A New Year

2011 is over.. 2012 is already five days old.

In church on Sunday one of the pastors reminded us that with the new year comes a fresh start. The old has past, the new is yet to come. For some reason I needed to hear that. 2011 wasn't a very good year. I hope and pray that 2012 is much better.

To catch you up on some things that have been going on.

Our puppies all got sold. The last one, and actually the one we had decided to keep, was just sold to our good friend, Ryan. The last puppy, whom we called puppy or midgey, is such a sweet little thing. She was one of the puppies who got really sick, but I was able to nurse back to health. If anybody else had asked for her, the answer would have been "no". With Ryan it is different. Ryan moved up north a few months ago. He lives an hour and a half from any other mzungu, white person. He goes out to villages to share Christ with those who haven't ever heard. Puppy is going to be a good companion for him. Like I told Ryan the day before he left and took puppy... I can so see him in ten years, wandering the bush... with puppy by his side. So, although I am sad she is gone... she couldn't have gone to a better chose.

There is a new restaurant in town called Skewers. Kabobs. Naan. We decided that we would go and try it out. Trevor and Ryan had already gone and given it a good report. So on Saturday the whole family headed there for a late lunch. We decided to sit outside, just because it is nicer to sit outside, although the view is just of the street.

As we are sitting there waiting for our sodas... one of the town's "crazy" guys was walking by. Now to help you understand. Jinja doesn't have the facilities for mentally challenged people. So there are several men and women that just wander the streets. You can pick them out of the crowd, as they are the ones who have tattered reddish-brown clothes. Some have less clothes than others. Matted hair. No shoes. You get the picture. Since this is Uganda, one never knows the real reason for why these people have become the way they are. Cerebral malaria. Demon possession. Both very real reasons.

Okay, back to the story.

This particular mulaloo, crazy person, I call "Pantless Joe". He tends to have a VERY tattered pair of pants or shorts on, that never seems to have a button or zipper. He walks around bunched in his hand, holding them up. (yes, I have had other run-ins with him... one which he forgot his hand was holding his pants up... and no... there was no underwear.) Why I named him Pantless Joe.

So, Pantless Joe tripped off the curb right by us and a security guard that was next door laughed at him. Pantless Joe got irritated. Started waving his arms around, with chunks of something flying off. He then went in front of our truck. Picked up a good sized slab of concrete and threw it, luckily, across the street from where we were sitting. This made the security guard and others laugh once again. As Pantless Joe came around to the back of our truck, I remember saying to the kids... "Don't look at him. Don't look at him." I think I must have good protective instincts. No sooner had I said it the second time, when Trevor turned his head towards where Pantless Joe was. Big mistake.

Pantless Joe leaned over to the roadside, where he had put a bag of something. Picked it up and hurled it at us.

Kenna and Jon had their backs to Pantless Joe. The bag went between them and headed straight for Declan and I who were facing towards Pantless Joe and the street. Somehow, thank you Lord, the bag missed both of our heads, but went smashing into the huge window directly behind us. On impact with the window the bag basically exploded with the contents of the bag shooting everywhere. I stood up immediately, grabbed Declan and told the kids to get inside. I had the contents running down my face. Running down my dress. On the back of my dress. Declan had it all down the back of his shirt. The contents of the bag. Luckily it was some sort of left over food. Curry. Potatoes. Peas. Sauce. Slimy. Smelly. Did I mention it was dripping down the front of my dress and down the side of my face?!

The staff all came over to us, and in typical Ugandan style all started saying, "Sorry, sorry, sorry." When I asked for some napkins to try and wipe myself off... they brought napkins out, but then proceeded to wipe my face for me.

Jon and the owner of the restaurant jumped on Jon's motorcycle to follow Pantless and to go and make a report at the police station. When the policeman tried to apprehend Pantless, he took off down the street.

Needless to say we were very fortunate that there was only a bag full of food, not a rock, not a bottle. Fortunate it missed hitting us directly. Thank you Lord for protecting us.

I didn't say it before, so.. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

Gifts from the US

Trevor and Declan's birthday's were in August and September. With the planned trip of my Dad and step-mom in September, all grandparents, uncle and aunt decided to get presents that could be hand delivered. With the sudden emergency with my brother, that trip was canceled. The gifts however, were re-routed to a hotel that Jon would be staying at.

Gifts are always a welcome thing here. Lego's are crazy expensive. The little sets that cost like $5 in the US are close to $50 here. Declan also decided he wanted army men..... lots of army men. Trevor wanted video games. And somehow, I failed to take pictures of Makenna opening whatever she got. (bad mommy).

Anyhow... promised the grandparents that I would post some pictures of the blessed event of the gift opening. And one of the finished lego sets..

Declan and Henry

Declan rides!!

For Declan's 7th birthday he asked for a bike, so we purchased one with training wheels. While he used it at our first house, the second house just didn't have a driveway conducive to riding. Just recently he brought the bike back out and started to use it again.

When I was out the other day watching him trying to ride it, I realized the back tire was totally flat, the handlebars moved and the chain kept on falling off. 30,000/= later, it is like a new bike.

Declan got home from school today, and I told him his bike was fixed, he was ecstatic.

He headed out to try and balance himself on the bike. (Oh, forgot to mention that we had taken the training wheels off in the process of getting it fixed.) I watched him from inside. He went a few feet balancing, with only a few touch downs with his feet. So I headed out to watch him and realized he was basically riding the bike like a pro. I told him to head farther up by the gate..... and WOW!!! He learned how to ride in like 10 minutes all by himself.

It is a little sad... my last baby knows how to ride a bike on his own... and neither myself or Daddy had to run along behind him.

Oct.

Has it really been almost a month since I last posted? Realizing that it is now October, I wonder where the year has gone. It has seemed to fly by. Maybe because it has been so hectic. Maybe because it has been one huge roller coaster, with the up's and down's. It feels like there were more down's then up's... but I think that is the way life is. Is it because we tend to focus more on the negative? I don't think we consciously try to focus on the negative. I think it takes a conscious effort to focus on the positive though.

Some updates since I last wrote:

Rich, my brother, is healing from his surgery. He had some rough days right after the surgery but the Doctor's think they were successful. Now he is on the slow road of recovery. I know for him it will be the most difficult part. He can't drive or lift things heavier than 10 lbs. He might be able to start work in a week or two, but will have to wait to see if the Dr. gives the go-ahead.
Praise God he is healing so quickly.

Jon has been in Canada and the US the past few weeks. Conference after conference. It has been a long time away, but I think it has been very productive.

Kenna and Trevor were finally able to start school. Although some of the instructor led DVD's don't coincide with the books. Jon will be bringing the rest of their curriculum when he comes. Another boy has joined their home school classes. We found a supervisor, we hope will work out. And God provided a science/math teacher for them for the next three months! Strange how things happen, but totally right up God's alley. :-)

Declan is getting into the swing of 3rd grade. Although the schedule here is rather weird. He will have off for two months starting Dec. 5th. So he is sort of on an American school schedule by starting September, but also on a Ugandan schedule as he will have his long break over Christmas.

As for me? Still trying to run the Keep. I'm sure there are other things I am doing, but they aren't coming to mind right now. I think I must be tired.

Oh, I guess the craziest update is central market. For those of you who knew central market.... it is no more. The government decided they wanted to update it, so they kicked all the vendors out and now it is just an empty lot with a ton of trash. I'll try to get pictures as it blows my mind away.

My brother

Just a quick post to update on my brother, Rich.

His brain surgery is scheduled for this coming Monday. My parents are flying out to Utah this weekend to be with him. Please pray for the surgery; for God to guide the surgeon's hand, for no complications, speedy recovery, etc.

I know this is in God's hands. He is in control. I am thankful that Rich is also relying on God through all this.

Thanks.

Trip to the north

Last week I headed out with Kelli, Ryan, Makenna, Moses and Isaac. Kelli was running a youth conference, and some of them were in villages to the north of us. I've been wanting to go north for some time, and I decided it would be good for Makenna to get away from Jinja life and normalcy.

So at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning we all load up into the Prado and head out. We are all wide awake, despite the early hour. The sunrise was beautiful, and the fog stretching across the road added something to the landscape. If you look closely at the dashboard you will notice the condensation on the windshield... Ryan decided his egg, ham and cheese sandwich wasn't warm enough so he decided to use the car heater to heat them up. (No, it didn't work.)

After three hours, we arrive at our first destination, Pallisa. Most of the young people are already there. For the next four days the schedule is pretty much the same:

- Arrive
- Lesson 1
- Mingle break
- Lesson 2
- Lunch
- Lesson 3
- Head out for the next destination
- Arrive at next destination
- Fall into bed, exhausted
- Start at the beginning the next day

The days were long, but it was great to see how many youth showed up for the conference. Even though a lot of them didn't speak English, the translators seemed to be doing a good job in relaying the message. During question time, which was after lessons 1 and 2, for the most part, the young people answered the questions properly.

Hopefully, many seeds were planted in the hearts of these young people and the youth pastors can follow up.

Villages visited:
- Pallisa
- Soroti
- Ogongora
- Pajule
- Gulu

For those of you who haven't traveled to the villages, let me enlighten you on some village life. Of course, even we were spoiled into the mzungu version of village life. We had guest houses to stay in, some better than others, but we still had a bed and a western toilet. Unfortunately for you, I failed to take pictures of the pit latrines we had to use. They at least all had doors that closed for some privacy. We always brought our own toilet paper.. there never is any even in the gas station bathrooms. One pit latrine was so foul.. between the smell and then when you opened the door to go in, like hundreds of huge blueish/black flies would just buzz around you. At least there weren't snakes, or spiders. (Kenna did say that in one that she used there was a huge one.. glad I missed that.)

Food served while there:
-rice
- posho (which is corn flour mixed with water until it is like REALLY thick cream of wheat)
-beans
-chicken stew (which was made only for us, not the youth)
- more rice
- goat stew
- more posho
- rolex (not the watch, but a chapati which is like a tortilla but greasier, rolled up with a cooked egg that sometime has tomatoe, onions and green peppers)

This trip was actually my first time to ever have a rolex. In Jinja, I have never ventured out to have one as they always look too greasy, but when that is what is given to you to eat... it is either eat or go hungry. Makenna decided to take some pictures of me eating my first. :-)

Okay, so it wasn't as bad as I thought.

It was a long week. It was tiring. It was a lot of driving. A lot of listening to lessons... but, through the week, God was working on my heart. Even though the lessons were suppose to be for the youth... God worked on my heart, and He made clear somethings that I needed to address/change.

It was a good week and I am thankful that God's word is active and living and can work on anyone, at anytime.