Thankful- FAMILY IS HERE!

MY FAMILY IS IN UGANDA! PRAISE HANDS ALL DAY! This is seriously the coolest for me. I'm so so thankful they are here and so blessed they even wanted to come! It's not like we're living in a vacation dream honestly. It may have taken them 72 hours instead of the typical 24 hours but WHATEVER THEY ARE HERE. (Typical overachievers am I right?)

Thankful- FAMILY IS COMING

THIS IS NOT A DRILL MY FAMILY WILL BE HERE IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK. Cue praise hands and happy dances! 

I couldn't be any more thankful for my people. The idea that of course I'm coming to visit you in the middle of Africa, it will be so fine and we will call it vacation even if there's no AC and more struggle than any vacation warrants. 

I'm the luckiest.

Isn't it cute how all my good family pictures are of us in Alaska? It'll be so fun to have vacation in the middle of Africa where it is so ridiculously hot Alaska will not even feel like a real place, just a figment of our burned up imaginations.

LESS THAN ONE WEEK. EEEEKK.

Give Thanks.

Our God is so so good to us. He’s so good to us that sometimes, sometimes, we start to forget that we need to lean exclusively on Him. Subconsciously we start to think, oh I’ve got it, I can handle the things. I can do the things!

But as most of us probably know we don’t have it. We need Him. We know that. But sometimes we need a little reminder. We're forgetful people.

When we’re in rough situations it’s easy to reach out because IT IS NOT GOING WELL obviously.

But when it’s just going along sometimes it’s harder. It’s harder to see Him working or to gather what we should be learning. It’s easier to forget that we need Him for everything, even our next breath.

IF: Equip put out a study a while ago called, Enjoying Jesus, (seriously go check it out). The focus for part of it was Matthew 11:28-30.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. - NIV

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. - MSG

One of the things they said as it focused on these verses was that Jesus lived a majority of his life like we do. In a daily routine, a humdrum existence. I’ve never thought of it like that. Jesus walked and lived life very routinely until he was in his 30’s, we’ve heard that. But the fact that he walked in a “humdrum existence”. This BLEW my mind. I’m not sure why. Life is hard. And good. And some days it’s just really boring, doing the things that need to happen, doing the work, making the food and just living life.

Jesus modeled for us how to exist in life, even the parts that are a "humdrum existence". He calls us to do what is fair and just to our neighbors, be compassionate and loyal in our love, and not to take ourselves too seriously- take Him seriously. (Micah 6:8 MSG)

So that's what we do. Love God. Love People.

SGU June 2017

SGU June 2017

Emmanuel June 2017

Emmanuel June 2017

Emmanuel + Daniel June 2017

Homework Club June 2017

Primary Two June 2017

Thankful for a Lord who loves me enough to remind me of this, sometimes constantly. What can I say, life's hard people.

Happy + Thankful + Blessed

I honestly feel like being thankful is something I’ve been jumping on this week. Upon my return from the States a little apartment opened up in town on a secure (and Mzungu approved) compound. So I moved into my own little place, sharing a kitchen with my so wonderful flat mate from Australia and immediately we are cooking dinner together, sharing life and taking up running.

I got to come back to a place where I already had some good friends and knew the community. I got to come back to work with kids I adore and jump back into life in Uganda.

My little place is attached to a local café that has a generator attached so when power goes out (which is still does frequently) it takes a minute and then we’re back on. I can get work accomplished no matter the weather or the Ugandan factor. It’s a week full of blessings. And after my first three months I’m so thankful. Truly. 

Cutie at the soccer match.

Peter at his engagement ceremony!

Kennedy posing for his close up. 

Jerrod (one of our newest additions) when we first met him.

Thankful- HEADING HOME.

Today is it. I'm heading home. Back to the familiar of the States. I don't really have words to describe how that feels right now. I'm SO BEYOND EXCITED. So excited. Tacos. Family. Friends. Target. Farmer's Markets. Organized Streets. MY BED. My cat. A FRIDGE THAT DOES NOT GET TURNED OFF PRAISE HANDS ALL DAY. I'm probably just going to cry in excitement. Don't mind me just crying over the organization at Target and the abundance of taco restaurants, ya know, the usual. 

Yet as I sit here all I can think about is how I haven't done enough. Is it really time to go home? What do I have to show for it? 

But honestly? 

I'm not sure that matters. I've changed. This is changing me. God is changing me. 

AND I'M COMING HOME PEOPLE! 

Can't wait to see these beautiful faces in 30 hours! 30 HOURS. GET EXCITED. 

xox.

Tribe

I grew up hearing the opposite of the common phrase: you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. My mom always made it very clear we were able to choose our families. That’s in perfect contradiction to that very common phrase you hear thrown out again and again. Now that I’m older I understand the point she was trying to make. I grew up with my closest “Aunties” being my mom’s best friends. I didn’t know anything different. I always had aunts and uncles that weren’t technically blood relatives. But they are family. They’re the people you call in the middle of the night. As I’ve gotten older I’ve affectionately named this my tribe. Your tribe doesn’t have to be blood relatives. They’re a collection of the people that have your back no matter what. That love you, support you, call you on your stuff when you need it and are always there for you.

The family you get you get. That’s it. I can’t change my lineage or the people who are genetically related to me. But I have complete control of my tribe. So here’s a shoutout to my very badass tribe. [I know I know should missionaries-yuck on that word- cuss? What can I say I’m a rebel] Love you and wouldn’t be in Uganda without you. 

Sista Friend who let's me take selfies in the middle of the street.

Fave people on the planet. 

These two. I don't even have words. LOVE YOU BOTH.

Shoutout to this babe who's birthday it is today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARA! xox.

T. Payne and I at the Farmer's Market.

Julie + Momma + Tracy as Cows. Aren't they great?!

Love you all and can't wait to see you SO VERY SOON.
xox.

Thankfully thankful.

Every week I try to look back and find something to be thankful for. This last week it's been pretty easy- I've been in a little piece of America that feels just like home.

You know when you meet those people and they just click? They say or do something and you're like yep, this is it. I've found my people. Well it was pretty much just like that with the Hurry's.

I met they both in passing early on in my stay in Uganda but didn't really get to hangout with them until a very memorable trip to the Lira Main Hospital in town.

I should probably prep it by saying that I am so not cut out for the medical field. Like not even a little bit. Keep it in, if it's bleeding go handle it cause I can but really really don't want to.

So I end up visiting the Lira Main Hospital with some friends from our Bible Study to pray for some of their family members that have been admitted. Now I know when I tell stories I'm sometimes guilty of exaggerating or embellishing but let me tell you this is just a statement of fact and not embellished at all: that hospital was one of the scariest places I've ever been. Now from many conversations with other Mzungus here [Read: Western Folks] I've learned that this is one of the better hospitals. ARE YOU KIDDING ME I COULD NOT EVEN WITH THAT PLACE. But even still it is definitely a third world hospital.

We went into the Men's Ward to visit Lucy's nephew and walked into an open room with hundreds hundreds of beds and patients. The ward was one open room with many partial walls to put beds against. The walls had number after number after number painted on them with a bed in front of each. If you didn't bring your own supplies/sheets/food/family you had nothing. I didn't see one medical professional in the whole building. As we made our way through the ward I tried not to make eye contact or look at anyone, all men in various states of dress trying so hard to get the attention of the Mzungu girls that had just walked in. We made our way to the back where Lucy's nephew was, he'd been in a boda (motorbike) accident. He was laying in a bed surrounded by 7 other male patients, beds pressed up against one another. His leg was swollen. So swollen it looked like 2 legs combined. Turns out he broke his femur and was in so much pain he was sweating. But medicine here is optional, and only then if your family can afford it.

Our hospital visit left me horrified if we're being completely honest. We stopped by a few more beds on the way out as we were grabbed to pray for people. Some of those people had been their for months. They had a bed but no money for treatment, no one to visit or provide linens or even clothes, and food? Forget it. The disease, the sense of despair, the hopelessness and smell all turned my stomach. I got home that night almost of the brink of some type of panic attack, I couldn't breathe. My chest hurt and I was irrationally yet understandably afraid of venturing out on any road- because what are my options? What happens if I get sick? What happens if I'm in an accident or injured? This was my medical option! I'd just seen it and it was horrifying.

Which leads me to meeting the Hurry's. Dr. Bridget is not only a doctor but also a mom and has been living and working in Uganda for 5 years. After some encouragement from someone back home [Shoutout to Julie!] I went Friday morning to see if she had some time to just sit. She didn't really but excitedly welcomed me into her home, sharing TV, a couch and ice water [all huge and exciting things in Uganda, trust me!] 

That day is imprinted on my memory along with the announcement made when I had dinner with them that this was "The year of bacon! We will figure out how to get bacon at the Cafe!"

How could these not be my people am I right? 

So thankful for a community here that understands the struggle and brings a little piece of America to Uganda. And wants to bring bacon, that’s the important part ;)

Scavenger Hunting with the Kiddos!

One Month.

In four weeks I'm going to be waking up in America for a wonderful furlough. In my bed, with a fan, AC, running water and no fear of losing electricity, internet or being bitten by malaria infested mosquitos.

One month til I'm sitting on the couch with these lovely people.

One month until I'm going to a farmer's market that doesn't smell like rotting fish, eating food ALL THE FOOD and not cooking over a smokey charcoal stove. I don't think I accurately can explain how excited that makes me.

And yet I know in leaving part of me will stay here missing me new people on this side of the planet. Part of me will always be captivated by Uganda. 

ONE MONTH PEOPLE. 

xox.

To be Thankful.

So I’m totally digging this weekly thankful thing. Because honestly? Sometimes it’s a whole lot easier [if you know me you can fill in the word I deleted there ;)] to wallow, and complain, and be completely irritated with the 1,348,962 things that don’t make sense here every day. So some weeks finding things to be thankful for is a stretch. But it’s always a good one. It makes me search through the mundane and see God in all the little moments that He provides me with.

·         

• DRIVING. I got to drive people! I missed it and the sense of freedom it gives! Now it’s still absolutely terrifying to drive on any highway here but that’s mostly because traffic laws are more suggestions and less laws.
• I’m thankful for a weekend road trip with friends! To be doing it in Uganda and driving to a brand new city to explore makes it even better.
• For serious quiet time with Jesus. He is so good and teaching me so much. Even when I really honestly don’t want to learn but want to find a good ole home in America to crash in.
• Friends you haven’t run into in town in a while that give really epic hugs. All the hugs I get here are for “greetings” and are half assed at best. [It’s true, sorry!] 
• GUACAMOLE HALLELUJAH AMEN.
•  A country that straight up shuts down for International Women’s Day, and gives you a weekend day on a Wednesday!
• The most eclectic collection of music that plays everywhere and anywhere in Uganda.
•  Prayer warriors and friends who tell you all the honest truths + some really funny happenings from home. 

xox.

On Thursday's We're Thankful

You know those weeks where you can barely believe it’s been only been a week because you’re fairly confident you’ve lived 34892084 lives in those 7 days? Yeah that’s where we are this week. On Monday I thought it was Wednesday so that gives you a clue about how this was gonna go. But I wouldn’t say it was full of bad days, just days that were extra long in their own accord.

So here are some of my thanksgivings that have been all over the place.

•          RAIN. I can’t say this enough. This Florida girl is SO HAPPY when it rains! And the fact that it cools down by 20-30 degrees afterwards sure doesn’t hurt either ;)
•          Power. Jesus has been so good and kept power on through some of these rains and that makes me so so thankful. Power= fans, lights, wifi, charging and all of those are worth being thankful for!
•          WATER. We spent 48 hours (roughly) without running water early this week and having it back reminds me to be SO THANKFUL. A majority of Ugandans don’t have that luxury and I am so grateful our house is one that does.
•          A new community that willingly steps in to stop people from up charging me because of my skin color, helps me navigate town, and keeps me away from the crazy stranger on the street when he decides to befriend the Mzunugu.
•          American friends that are willing to make Guacamole and Salsa with you and call it dinner. While watching Gilmore Girls [what could be better?]
•          LETTUCE LETTUCE LETTUCE! Wasn’t it just last week I mentioned how I’d been dreaming about lettuce? Jesus is cool when He surprises us with the little stuff.  
•          Getting to go visit some of my favorite boys at secondary school this weekend!
•          HOT WATER IN THE MIDDLE OF UGANDA PRAISE HANDS ALL DAY. Seriously it was so hot I had to put it back on icy cold because- burning.
•          A real towel that actually dries things instead of just moving water around on them.

Thankful.

So to put Ugandan life in perspective I'm starting a Thankful Thursday post. Living overseas is hard. It's not mentioned on instagram or social media every day and you don't hear too many people talking about the nitty gritty daily frustrations that go into it but they're real. 

Nothing in Uganda is simple. What you would think would take no time at all could take you all day. And maybe a 2 week project is something you're still working on a month later [hi that would be me]. 

Recently in moments of emotions I got this from someone in my tribe. "Simply going to Africa because God tells you to go is in oxymoron.  There is nothing simple about leaving your own tribe to go in search of another.  There is nothing simple about leaving everything familiar to you without a laid out step by step instruction manual.  What there is in that is endless possibility that God will be able to move and work in you in ways you thought impossible." 

These words ROCKED MY EVER LOVING WORLD. At this point in the journey I've learned to consolidate the facts and can tell the story of my journey to Uganda in under 1 minute, under 2 if you get the extended version. But it's not that simple. It's not easy or comfortable to leave your tribe. Especially when you're thrown into a culture and community though WONDERFUL are so different than your own (seriously carrots in the spaghetti- WHY?!). It also isn't easy that you're currently the only American working with your NGO (or only westerner for that matter). I find myself missing the strangest things like cutting boards and lettuce and dreaming about kitchens and places with stoves to cook on. No really I almost drooled all over the kitchen at a guest house we visited, it was amazing and perfect and I was sad and pathetic all at once. But without sounding like the biggest cliche there are really good things happening every day. Sometimes I just want to get lost in the hard or difficult things because they seem so big and frustrating and they let me just sit down and wallow and miss my tribe. 

But then the question pops into my brain: what good is that? 

Now don't get me wrong sometimes nothing is better than sitting down and crying or complaining it out. But I've found I can only do that for so long. One of my best friends calls this the venting vs perspective question. Are you venting? Are you ready for perspective? 

So to help keep things in perspective we're starting Thankful Thursday's. 

This week I'm thankful for: 

• American Friends who listen to alllllll your random circles and thoughts. 
• Friends that invite you to sleepovers because having a girls night is important. 
• A market that for some reason got fresh cilantro, fresh mint, and green onions in from Kampala (the capital) this week. 
• INTERNET. Seriously. I'm obsessed. And it makes the world seem a little bit smaller. 
• The fact that Uganda doesn't have many similar things to home but it does have Potato Chips or rather Potato Crisps. BLESS. 
• Mostly running water.
• A flushing toilet with no pipes sticking out. Can we get a huge Amen?!
• A fan that works whenever we have power. 
• Seeing a man in town wearing a shirt that says "Bye Felica"! My goal is still to get a photo. 
• A tribe that loves me, emails me, texts me and never lets me forget that I'm loved. 

xox.