a slice of humble pie.

[sorry if my title is corny...I am exhausted and it made me smile!]

Hannah is playing guitar right now...and it is so soothing. Collin is laughing outside. The echos of laughing children still ring in my ears. My feet are dirty from the red dust and my eyes are tired from no sleep. But, I am feeling peace return to my life. Like the changing of the seasons (which does not happen here) my heart and priorities and expectations are slowly changing. Peace and joy are returing. Oh how I have missed you! I am so glad the Lord cares about the small details of me and is in tune with my every need. It is a freeing thing. To give Him control. I have been reading through Mere Christianity by CS Lewis and here is one of my favorite quotes so far.
"The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection" Apply that to your life...and see where it takes you!

This weekend was a whirlwind of activity. Saturday we had home visits for our sponsor kids. I was paired with Jayan and we had 10 kids to visit around Ntinda. The first house we went to was the lady that cleans our house, Mama Louis, aka Sarah. Her son Louis is ADORABLE and he had just learned the parts of his body in English. They lived in a 6' x 8' room with one bed, a bench, a chair, and a cabinet for dishes. That is it. She spent her hard earned money buying us sodas and rolls. We had to ask a lot of questions and his answers were hysterical. He is 4 and when you ask a 4year old what his goals are for the next 2 months be ready for a great answer. His goal was to get a soda!! Most of the houses were similar in shape and size. Some had more than 2 people living in that size house. Even the biggest and nicest house we went to we would consider "condemened". Many of the kids suffered from recurring illnesses and they have no way of going to the doctor. Many of them told us that they would go days without eating yet they served us drinks and a snack. Humbled. One jaja (grandma) has aids and was thrown out of her house by her step children [a common practice]. Many when asked if they needed anything replied with either a bible or maybe a pair of shoes because they did not have any. I don't even know how many shoes I own. The culture here is just so fascinating.

On another note we have become friends with a girl named Genny. She lives about 5 minutes from our house. She is here with an organization called Sent International. Her official title is Deaf Blind Consultant for Uganda. That is right for the whole country and she is only 25. She is soooo passionate about what she is doing and it is truly inspiring. She makes me want to find something that I am passionate about! We go to the Ntinda School of the Deaf once a week and she has been teaching us sign language. I am a visual learner and I am picking it up rather quickly!!
Monday was Nsambia Babies Home! I finally got peed on. Christine who would not leave my side peed on me TWICE! She laughed both times....and so did I. The babies there are so sweet and love our attention. They call us "mommy" and it breaks my heart. I wish I had enough money to buy them diapers for a year. Instead of them peeing all over the place! Today we went to Victory Primary and Kierka High School. It was a good day but many of us were really tired. I am getting used to living here now. I finally feel like I know my way around for the most part. I know where the samosa lady is, where the rolex man is [chipati with eggs and veggies rolled up], the store, the best place to buy produce, etc. Ok, it is getting close to dinner and I am off to spend time with the girls and maybe make some african tea!