind you of one.

Praise the Lord with us!  He has done GREAT things!!