So, I'm not sure where to start. I also don't want to overwrite either and make you read a novel of a blog. There is a lot that could be said....however, I am thinking maybe less words the better this time.
This is what I know: I feel like a mother. Its both challenging and joyful. Here is my day:
Kids wake up at 6:30 and have prayer time (I TRY to get up with them)
We clean the compound for an hour, I make sure they do their assigned chore
I prepare the porridge with Lucy (Ugandan cook who comes for the day and also my dear friend)
Bathe my little Opio, dear boy who is 6 and has down syndrome, but the star of Atin
We serve them by 8:30
Wait on our patient, Jimmy, he is 14 and just had a big operation on his legs so he is bedridden for a while
Then I have tea and get to breathe
They go to class till lunch...I have time to myself yayyyyy
Prepare my best friend, beans..also its partner: meet corn much, his name is posho
We serve them
Then they are free and we play
I tidy the house
Prepare for dinner...beans again, who guessed it!??!
Then praise time (my ABSOLUTE favorite) we have a shaker and drum and sing and dance and pray to Jesus till we sweat ( I love it and need that time)
Then we spend the last hour of the day sharing stories and riddles, or we play a small game, or go lay in the field
Then I get them in their bunk beds by 9, and read them a "Jesus Calling for kids Devotion" and sometimes even sing them a song ha (which is always humbling)
Then they snooze.
I go back into the kitchen and prepare the beans for the next day. Wash/sort, if they haven't been sorted by the kids...and sit by the box of coals and wait for a little while to let them heat.
Then I sleep......praise Jesus.
Nothing too grand, pretty ordinary right?
However, this is what I have learned about the ordinary and our humanness: I agree with Solomon entirely. Everything is meaningless under the sun, except serving and pleasing God. Serving brings the greatest joy. So although I am doing ordinary things everyday, nothing thrilling at all, just serving ones that haven't known love for a while, it still leaves me incredibly full. I feel like I am working the muscles of the Spirit of God. And my insides are singing. Its not really about the specifics I don't think....God isn't necessarily concerned with Opio getting bathed and clean, but He does care that Opio gets served and loved, and that I partake in the freeing act of laying down my time, desires, and life for another. Now I see the kind of joy that reaped from simple sacrifice.
What do people gain from all their labors under the sun?
Temporary happiness
What do people gain from laboring for the Lord Jesus?
A Really Profound Joy........fancy for talking about that mystery inside you, when you have served and then you feel like you lack nothing, and you delight in God and you can feel him delighting in you, and you feel free.
So, all you moms out there, I devote this blog to you. You're the real deal.
Also, would like to share with you some exciting news....I have extended my stay here in Lira. I will know be spending a year here, and will return to the USA either in Nov. or Dec. Yay!
Also, if anyone would like to send me some small NT's, they would be a HUGE help here. We can talk about how that would look, just shoot me an email if you are interested :)
Thank you for your prayers and care for me,
Lovingly,
G
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Here is some pics of some of the new kids....a sweet group
Margaret and me...the only two gals
Meet Denis, Walter, Denis, Anthony, and Joshua
This is Bosco, stubborn but great, love this kid
