I am finally here in Uganda with my family!!

So the week leading up to me leaving the U.S., was CRAZY! I had a list of things that I needed to accomplish before leaving, including shopping, getting my car smog checked for registration renewal, trying to prepare for my long term sub, and putting a last load of stuff into storage, all while trying to teach full time, coach, visit a few friends, and pack. Not to mention the cross-country meet I went to on Friday night and the family reunion I attended on Saturday right before getting dropped off at the airport Saturday evening to board the plane to Uganda. One of the best surprises was my mom and sister surprising me at the airport before I left (I didn't think I was going to get to see them before I left!) Although the last week felt like a whirlwind, I experienced so many blessings and so much support from friends and family, and I am finally here in Uganda with my family.

Leading up to this trip, Jamesdon and I have been so blessed to be part of such an amazing community, made up of family and friends that fully support us. It is crazy to think that with this trip comes so much uncertainty, yet we are so confident in God’s plan for Daniel’s life and we recognize that although there is uncertainty for us, God has it all figured out. Although we were not planning on this trip, God has spent the last 2 years allowing us to strengthen our marriage, our family, and become part of such an amazing community of people, in order to prepare us for this trip. He has also prepared many of you as our friends and family by letting you fall in love with Daniel the same way we did 4 years ago.

For those of you that do not know, I am a full-time Chemistry teacher at Beckman High School and the biggest blessing I personally received this week was from the staff and students at my school. On Friday, my last day at work before leaving, we had our Homecoming Assembly and in the middle of the assembly they put a picture up of me and my family and one of the ASB students gave a quick update on what was happening with my family. They asked me to come down so they could give me 3 big bags of stuff including snacks for the trip, toys for my little guys, and a target gift card. As I was walking down to the gym floor the cheers and support from the students was overwhelming, and yes I did cry a little! Throughout the day my students continued to show their support by bringing me cards, cupcakes, balloons, filling up my white-board with notes, all letting me know that I will be missed! On top of all of that, at the end of the day, I was given two cards from the staff and, knowing that my leave is entirely unpaid, they took up a collection for our family, to help support us while we are here and yes, I cried again! For those of you that are teachers, you know that teaching is a profession that does not allow for a significant amount of time spent with your co-workers and although this is true, I feel like I am absolutely supported by each and every person that I work with. It was absolutely overwhelming to know that I have so much support from my school as I embark on this adventure to finalize our adoption of Daniel.

With all of that said, I arrived here on Monday morning at 7:30 (Uganda time) which was 9:30pm Sunday night (California time) and hit the ground running! Well, not really running, I was completely exhausted, and feeling a little under the weather! Instead of going straight to our apartment, we decided to try to connect with some friends who are leaving for the U.S. on Tuesday, just to try to keep me going! We stopped off to get a bite to eat and then when we returned to the car it wouldn’t start…What a great welcome. Luckily we had friends who did not live far so I jumped on a matatu (taxi) with the boys (which they of course loved) and met up with our friends who happen to own a Japanese restaurant here and cooked us an amazing lunch and then let me crash on their couch for about 2 hours! So thankful that this is a place we know well and that we were able to get a hold of a mechanic who was very close by and was able to get the car running after a quick trip into the city and less than $25 worth of work. All that said, we never made it to our friends house we were intending to go to, but it was a great first day.

We are hoping to meet with the lawyer this week, but as of now, there are no updates about the court date. In the meantime, we are just enjoying being together as a family!

"God, let my faith be real!"

At a church service earlier this year, I was in the middle of worship, and all of a sudden looked up and thought “This is all fake.” Instantly, I not only didn’t feel God’s presence, but completely doubted His existence. With that one thought my whole world seemed to be flipped upside down and my joy was stripped from me immediately. It was the scariest feeling I have ever had. Could it be that the last 9 years of my life I had wholeheartedly believed in something that wasn’t real? I started to rationalize every “God” experience and came up with a logical explanation for what “really” happened in those periods of my life.

Jamesdon was wrecked because if I truly believed that God didn’t exist, it would change everything. How would our marriage last without Jesus being in the center?  How would we raise our kids? What would our lives look like without God being in everything we do? I watched Jamesdon struggle through all of this and because of my commitment to him, I continued to go to church on Sunday’s. Plus there was no way Daniel would have let that one go without questions that I would be unable to answer. I continued to pray with my boys every night (when I tried to sneak out of the room after kissing them goodnight, Daniel would ask “Mama, could you please pray!”  I would try to tell him that I wanted him to pray instead, but he would say “No mama, I like it when you pray”) That was probably the most difficult part; praying to a wall, with absolutely no faith that anyone is listening. 

For two months, God wasn’t distant, He was nonexistent. Because of the complete devastation to my family, I started playing the Devil’s advocate “Okay, so if I don’t believe in God, what do I believe?” As I ran through my options of what I would have to believe if I didn’t believe in God, they all sounded crazy. So one morning I woke up and said “Okay God, I am going to choose you.” Now this was not at all a spiritual moment that had some huge significance in my life, it was just a moment that I decided to follow a God that I was still pretty sure didn’t exist. That weekend at church there was a call for prayer and I forced myself to get up out of my chair and kneel down at the front of the Senior Center. Soon I felt a hand resting on my shoulder, but it took a few minutes before she started praying. When she did start praying, she told me that she felt like God wanted her to tell me that He knows exactly where I am and that He knows that this is not a place of comfort, but that He has me in this place because He wants my faith to be real! So that became my new prayer “God, let my faith be real!” Again, my mind was not changed overnight, but between these two occurrences, I slowly began to feel my joy coming back, and soon enough I was able to be at church and actually worship God again. 

Some people may have called what I experienced “a spiritual attack” but looking back I think it was exactly what God said it was, a period of time in which He shook me so hard that when He was done I had a faith that was more real than I had ever experienced. What better timing than right before all of these issues with Daniel’s adoption. He totally knew what was coming and wanted to make sure that I was ready to follow Him wherever He called us. So that is where I am! Ready to go, with a faith that is undeniably real!

An update…

Jamesdon and the boys leave on August 28^th and I will leave on September 21^st (3 ½ weeks after).  We have had an overwhelming amount of support that has continued since our last post and are incredibly excited for what God has in store for us in Uganda. The fundraiser this past Friday at The Baguetier (Simply Layered Cake Designs) in Huntington Beach, was another overwhelming and amazing expression of generosity by our community and also just another way for God to be glorified in the middle of a city that desperately needs to experience God. For anyone who was there when Daniel was worshipping alongside Will and Sally know exactly what I mean when I say that God was on display! We are so incredibly thankful for all of the people who continue to support our family in prayer. When we first started to realize what was happening with all of Daniel’s paperwork we had no idea how we would be able to afford this trip, and here we are a week away from leaving with the majority of our trip fully covered, plane tickets, visas, vaccinations and lawyer fees included! Although there is still an uncertainty about the length of our stay, we are certain that God has us covered for however long He wants us to stay!

Please continue to pray for…

• Preparations to leave (packing up our house into storage and tying up loose ends)
• The 20 plus hours Jamesdon will spend on the plane with the boys (this does not include layovers and traveling time to and from the airports.)
• Our family being apart for nearly 4 weeks (Jamesdon being a “single” dad in Uganda)
• A court date
• That are hearts will be ready to love the people of Uganda and that our ears would hear and our eyes would see how God wants to use our family to further His kingdom.

...:::last two weeks = AWESOME:::...

A few months ago I was approached by Jeff Atherstone, the principal at Gaba Bible Institute (GBI), to join him and an American film crew in the creation of a handful of promo videos for ARM. I didn't really think much of it at the time, but have got to say that I feel so blessed to have gotten the chance to work on such a noteworthy project.

The First week had us all over Kampala shooting various projects and getting stories by the people affected by them and those affecting change. The stories have been so incredible and a true testament to what God's doing over here!
This week has taken the four of us, Jeff Atherstone, Jacob Lewis, Jeff Henson, and myself, to the North of the country. First Soroti, and then Lira. We've been documenting the struggles that Ugandan pastors face on a daily basis, and I gotta say it's really opened my eyes! It seems I've come so accustom to noticing the young and the sick, that I've never really thought about the welfare of the shepherds. It's really crazy to realize that almost every pastor here has had no training what so ever, and since their not really looked at as a big investment by their village, no one is willing to send them to bible school. Seems a bit strange but here's how it traditionally works;
A community will come together to fund a village member who shows a good amount of potential in the hope that that vary member will then return home and get a good paying job. That person is then expected to turn around and fund others in the community to enable them to achieve the same thing. The problem with this system is that most Ugandan's know that a full time pastor will most likely end up a poor man, making it less enticing to want to send them to school. It's a scary thing to think about since these figure heads are the ones looked to in times of crisis but will be the first to tell you how ill-equipped they are. 
That's why this week has been so great! Not only have I been able to work with an amazing group of guys on a fantastic team, but I've also grown in an understanding of what the church here really needs. Equipped Leaders!
I now want to ask you for two things...
First and foremost, PRAY!
Pray for the conditon of the church nt only here in Uganda, but at home and all over the world. Pray that God brings healing and colaberation to the many communities that are the church.
Secondly, I would ask that anyone who reads this will take a look at what GBI is doing and really consider how easy it could be for you to take part in the transformation!