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.
So What IS Missionary Training?
We really had no clue coming into this. We didn’t know what to expect. Our team members in Mbale raved about it but gave us very little details. So we showed up with our car full of stuff, our 2-1/2 year old, and a lost look on our face. And now, near the end of the second week of our training, we are starting to get into a rhythm here. Sort of. Continue reading
On to cultural training…
We 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 
so 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
It’s been a BIG, BIG month!!!
For those of you who don’t receive our monthly e-newsletter, click here to sign up and get all the updates.
Since ALOT has happened this past month, we felt it was worthy of a newsletter and a blog post. We are excited to see how God continues to move.
First of all, we have a rent house in Uganda. I have attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure. The photos are in order from top left to bottom right: panorama of front/back of house, living room, dining room, kitchen & laundry nook, master bedroom & bathroom, Continue reading
I fail… but it’s okay
I don’t know about you but there are times as a mom of a toddler that I feel like I’ve failed. Unfortunately, more times than I want to admit. I only have one child, a little girl, but she’s enough. Leland and I were married 8 years before Adalyn was born so we remember very clearly what life was like before we had a kid. We remember how easy it was to go out on a date, to meet friends on a whim, to get ready in the morning, to run errands whenever we wanted, to live life fairly uncomplicated. And then we had Adalyn… And while we absolutely adore her, life is different and life is sometimes hard. Continue reading
Signs of Adventure
My daughter is pure adventurer. That or a klutz. Adalyn runs everywhere. Everywhere. She jumps and plays and runs. And that means she falls. Often. And so she has bruises, scrapes, cuts, bumps, and boo-boos. They happen. 
And I don’t want my daughter to think that boo-boos are bad or something to be scared of. So one day, I told her that “Boo-boos are signs of adventure.” I don’t know if I made it up or pulled it out of a memory that I had forgotten. But it has stuck in our family. Continue reading
Where is home?
We currently call Colorado our home for the next few months while our stuff resides in Mesquite, Texas with Leland’s parents. We didn’t anticipate all that it entails to be in transition and “homeless.” We are blessed with people who love us and allow us to stay with them, but not having a place to call our own has been challenging. Continue reading
Continuing the transition…
We have made the second move, this one to Colorado for 3 months. It turns out that each transition is a little more emotional because it means we’re a little closer to officially saying “see you later” to so many wonderful people, and I’m not emotionally ready for those moments.
As we were overloading our vehicle for Colorado, I was thinking about our move to Uganda in January and Leland reminded me “That’s something for another day. We have enough to worry about right now.” And we were reminded of what Jesus assures us on a daily basis in Matthew 6:34…“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
While it has been an emotional journey, Continue reading
June Recap…
It has been an emotional week. Got to attend some of our Nichols Family Reunion and see family I hadn’t seen in years. Marked the two year anniversary since my Pops, Steve Piland, died and all the stories and tears that brings. Moved away from our home of seven years in Belton to take the first major transition towards Uganda. Continue reading
Sawyers In Uganda 