So, how's it going?

So many of you have asked how we are doing and if we are glad to be back. Well to be honest, we weren't sad to be gone. HA! I know what you mean though. I am working on thank you cards to mail out, hopefully by August. Have mercy, I did not know it would take so long to get life going again! 

In June, I didn’t realize it till later, but my mind was racing 1000 miles per hour as we settled into Brent's parent's house trying to remember we didn't have to remove our shoes before going inside and that really was okay to brush our teeth with water from the tap. We took naps and went to bed early. Breanna washed the dishes with cold water because she wanted to save the hot water. I kept having to remind her that here we didn't run out of hot water as fast so she needed to wash the dishes with hot water. Speaking of fast, fast food doesn’t taste as good as it did before, even though we kept eating it. I think it was the convenience of it.

We took a week at the beach with family. I could have used two weeks. And at the end of June, we house sat for my parents while they toured the Ark and the Creation Museum. Brent and Bre laid new hardwood floors in their house. We also binge-watched Gourmet Murder Mysteries and Signed, Sealed, Delivered on the Hallmark Channel, so it felt like a glorious four day stay-vacation.

We blinked our eyes and now it's July. I started back to work at our church. It was good timing. We finally decided on a house to rent. We should be able to move in sometime in August. We are registering the girls for school, although rumor has it that schools will be closed by September or October. And I keep wishing for another week at the beach. Then like magic, one day this month I woke up and my thoughts weren’t racing around. It felt calm in my brain. Apparently, your brain takes awhile to process some things in life. I guess we are settled enough that mine thought it was time, all on it’s own – without my permission, to start sorting thru the past seven months. The nerve.

I started writing down all the events and things that have happened in our lives for the past two years. All these processing thoughts needed somewhere to go. Writing them down in story form is the best way for me to give them somewhere to go. But also, I don’t want to forget the details of all that God has done. God is so cool. It’s so good to tell about His faithfulness and works.  I might share some here when I get all finished, but then it might just be a tell-all novel of our life, but you know how those always go over so well, so maybe not. HA!

Here is what I have processed so far, I am sad and kind of wondering what the point was for things not to work out like what seemed right to me. I’m not sad all the time, mostly our life is working, eating, laughter, and sorting out arguments between sisters. But sometimes in the quiet, like just before falling asleep, I realize the depth of the what was lost.

 It’s long, confusing, and hard to explain, unless that tell-all novel comes out.

We had hopes that we might salvage our organization's affiliation with the House of Hope in Uganda  but sadly it did not. We lost the school, but not because we didn't fight for it. We put forth every effort to make it possible for our organization to continue directing, funding, and serving that school. If we had pursued any further legal action, the school would have closed/stopped until the case was resolved and the children would have suffered even further. 

The outcome wasn't fair in our eyes. Trusting the Lord doesn't mean I am not sad or angry sometimes. Satan is a beast and his schemes are designed to "steal, kill, and destroy." 

Why am I sad? People we care about were impacted by the outcome. Some of the original employees and students are no longer associated with the school.  I am sad because we will miss out on the joy of seeing those children learn and knowing their families in that setting. I can be a bit dramatic – I didn’t minor in theatre for nothing – but, I am sad for what might have been.  

One thing I learned is that education (and basketball! )is a wonderful entry into families lives to share the Gospel there.  

I wish you had been able to visit the HOH school. You would have fallen in love. There was Light there. Peace. Hope. A future. Safety. Love. Laughter. Transformation.  All of that so thick, you could almost touch it. But you could most definitely see displayed across faces and hear it in all their voices. It was the kind of beauty you get only after Jesus comes and re-creates old life to new life.

After some time of living in Uganda, I realized that if the school had stayed growing as it was, we probably would have come home, sold the rest of our stuff, and moved to Uganda to work with the school for a few years or more. We could have made a life there. We did make a life there. It wasn’t perfect, but we did love it.

Occasionally, I am mad. Much of our experience was spiritual warfare. Who knew we would move across the sea to go to battle? It's easy to get the tiniest bit angry when remembering the false accusations shared and other things that happened. Those are all ashes on the floor now. We must leave it in the dust and build over it. God gave us grace in the form of friends in Uganda and America who helped us navigate the challenging process. Thankfully, God gave opportunities to continue doing ministry in a different way. 

Ironically, funds that belonged to our organization are missing along with the money of several other individuals who used the same bank. An audit was conducted and determined funds were misappropriated by bank employees. Charges were filed and the thieves identified; however, because of corruption and evil, what we think of as justice, may never happen.

Even though that particular dream was lost, God didn’t lose. When you read in Genesis, you see the unfathomable love and compassion God has for His creations. He sacrificed His life for all He created, so you know there is no possible way He can lose the war. Even the battles that seem lost, He still wins, because He turns it all for good and His glory. His glory will never see shame or loss.

Beauty comes from ashes, so we aren’t finished in Uganda. New things are on the horizon. We will not be living there full-time, but there will be more trips. Hopefully, you can come along with us. I can guarantee that having twenty Ugandan children come running to hug you, hold your hand, or rub your arm – all the while yelling, waving, smiling, and laughing that they get to see a Mzungu (white person) will be one of your favorite parts of the whole trip. So get ready!