Home Sweet Home

Well, Jim & I have been living in Africa for about one week now! We left the US last Wednesday, and spent Thursday in England at the Windsor Castle with an awesome friend who so graciously showed us around! It was so beautiful in England and we were so thankful for the short adventure. After a few short hours in England we boarded our plane to our new home- so many thoughts were racing through my mind. It still hasn’t hit me that we are going to be living here for a year. When we landed my heart was so incredibly happy to be back in the place that stole my heart three short years ago. If someone had told me three years ago that I would be married and living in Africa I would have told them they were crazy haha but being here now I don’t see my life any other way.

I don’t really know how to describe U*ganda and our new home in words on this computer. What I can say is this: life is SO incredibly different here. I don’t mean different in a bad way- I just mean different. In the US there are so many distractions- sometimes we forget to just live. We get so distracted that we don’t notice our lives passing us by. In just the short week that I have been here I can say that when you remove those distractions you realize all of the things that you were missing out on, and all of the things that God wants to show you if you would just pay attention.

 In our new home here, we live with 42 street kids and the family of five who has taken them in. I can easily say that all of the children we are living with have gone through more in their short lives then I probably will in my entire life. Even so, I have never met such kind, hardworking, dedicated, energetic children. Each one of them has a different story as to why they are no longer living in their home- some of them don’t have parents who are alive, some have parents who cannot afford to care for them, some have parents who abused them, and some have parents whose work threatened the safety of the kids. So here they are- living and learning in a new place and we are blessed to live with them and serve beside them.  

Yesterday was field day at school so we had the opportunity to go with the kids up to a field and play some sports with them. Now when I say, “go up to the field” I mean go UP haha it was like a two-mile trek up the side of a mountain to this beautiful field. The field is owned by a local witch doctor and while we were there playing with the children he was busy sacrificing a goat…I was quite surprised by the screaming goat and the whole machete action going on- but it didn’t affect the kids at all.  On our way back from the field I walked with two precious girls who have really touched my heart in the short time we have been here- they began calling me mom the second day we were here and each time they see me now they run up to me calling “momma” , which is quite possibly the sweetest feeling in the world. We saw an airplane flying overhead and the girls began asking me about flying on a plane and what life is like in America. We talked about school, clothing, washing machines, food, and church in America. One of the girls said to me “so mom when we go home to America I can cook for you and you can teach me how to make cake”. Here in U*ganda the kids learn how to cook, wash clothing, clean and do other various chores at a very young age, and I could see this little girl imagining being in America cooking us dinner. I then told her that while I would love for her to cook for us- that I love to cook, and that generally the parents cook in America. She was somewhat shocked and asked, “well what do the kids do?” I didn’t quite know how to answer that- I told her they get to do their homework, and chores much like here in U*ganda, and once they are finished they get to play out in the neighborhood, ride their bikes, watch TV, color, read, or just relax at home…this conversation broke my heart- they were so curious about life back in the US. They kept saying that in July our new mommy will take us home- I know it isn’t that easy but my heart sure wishes it was. I don’t think life in the US is better then life here- as I said above it is just different. But to see kids longing for “home” or “family” really got to me. They are so incredibly blessed in the home that they are living in now- and I don’t want anyone to think that they aren’t fortunate to be here- they are. But every child longs for, and desires to have the love of parents no matter where they are in the world.

Our hearts are so full here and we really are so thrilled to be in our new “home”.  We are adapting well, and learning new things each day. Jim and I wouldn’t change anything about our new home- even the bucket showers- that are quite challenging! We love it, and we love the new challenges that come with our new life- because with each challenge there are ten things that make us feel life we are right where we are supposed to be.