A Glimpse of Life in Mbale, Uganda

We drove through town and realized several people would probably like to see what we see every day. So here is a small glimpse of our life… Continue reading

The feeling of being overwhelmed…

We were told about it and we were trained for it, but nothing could prepare us for the feeling of total helpless in a place so new and so different.

IMG_5684We have had to rely on our team for housing, for food, to go anywhere, to help clear our container, to schedule picking up our dog, to know who to contact to help get our new home ready, to go to the market or to the bank or to the supermarket… Continue reading

The Move is Here

What a whirlwind of travel and emotions! We spent our time the weekend before alternating between stressing over packing all of our stuff, finding time to see family and friends one more time and enjoying quality time with our parents before we left. We were blessed to have parents who enjoyed hanging out with Adalyn while we packed. It turns out it’s a lot harder to pack to move across the world than we imagined… IMG_5628
And this was just the stuff we accumulated after we shipped our container. But we did it with 9 free bags and only 1 of them overweight. Once we made it through the weekend, it was time to say goodbyes and that was so difficult. Continue reading

Good Goodbyes

As the goodbyes are ramping up, we are realizing just how hard it is to say goodbye. It’s not just the act of telling people we love goodbye because we’ll miss them, but goodbye seems so permanent and we are learning that most of us humans have a hard time with that. Even when saying goodbye to people we know we’ll never see again and we’re ok with that, we still find ourselves saying “see you later” even after we’ve tried to say goodbye. It’s an interesting aspect of our human nature. Continue reading

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Card 2015One of our family values is making the Christmas season about more than gifts. This year, Adalyn was able to enjoy the festivities with us and we decided to give to people within our community. Continue reading

Love just one…

A few months ago, we had lunch with some friends who are doing amazing ministry with the homeless community in Boulder. They are missionaries, serving in their community, so I feel blessed to learn from them. Our conversation still comes back to me and is a daily reminder.

We were talking about how easy it is to get overwhelmed with the need and desire to serve everyone, to minister to everyone, to love everyone. Continue reading

“Are you excited?”

That has been the question most frequently asked. And I hesitate every time e1e42101c4a1d59e2862501b9d612995it’s asked. While I know God has called us to Uganda and He has been incredibly faithful and affirming to lead the way for us, our team is excited and encouraging about us coming soon, and we have so many people praying for us on a daily basis, I am still processing through all that it means for us to move across the world… Continue reading

What’s next…

Ants in the Sugar Bowl by Elizabeth Givens

So send I you
   To ants in the sugar bowl,
   To things that fly, creep and crawl into the house,
   To uncertain water, sporadic electricity.
   To long hours, sweltering heat, exhausting days,
   To uncomfortable vehicles, crowded jeeps, smelly buses.
   To noisy early, early mornings,
   To rice, rice and more rice.
   To poverty you didn’t believe existed,
   To masses of people like you have never seen,
   To know and work with people who have never known comfort,
So send I you, and I expect you to adjust.

So send I you
   To people who will give to you from their poverty,
   To friends who will embarrass you with their generosity,
   To pastors who will entertain you from their lack, with beauty.
   To hungry, receptive, questioning people who want to know God,
   To study, to teach, to learn from your study and teaching,
   To prove your own motives, values and beliefs,
   To learn about yourself and the culture that has reared you,
   To know God and to understand more deeply dependence on Him,
So send I you. Are you going? I’ll go with you all the way.

Continue reading

On to cultural training…

IMG_4544We have said our “see you laters” to our friends and family in the Boulder area. We have packed our stuff and loaded our car. We have sent Jezebel back to Texas with Leland’s parents until we return from training. We have been so blessed by our time here. It has been IMG_2516so encouraging to reunite and build new relationships with so many loving and caring people. Continue reading

God makes ordinary extraordinary

As most of you know, we are normal people with every day struggles, strengths and weaknesses. If you know us well, you are very familiar with our weaknesses, but still love us. We realized very early on in this transition to become missionaries in Uganda that we are not special Continue reading