Time is kind of crawling for me right now. I've been home for about 3 weeks, but it seems like much longer than that. Maybe it's because I miss everyone so much or maybe it's because I've been waiting to go see Stacy, Jeff, and baby Owen. Whatever the reason... I'm actually glad time is moving slow. I'm struggling to figure out where I fit in here, but then I think about the fact that I've only been home a few weeks and I feel better.
Moving on to the point of this blog... my brother moved out about a week and a half ago. We rented a truck and I helped him moved all his stuff . You should have seen the struggle we went through trying to get some of his furniture out of the basement! If you came to my house last year you know how giant that green couch and chair are... I don't know how it made it into the basement, but me helping my brother get it out was a joke. Not to say that I'm weak or anything. ;) Anyways, it was just me and him loading and unloading the truck and it was NOT easy. So a few days later I was helping him get the rest of the little junk out of his old room (my new room). We were carrying some clothes from his Jeep to his place and one to his nice suits slid off the box I was carrying. His hands were full, my hands were full, and his nice suit was laying on the ground getting dirty. We kind of looked at each other and then looked at the suit and then back at each other. I think in our heads we were trying to figure out the best way to get his clothes off the ground without having to put the rest of the clothes down, or dropping even more stuff. As we're just standing there, some guy came up from out of no where and picked it up and put it back on the box that I was carrying. He was a young guy, probably on his way out to meet friends or something, but the thing is that he took time to stop and help. Now, I know you're thinking, "so??", but the point is... I was shocked. Obviously we thanked the guy and moved on, but for a while after that I couldn't help, but think about this random act of kindness. I was saddened by the fact that I was so shocked. It shouldn't be shocking for someone to stop and help someone else especially with something so simple, but it was. Does that mean that I wouldn't have done the same thing or does that mean it doesn't happen enough and I have a cynical view of humans? I think maybe a bit of both. I didn't like being so shocked because that's what Christ would have done. It's so easy for me to see someone and judge them by their outer appearance instead of seeing them as Christ does. It was an exciting moment to realize that there are still people who want to be helpful and want to be good, but also a very convicting moment for me. Man, I need to love EVERY single person I encounter just as Christ would. Thank you Lord for reminding me of that through something so seemingly small.
So other than that the only thing that's new with me is that I finally have my bedroom set up for the most part. It's nice to have my own space and a place to get away to when I need it. Also, I bought a goldfish... maybe because I miss Lino and it reminds me of him. :)
Anyways, I have some friends and family that have been an encouragement to me lately. Since the day I arrived I have been worrying about what's next... thinking that I had to make a decision right away. It would be great to know exactly when I'm going to have the chance to go back to Uganda, but until I know I need to be here. I need to focus on what's before me and the opportunities that God is presenting me with daily.
I leave my Skype signed on all night because I don't want to miss an opportunity to talk to anyone from Africa... with the time zone being so different I'm willing to sacrafice sleep in order to stay in touch with people. So this morning at around 5:40am I rolled over because I heard someone calling me on Skype. I saw who it was and decided I would just call them later. I ignored the call and then couldn't go back to sleep because I was too excited at the prospect of talking to my friend. I quickly learned that it was Lino who was calling me on Francis' Skype name because he was at the school with Wasswa for Wasswa's piano lesson. Lino decided he was going to call me! I was so excited to finally talk to that kid! Francis' computer has a built in webcam so I got to see not only Lino, but Francis and Wasswa too! It was so cool. Wasswa is going into second grade this year at Heritage. He was in my roommate's class last year and he was no doubt the cutest first grader! I got to know him and his new adoptive mom, Roxanne pretty well. Anyways, I love those guys so much and it was so sweet to talk to them even if it was 5:40 in the morning. I was thankful that my old school Mac doesn't have a webcam at that moment... I would have scared them all from calling me ever again!
It was a huge encouragement to hear from them and was the perfect way to start my day. I went to bed pretty late last night because I was on another encouraging phone call, but even still I loved my early morning call!
Something I need to apologize for is not being good about answering my phone. I've not been in the chatting mood, but I'm working on it. Feel free to call me!
I'm heading down to Florida tomorrow to meet baby Owen and visit with Stacy and Jeff. I'm so excited! I'm also excited for some warm weather... it's been so cold up here these days! For real, 65 degrees might be "nice" to some people, but it's COLD to me. I lived on the equator for a year. Also, the air conditioning everywhere is killing me! I'm always freezing these days so I sometimes wear a scarf just to keep my neck warm and people keep making fun of me. Even in Africa I wore a scarf or sweater to school every morning until it got too hot.
When I get back from Florida Trent is coming to hang for a bit and then I think I'll get to see some friends I met in Uganda. I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks!
Please continue to pray for me, my family, and my friends. Pray for the nation of Uganda and the whole continent of Africa. Pray for clarity, for discernment, and for decisions. Pray for rest. Pray for Lino and the adoption process and his overall health. Much love!
ps don't forget to check out the video below of Lino getting his presents. It's funny!
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