We have lived in Uganda for more than 8 years. It’s the longest time we have lived anywhere since we’ve been married. We came to Uganda in our early 30s with a “just turned 3-year old” toddler. I can look back on the transition and think of what a mess it was. It was intense! Yet God was SO faithful in everything: from our financial support, prayer team, overseeing church, families’ blessings, and even our belongings being shipped across the world to arrive in Africa the same day we landed in Uganda (which is truly crazy and amazing all at the same time). We had great teammates who let us stay with them for a few weeks while we made adjustments to get our house ready for us to move into. They let us process the LONG days of culture experiences; they let us ask a million questions about life here; they fed us because there were rats in our oven; they let us vent when we didn’t understand what was really go on in a cultural situation; they drove us places while we sorted out getting vehicles; they celebrated with us when things went well; they helped us transition to our new life here.
While there were several frustrating and intense days during our first years of living here, we can still look back on the time with fondness. Leland traveled ALOT! We battled ants and rats in our home, started learning a local language, I figured out how to be a stay-at-home mom in a new culture where everything is SO different from America – all while trying to keep our very fiesty 3-year old alive in the midst of potty training and adjusting to a new shift in her entire world. It was HARD! But it made us stronger, more faithful, more long-suffering. We discovered we can endure and thrive in ways we never imagined possible. We grow some of our food in our garden; we make our food truly from scratch; Leland speaks in multiple different languages (mostly greetings but it makes a huge impact on relationships); we have built relationship with people in town, with the mission staff, the many discipleship groups, and all the churches we are connected with.
We have figured out how to live well. We are still faced with “TIA” (This is Africa) days and we will never fully understand the culture since it’s so different from our own, but we have discovered the difference between just surviving and thriving. I think Jesus wants us to thrive, not just survive. When we are serving Him – wherever it may be, however it may be, whatever it may be – I truly believe Jesus wants us to be living our best lives in Him. He wants us thriving because when we are thriving, we are filled with joy and faith. And even in those HARD days, we can survive because on most days we are thriving. So my question to you is… Are you just surviving or are you thriving? What needs to change in your life so that you may thrive in Jesus Christ? I pray you find your ways to thrive.