Life is full of God's Faithfulness and Goodness

This week I have been overwhelmed with how I have seen so much of God's goodness and faithfulness while I have been here. He has been so faithful in answering my/our prayers and in consuming all of my fears. Here is a list of 10 things I am thankful for: (by the way, they are not in any order)

1) That the Blackhawks are in the Conference Finals!!!! (Yes... I pray for them!)

I have a special place in my heart for the handshake line at the end of each playoff series.

2) That the internet works even when there is no electricity! (There is currently no power)

3) My friends Phiona and Leslie. How amazing is it that 2 friends that I met here will be living in the north Chicago suburbs!!!!!! Phiona has been mentioned on my blog a few times. She is marrying my (2nd/3rd... not quite sure how all that works) cousin from the States. Andrew met Phiona when he was working here before I came. When he heard I was coming he introduced me to Phiona via facebook. She has been one of the most amazing friends as she understands my American culture but also gives me great insights into the Ugandan culture. Leslie is a wonderful teacher with AIM that works in Mbarara. I was there when she met her fiance, and I am so thankful they will settle for now in Vernon Hills!!!

With Andrew and Phiona at their Introduction Ceremony  back in November

4) I am so thankful for my students here at the school. I learn more from them every day that I  work with them. They are teaching me patience, kindness, love, and so much more! I just love working with them

5) Along with number 4, I am thankful that God changed my heart about working and staying at Kireka Home. I did not share about this back in September, but when I first visited Kireka Home I was scared to death to go back. You can ask any one of my friends here and they will tell you that God did a number on my heart between when I that visit and my first week there. It was just unlike any place I had ever been. I knew though that God would not call me somewhere and leave me there, and he proved to be faithful. I am so glad that he called me here!

Remember this picture? It is the one on my prayer card. I remember when all these faces were just some kids in Africa, and now they are all people that I know and love!

6) I am so blessed to have moved to Africa with such a wonderful organization as AIM. I have such a great support system with them. Even though the women that is in charge of the special needs ministry in Uganda has been gone for over half of my time here, the people and AIM never let me feel as if I was alone. I am so thankful for the relationships I have built with other AIM missionaries and hope that many of them will be life long friends! 

I had been here for less than a month last October, and all these lovely ladies with AIM threw me a wonderful surprise birthday party!

7) One of my biggest prayer requests when I came was that God would bless me with a friend shortly after I arrived. God has blessed me with some wonderful Ugandan friends and I am so thankful for each one of them! They do pick on me and my American ways endlessly.... but I love them dearly and am so thankful for them! And for the record some of them have come to enjoy some of my American ways! Things like playing UNO, watching Nicholas Sparks movies, nail painting and eating  chocolate have become well loved. 

My wonderful friend Christine

8) While I really miss each of you, I am very thankful that I have only had two moments in the last 9 months of feeling really homesick. One day I had just hit my maximum for dealing with a different culture and wanted to run as far away as possible, but thankfully a few hours later God helped me to allow all that to pass and once again be thankful for my time here.

9) One thing I have enjoyed here is living at work... that sounds strange, but it equals no hour long morning commute! That means I have had no excuse to not spend time with God each and every morning. I have come to look forward to sitting quietly with my Bible during breakfast and spending time with God. In the States, I often felt like doing this was something was was suppose to do over being something I wanted to do. I really miss when I do not get to start my day that way. I hope this is a habit that I will not go back on when moving home!

10) I am extremely thankful to all of you. Whether it is your prayers, your skype chats, your emails, packages, Facebook messages, letters, or your financial support, I am so thankful for each one of you. I have felt so well loved while being here and definitely not forgotten!

Just an example of how much you all have blessed me! And I didnt start this til Christmas so it excludes all the birthday cards and other love sent before then!

11) As a bonus.... I am so thankful for the teachers children as well. I just love each of them so much and they make me feel so loved each and every day. I am going to miss them dearly. After being gone for 2 weeks little Esther would not let me put her down. I was going to the market to buy bananas and had to carry her the whole way. It also resulted in her taking a 2 hour nap at my house last week when her mom was away from the school..

Esther sleeping on my couch

Jeremiah, Nussels, Desire, and Esther (Seriously.. you cannot not love those sweet faces!)

And since the kids are back... Meet some of the Kids!

Seemboga

Seemboga does not like me very much, but he loves my veranda. He use to follow the old head teacher around endlessly, but when she moved on to a different job, his spot became my veranda. In fact, even if I come home and he is not there, I usually can tell that he has been there because he likes to find garbage and shove it under the door!!Another thing about Seemboga is he is one of the strongest people I know! He had to get a shot one day and it took four of us to hold him down!!!

Seemboga hanging out by my door

Doris
Doris is a really sweet girl. She is in the most advanced group and is working on learning to sew in class. Doris enjoys coming with Lucky and Sumaya after school and play games with me. One thing I love about Doris is she is willing to help me with whatever I ask without even batting an eye!

With Doris on her first day back to school

Winstone
Winstone is quite interesting. I originally started seeing him for physical therapy because he has so much joint stiffness and swelling in all of his joints. He looks like a teenager with severe arthritis! So when a physician visited the school I asked him to figure out the cause of the joint damage. The doctor explained to me that if anti-psychotics are prescribed without proper vitamins it could cause joint damage. I learned something new that day! However, Winstone does not seem to have any pain and is fully functional. He loves to walk around the school and fine all pieces of wire and make toys. However, he literally REFUSES to put his things down. His house mom has tried to take them away while he is sleeping and he will wake up! I was trying to have him hold his toy for you in this picture, but he got scared that I was trying to take it and hid it in his pocket!

Winstone

Well that's all for now. I hope you all enjoyed a burger on Memorial Day for me! Thanks for everything!