Finding it....

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

To have water AND electricity is awesome…to have water AND electricity AND not get stuck in the road by the gate would be phenomenal. Let’s pray for that to happen the rest of my days here in Ug.

Yes, it takes 10 men to push the van out of the road….it rained a little more than I had thought. PG for the construction workers – only one asked for something…the rest were just kind and went back to their work when they were done helping. I need to find a way to appreciate them.

Time seems to just BE around here. The concept of time just isn’t the same. It seems slow but moves quickly. Reminds me of a marathon runner….they run a long distance but their pace is quicker than my shorter distances!!:) Waking up at 6 am seems to be the only way to get things done before 6pm.

Office work today was actually great and productive. All three of us got a lot done –we were actually quiet! Probably didn’t help that I just gave everyone a list and a half of things to do and reports are due coming up soon…haha. I am so excited for what our team is working on and our attitudes to it all. Some pretty stinken awesome stuff will be coming out of Team Gulu…just you wait. And yes, I think I need to make t-shirts that say Team Gulu on them. Becca, wanna help me in May? ;)

Got to Tegot and then picked up Scov for more treatments. On our way out of school and boda driver ran into head on with a bicyclist. Both FLEW up in the air and landed hard. The boda hooted (honked) as you are supposed to when you want someone to move over, but he did it so late and was driving so fast that the man on the bike, who was already injured, had no time to do so. It was ugly. The boda driver tried to blame it on the biker! Everyone was ok - just lots of scratches and many bruises. I helped clean the wounds with peroxide but that was it. I felt bad I didn’t do more for them but I had a child to take care of and quite honestly they were ok. So back to town; Mary went with me this time and it was lovely to just hangout with her. I think I will make a point to do that more often. She is so unbelievably wonderful, strong and loving. She is such a mother. Great lady – love her to pieces! Little Anena fell asleep in the van so we just continued to talk.

When we got to the clinic we saw one of the nice doctors from Sunday – she even remembered Anena’s name!! I told her we missed her and would like to work with her from now on. She then checked Anena really quick and noticed she was very warm – so she recommended we get her checked for malaria since it is going around in the village right now. She came back negative – PG! Then we went to get the wound cleaned and the nice nurse was there from Sunday!! I told her we missed her and appreciate her. She did a great job and was very compassionate. Scovia was a different patient – still with many tears, crying and screaming, but not as bad. The lady was awesome. The wound slowly is looking better but we will have to extend treatments to Friday now instead of just Wednesday. Pray for quick healing!

Got back to the village (we aren’t supposed to call it camp anymore per the government since they want people to resettle and are not supporting the IDP camps anymore) to drop Scov off and pick up the rest of the team. Saw Piloya and her wound is healing nicely!! Her mom is using the tea soak – PG! And Okot’s eye is doing so much better! PG! Ok, so this morning I sent out everyone’s to do list for the next two weeks. Well, since we were a bit late Simon took it upon himself to start the list early and talk to the headmaster about us using the unused room for our programs, a library and community resource center – to which we got a resounding YES! PG!! Simon and I will talk more tomorrow but doors are opening!! PG! Just more confirmation on my ministry in Tegot…how cool!!! Pray for ideas and funds to come in for this project. It will be a lot but it would be amazing for the village!! More things to come as it unfolds. But be in prayer for us on this please!

Showers are amazing…not heated ones though. I like the cold showers here. Heck, I just like running water. To do dishes and make some good macaroni and cheese (thanks Lorella for the cheese!!) with tomatoes and ranch dressing is just great. Then to be able to do some laundry…oh running water is nice. Can I say that again? Running water is so nice.

People have been sending me random encouraging messages lately – nothing big except to realize more and more how amazing our God is. I can’t believe that He chose me here. But what is cooler is that before He wanted me to do this, He wanted me to Himself. (thanks Anna and Horst!) I just want to know more and more what it is to be drawn closer to Him. As I have been holding Anena Scovia tightly during these past few days I just come to realize how tightly He has been holding me. When I wasn’t sure which way was up or what really was in my heart or how I truly felt about anything and anyone, He tightly held me and allowed me to wriggle in the pain that I was wrapped in while He healed me. The healing process was long and hard and unexpected but the wounds are no longer there. I fully see redemption and understand transformation and the fight Satan tries to punish me through that he just can’t win anymore because my God has healed me. I can’t pick a scab that no longer is there. It is gone. Man, that is sweet. All I absolutely want is Him and to be a reflection of Him. I don’t need things, situations or even people to make that happen…it is the relationship with Him that my eyes want to be fixed on – I want to say “God, give me whatever You want to survive and take whatever You want from to survive” and trust that EVERYTHING is perfectly done His way. All I know is that everything I thought I wanted I have no desire for – absolutely no desire except for my God and His people. I was once told that it will be interesting to see how I change through this experience, this road I am on now. At the time I didn’t think I could really change that much…oh was I wrong. Everything from that moment the comment was made to now is so unbelievably different and that was just a few months ago! My perspectives are so different. I can’t imagine my life without Ug. I can’t imagine it not being in my life. What’s more I can’t imagine my life without Him. I stand in awe of the God of the universe. The Beginning and the End. The Alpha and the Omega. The Creator and Father. The Healer and Redeemer. The Lover and Friend. The Discipliner and the Forgiver. He is good…so good. His Kingdom is real people….very real. Find It. Be in It.