Resting in Glasgow

As many of you know one of my dear friends is living in Scotland for a year. Dani and her husband Ben are working with Harvest Bible Church here in Glasgow. The church in Scotland is dying and many churches have closed or have less than 50 people in attendance. So Dani and Ben are living life here and trying to be intentional about every conversation they have. You can check out their blog here.

Dani has been a wonderful blessing from The Lord. I first met her in 7th grade at Camp Zion. We stayed in touch as we grew up and went to Camp together during the summers and some winters. I remember AOL Instant Messaging (remember that??) with her when we were seniors in high school and we both had applied to two of the same colleges. And then God put us both at UW-LaCrosse together and were were inseparable after that! The crazy thing is our freshman year we were at missions week at the church when we were attending in LaCrosse when they called for anyone who felt called to be a missionary to come up front. Well... the holy spirit led both of us up front and here is Dani spending a year in Scotland and I just finished my year in Uganda. It is just one of those friendships that you know God had his hand in the whole way and I am incredibly blessed to be her friend.

With Dani our freshman year at UW-LaCrosse

So far the week has been quite relaxing as Dani is now 9 months pregnant and ready to have her baby. But truthfully after the last 2 weeks of being crazy busy and emotionally drained after saying so many good byes it is nice to have some time of rest with Dani. We did go out today to walk around downtown Glasgow and I literally wanted to buy EVERYTHING! Things I would never buy at home I just want to buy because they are there and I could since I havent seen anything similar in the past year. Do not fear thankfully I have NO room to take anything additional home as my suitcases are all at their max weight so I have just been window shopping. :)

In downtown Glasgow... yes with Starbucks :) And yes I am aware that I absolutely do not match... its COLD here!

We made a some Lego people for a few special boys in Uganda (you can see them below) - by the way, did you all know you could make Lego people!!! :)

Downtown Glasgow is really pretty and has lots of old buildings

And my last few good byes before I left Uganda:

I spent my last night with the Howley family that run Matoke Inn. This is a really special family to me as I came to Uganda at the same time as the Howleys. We went through language training, culture shock, and learning life in Uganda together.

These girls were hard to say good bye to. They have been a wonderful support system to me. We have laughed, shared our frustrations, sought out the best Western food in Kampala, prayed for each other, and supported one another in our separate ministries over the past year. I am very thankful for each of them.

Well thats all for now. Next time you hear from me will be when you see me back home!!! I cant wait! Pray for safe travels on Monday and then a good time of debrief Tuesday morning in Atlanta before I head back home Tuesday afternoon.

Top 10 Things I Will Miss in Uganda

I am now remaining with just 2 whole days in Uganda. I absolutely cannot believe that one year of my life has passed. How could it go by so quickly????? It took me 6 months to be fully comfortable with life in Uganda and 6 months after that I  become completely content with life here only for it to be time for me to pack up and come home.

TOP 10 Things I will miss about Uganda:

10. Living where I work - I NEVER thought I would say this, but it is really nice to live where you work. Instead of an hour commute on both ends of your work day I have just a 10 second walk!!!

The teachers kids at Kireka Home

9. Tropical produce!!! I love that I can eat mangoes, yummy small sweet bananas, papayas, pineapple, passion fruits, and avocados daily and it is affordable! 

8. 12 hour Sunshine - This sounds crazy, but once you get use to the sun being up from 7am til 7pm it makes your life easier - if the sun is up you are working - once the sun goes down it is time to go home! I do miss my long summer nights at home, but 7 - 7 sunshine is far easier than daylight savings and mostly dark winter days!

7. Boda Bodas - Yes I said it! I love that I can call a friend and have a personal driver at my house in 10 minutes... he can weave in and out of traffic and pass all those cars and they get you there in less than half the time of a car! (Yes I know they are not safe but I am ignoring that part!)

My wonderful boda driver Solango

6. Grocery Shopping is only a 2 minute walk away! You know those days where you get home from work and realize you did not plan well for dinner and do not have what you need. I love that when i do that (almost every day) I can just walk to my friend Prossey's store and come up with everything I need to make a basic dinner!

Prossey's store

5. Loving on kids with special needs - I know I will be able to do this at home, but it is so special to be able to love on these kids here because many of them are not love on at home. 

My kids at Kireka Home

4. The Mugwanya family - Francis and Andrienne's ministry with Fathers Heart Mobility has been my absolute favorite part of ministry here. I am so thankful to be able to join them on their outreach trips and share in their passion for showing people with disabilities and their families how much God loves and cares for them. They have been wonderful friends and a wonderful support system! 

With Francis, Adrienne and Hannah at a distribution to a children's home for children with disabilities last Thursday

Assembling chairs with Sabrina, Adrienne and Adrienne's friend visiting from Canada

Ragiba (sp) a sweet little 5 year old girl with severe sickle cell. She cannot walk because are bones are too brittle and keep fracturing. But she could really smile and warm your heart!

3. My AIM Family - This group of missionaries have been a wonderful support system while I have been here. They are people that I can call whenever there is a problem and people that I can rely on. There have been good friends that I can meet for dinner to laugh with and good friends that I can be accountable to. I am so thankful for my AIM family!!

With Cassandra and Heidi two full termers with AIM

2. Esther - Yes do not judge me but this little girl stole my heart and I will miss her following me around everyday. I will miss her coming and knocking on my door so early that she has to join me for breakfast, I will miss her accompanying me as I walk around the neighborhood doing my shopping, and I will even miss her making a huge mess of all my therapy toys while I am trying to do PT with another child.

Just found this old picture from Esther in January... she has gotten so big!!

Esther playing with a singing card while I packed on Friday

1. And I am sure this will come as no shock to all of you - Most of all I will miss all of my wonderful Ugandan friends. It is very hard to say good bye especially since I do not know if I will every see many of them again. God has given me such a wonderful family here and I am so thankful for the relationships with everyone I have met here. I am so thankful for Kireka Home as they completely welcomed me in and made me one of their own. I am so thankful for each and every student and staff member there and I will miss them terribly! 

With Margret and Matthew

This is my last post from Uganda! I will try my best to do my usual Friday post this week, but will be posting from Scotland! Please be praying for my travels this week - I leave Uganda on Wednesday morning.

I cannot thank each of you enough for your prayers, love and support over the past year! I pray that God blesses each one of you!