December Photo Project: Day 4

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers...And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2

Tonight we met with the elders in order to become members at our church here in Georgia.  This is partly done with a heavy heart as our welcome here is also a reminder of our loss in Uganda.  We miss our dear brothers and sisters at New Life Presbyterian Church in Mbale so so much.  But we are so thankful for the believers here who have welcomed us with open arms, encouraged us and supported us.  So we continue to march on living in paradox... the highs and the lows blended together, being crafted into a beautiful picture that as of yet, only God can see.  We put one foot in front of the other and embrace our new life and our new home and we are thankful for those who are reaching out to embrace us.

Firm in the Faith

This morning in church we sang the classic hymn "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus."

I haven't had much emotional energy to grieve leaving Uganda still.  But this morning my heart hurt with homesickness.  There is nothing like the voices of 300 plus children in Kikamba belting out the words to this great hymn.  They didn't always know all the words to the first half of the lines, but they would loudly echo "nothing but the blood of Jesus!" with a bold confidence that Americans...as we say in the south: bless their hearts...just can't do.  Oh, how I miss those little ones and their Sunday morning singing!

My pain was soothed slightly by the truth of the last verse:

Now by this, I'll overcome, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Now by this, I'll reach my home, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

That's just it, isn't it?  How does one overcome such homesickness when you're living in a place that is supposed to be home, but it's not, and you're missing a country that was home despite the fact that it wasn't your own home culture?  Only through resting in all the promises of what Christ has given us through his blood poured out on the cross.

How do you walk through unspeakable pain?  Only through the promises of Christ.
How do you find feet to walk again in a new place and a new life?  Only through the promises of Christ.
How do you survive hurt and betrayal? Only through the promises of Christ.

We've been reading Isaiah at the dinner table.  The great warning of chapter 7 verse 9 pierced my heart as we read, "If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all."

There is so much that is shifting sand these days.  My life is not settled.  I have no idea what this next year will look like.  I don't know if God will choose to bring happier days or more trials yet.  Anxiety tries so hard to be a constant companion of mine. 

Life has fallen apart to such an extent that I have been forced to learn that there is only one sure thing: Jesus died for me.  It's a small, four-word statement, with a larger-than-life reality.

 This one thing that remains makes me God's precious, beloved child and so it opens the door to all of God's promises for his children. Promises like in Psalm 71 where the psalmist tells me that God will revive me again, he will bring me up again and he will comfort me again.  Or Psalm 27, where the Psalmist says that we will look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

People have told me that I've been so strong in this trial. But I so much want everyone to know that it's not me that's been strong.  I feel the very opposite of that. I feel crushed, hurt and am often a hot mess of tears.  Any strength that might be seen is simply the strength of God that has kept my faith firm.  It is God who has made me know and remain sure that Christ died for me.  And through that, he has opened so many doors of hope: a hope that the sun will shine again one day, a hope that God will show me his goodness, a hope that God will use this pain for my good,

a hope that will overcome, a hope that will lead me home... not to Milledgeville or Uganda, but one day to my real home, where there will be no more tears and heartache.

Today's Happenings

Two fun things for today that have very little to do with each other...

First up, we got two guinea fowl.  We let them out of the coop for the first time today.  They are fun little birds with very little brain. 

And second, I took the church girls' volleyball team swimming.  Too fun!  Only downer was that we missed our former MA, Miss Paige who used to do so much with the girls' volleyball team. 

Youth Camp Pictures

The kids had a great week at the PCU youth camp in Entebbe.  They brought home lots of fun stories, great memories and hopefully some good learning too.  Eric spent the week with them (as a speaker and counselor) and I'm told survived the late nights and early mornings on coke and biscuit crackers.  

Here are some pictures that I got from them!

Family Vacation and New Years Celebration

We just got back from a wonderful, restful week in Kampala.  We got lots of time to visit with the VEs and lots of time to rest. 

We also made Oliebollen together...a dutch New Years tradition.

Played a little ninja...

 Made bracelets...

Played Capture the Flag and watched the big kids forget that their little cousins/siblings were playing and one little forgotten cousin played Benedict Arnold and told the other little forgotten cousin where the flag was and the other little cousin snagged it in victory.  haha...can't forget the power of those littles!

Roasted hot dogs...

and helped with kitchen duties...

We arrived back home around noon on New Year's Eve.  To bring in the New Year, Eric and the big kids went to church for an overnight...an all-night service with singing, dancing, prayer, testimonies, 4 sermons and ending with a movie at 6 am. 

The littles and I rang in the new year in a more cozy way.  We listened to a Narnia story while coloring and then they slept around the Christmas tree.  Although I went to bed early (staying up is for the birds! haha!), I did end up outside at midnight trying to calm our frightened dogs who don't care for the fireworks so much.  Last year, one of our dogs got scared and ran away and we didn't find her for a couple of days.  This year, the security guard and I tied them up and sat with them while they cried and shook.  Poor doggies! 

December Photo Project: Day 25

Merry Christmas to all!

Our Christmas day was non-stop action from sunrise to well after sunset.  That's why I haven't gotten this post up until Boxing Day.

Christmas morning I decided to take advantage of very little traffic on the road and I went for a 13-mile bike ride.  I was surely rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over Mt. Wanale.

Then we opened gifts.  We don't usually do gifts on Christmas day, but this year we couldn't find another time to do it.  It's always so sweet to see how much these kids love each other and how thoughtful they are.

The most hilarious find was that Katelyn found William a Tim Hortons Canada mug in our little supermarket in Mbale. 

Mid morning we went to church for our Christmas Day service.  So much fun to be with everyone on such a joy-filled day!

Then we came home, ate a quick lunch and packed our things for a week in Kampala.  We stopped in Jinja at Java House for a nice Christmas meal together.  Eric's sister and her family are staying in Kampala for the next month as they are expecting their 9th child any day now.  So we are spending the week down there and filling up on cousin time and family time. 

The drive across Uganda on Christmas day was so lovely.  Not only was there waaaay less traffic (huge bonus!), but it was so fun to see everyone walking to friends houses in their brand new Christmas clothes and sitting around eating their Christmas meals.  That is the Christmas tradition here...if they can, they will get a new set of nice clothes and they will have a big meal with their families.  (It's often the one day of the year that they will get meat) 

The Lord provided a great place for us to stay and we are looking forward to this week. 

Hopefully lots of time like this! :-)

December Photo Project: Day 23

Sunday evening once again brings "Circle Time" (we used to meet in a circle until our group became too large, but it's still affectionately referred to "Circle Time" because "Line Time" just didn't have the same ring to it. haha!)  During Circle Time we sing, review the Sunday School and Sermon topics, practice the catechism and Biblical timeline, read a Bible story and pray.  

This little one is holding a bottle of "Makwagwe juice" (otherwise known as a Tamarind plant).  We have a Tamarind tree in our yard and when the kids come, they love to collect the seed pods this time of year and make juice out of it.