Spaghetti
Have you ever heard the word picture that references the difference between the way women and men think? Men’s ways of thinking are compared to waffles – Everything has a compartment. No wonder they are able to keep things in perspective and separate. Whereas women’s thoughts are likened to bowl of spaghetti, everything is mixed together. Neither is better, neither is bad. Both have benefits and drawbacks. Today’s blog entry is going to be a bit “spaghetti-ish”…mainly because we want to catch you up on life after being in Uganda now 60 days. So brace yourself, and slurp away.
Noodle this: Marbel has been visiting her father’s village for the past week. Tomorrow we will pick them up, bring them to our home for lunch and a bit of play, and then head to town to register Marbel for school. Praise God, as we mentioned before, a family was stirred to pay for her school fees. What is cool about this story was, the night before Marbel’s story was shared, a family on our support team had added some money into our account. The amount was the exact sum of Marbel’s school tuition. The next day, this family reads about this little girl and knows exactly why God prompted them to give. Everyone involved has been blown away by God’s goodness in orchestrating all of it.
Noodle this: Four of the six of us are sick-again. It is normal I guess as we acclimate to this new country. Our immunities are being built up and for that we are thankful. Get this: we went to a reputable Ugandan clinic and paid about $40 dollars for the doctor’s fee, lab work and meds; all of which were done at the same place in about 2 hours. Hopefully by tomorrow, we will be feeling better. Please pray always for protection and health!
Noodle this: We have loved the home we have stayed in for the last 6 weeks. Sadly, next week we will have to leave it. At this point, we have no idea where we will live but are looking into options. Again, rent here is expensive. The UN and larger NGO’s have really driven up the price in the past couple of years. It is also hard to find a two-month lease. With one week left to stay here, we have already started grieving. The staff here (Alfred, Rachel, Jackson and Fred) have become dear friends. We know this is just good-bye for now but it will not be the same as living in community.
Noodle this: The elections are coming up. Our plan has always been to head to Kenya during that time. However, as we have polled the audience, most foreigners are staying here in Uganda. They are gathering up food, gasoline, and water and going to hunker down in their homes. Honestly, we are just now settling into life and the thought of leaving the country does NOT thrill us. Please pray God leads us on what to do. At this point, we are leaning towards staying…(don’t freak out mom and dad).
Noodle this: Internet continues to be one of the hardest of challenges. Bo and Amy’s school are HUGELY dependent on reliable and fast Internet. So far, I am not sure they’ve been able to get one full day done. Please pray for God to sort something out.
Noodle this: Our kids are doing well. Bo (17) is one amazing kid. He is as extroverted as they come and is missing his friends like CRAZY. He has yet to connect with anyone his age and it is wearing on him. Yesterday, he was going stir crazy because of the lack of things to go and do here. Bo has really reached out and made good friends with the guards here. It is amazing to watch him connect with people. Amy (14) is doing well. Her attitude has been AWEsome and she is adjusting better than we thought. God has used her to encourage us many a times when life feels hard. Amy has turned into quite the chef too. Remember, EVERYTHING we cook is by scratch. She is pressing into school and trying to keep in touch with a few friends back home. Brent is teaching her how to drive too. Oh my…driving in Uganda is a recipe for disaster for anyone. Luke (12) is doing great. We are doing school every day and he spends the rest of it playing outside. Living here is a boys dream and Luke takes full advantage of the outdoors. He so enjoys life. Tekle (4) is in his element too. He follows Luke everywhere. Of course he is African and blends into life here better than any of us. One day, I looked out the window, and he was scurrying up a mango tree. I quickly opened the back door and hollered, kindly, “Tekle, honey, what are you doing?” He told me, “mom, when they turn yellow we are supposed to pick them.” Sure enough, he knew…and safely picked the fruit.
Noodle this: God continues to reveal to us BIG time the need for the training up of pastors/leaders who are over children’s ministry. Brent has been meeting one-on-one with various pastors, speaking at churches, doing some children’s ministry things and being open to wherever the Spirit is leading. This place is not shy of ministry opportunities, but accomplishing all you want to accomplish is a whole different deal. One person told us last week that the best wisdom given to them was to take your list of what you want to accomplish this year and know it will be a miracle if you get accomplish 10% of it – Wow! But, this is Africa (TIA).
Noodle this: Our home that is being built at Cherish is about 2-4 weeks behind schedule. We all know this is normal and have been warned by others “remember, TIA – It might take longer.” Please pray we will be in our home no later than mid to late March. We have guests coming to visit beginning April 1st and would love to be settled in.
Sauce: Hopefully, this helps to catch you up. We would be lying if we said, “everything here has been groovy, easy, exciting, fun and God is parting the Red Sea everywhere we go. There have been some dark days. Lonely moments. Times where you look at each other and wonder, “What the heck were we thinking?” The truth is…the last 60 days have been full of good hards. God is molding and shaping us for sure. Every day seems to have challenges, whether external or internal. There is a whole new level of dying to self and surrendering to God. Speaking about dying…consider this point the Parmesan cheese…
Parmesan cheese: Yesterday, we get a call from our friend, Scott. He tells us of a bag that is lying in front of his neighbor’s gate. Scott is at work and hears from the guard at his house that the bag has a dead body in it. The Ugandans know they cannot go near it, or even report it, as they could be blamed for the death and likely killed for it. Scott asked Brent to go check it out. Of course, Bo and Amy wanted to come too. As we drove up to the fly-covered bag we were hit by the unmistakable smell of death. The stench permeated our car. We went and got a police officer to come to the scene. Upon arriving, we sheepishly walked up to the bag and opened it with a stick. As we peered in we saw a…dead dog – a very big dead dog! Why am I sharing this???? Because Brent and I talked about how death always brings stench. Whether it is a dying floral arrangement, rotting vegetables or a dead dog…death comes with a bad odor. Most days, I smell death…and yet with death comes life. Amidst the dying, God is breathing life into us and we are beginning to love this country.
2 comments
hi leah,
i love reading everything you and brent post! i think a book–someday–is in order…what a journey.
Yummy, Will! Loved the way you served this up…thank you. xoxo, bean