A Glimpse of Ugandan Teaching....

So this past Friday, we made the 30 minute trek to the outskirts of Kampala to Bwerenga. I met the much -talked about Mama Catherine and she was just as expected. 

Her face shone with grace and love, and her hug was warmth personified.

We visited the school that serves the children there.

The dirt road that led to the school......

  I got a taste of what it's like to be a Ugandan teacher. I taught a 30 minute language lesson, from impeccable lesson plans handwritten by their teacher, Miss Doreen.  Nervous, I pulled my resources and had a really  fun time teaching about the topics of" accidents". The children got familiar with American words like "nail"  "razor" and I even learned what a "panga" was (a machete in our terms.) 

To say I was amazed at their behavior and interest was an understatement. After I taught, they took their pencils and got to writing in English what we had just learned!  Their papers started out....
Today is (the date)

My name is __________

My teacher is Miss Flo

My school is the ______

No lined paper and their sentences were so straight! (Teachers in America, you know how hard this is...) and these kids were 5, 6, and 7!  Amazing.

 Miss Doreen then got up to teach the rest of her lesson.  I wished she had gone first. Her style of teaching was so energetic - dancing, singing, and full of discipline in love.  She was a light to those children!

On a separate note, Boog had his first experience driving in Kampala!  If anyone knows Uganda, they know that driving here is terrifying.  People come close, cars come closer, no rules and very little regulation!

To sum it up, I think I'm beginning to get a more realistic view of what being a long-term missionary is like.  This trip so far has been a combination of what I did last time (huggin' and lovin' on kids) combined with real life - raising kids, laundry, cooking meals, etc.   That's a good thing to know because "real" is always better than what's in my head......as I've learned on this trip.

This post would be a loss without mentioning our saving grace and house mates, the Jobes. This whole situation would be umpteen times more terrifying if their wisdom and experience weren't being given in mighty doses.  Thank you, Lucas and Colleen! You are a mighty team!

Uganda Livin'....

Here we are. 20 hours across the world. Kampala, Uganda.

The girls did great on the plane ride. Seriously. Boog & I just kept on looking at them in awe.

As soon as we stepped foot in the Entebbe airport, the familiar smells and navigating our way through the confusion came back to me quickly. It almost (almost) felt like home away from home.  We drove through the red dirt streets, saw camels on the side of the road, and my thoughts then turned to "What in the world are we doing here??"   The hard livin' came back to me just as quick.

It took us a while to settle in. Not the girls, of course (noticing a theme?). They took to our housemates' kids like they were long lost buddies.  Here they are eating popcorn together.

 The house we are living in is pretty amazing. The perfect size for two families. Lots of play room and a great, awesome, amazing African backyard. Boog has no problem with that!

 Explorin' in the backyard.

 There's always a beautiful sense of community in Africa. Our house keeper's daughter always pops her head in for a visit. Sharon is quiet, shy, and we have no problem introducing her to our new foods. For instance, I gave her a straight-from-the-oven oatmeal cookie and she rolled in into a ball and started licking it. Sweet Sharon. 

 Sharon & my girls.

 The view from the backyard. That's Kampala through the trees.

 Of course, we give the girls the occassional memory of home. A movie via laptop.

 Sleeping underneath a mosquito net has been no problem.

Not that everything is hunky dory here at all. It's taken all of us 3 days to finally get adjusted to the new time zone.  We've spent most of the three days learning how to live here - buying food from the street market, learning how to do simple things like turn on the oven, getting used to our electricity going out 3 times a day at least, having to iron ALL our clothes that dried on the line (the heat from the iron make sure the bugs and their eggs don't hatch IN your clothes....yeah...even ironing panties), and yes, Grace has even gotten the "Africa's" and thrown up once...although I firmly believe it was really carsickness.

Tomorrow starts our first real day of work. We'll be traveling to Mama Catherine's school and teaching a lesson in the morning....the boys will be painting part of a building....and the kids? Well, they'll be doing what they have been doing since day 1 - playing like there's no tomorrow.

Like I said, THEY'VE adjusted quite nicely.

Stay tuned for more.

The Truth of It

I'm nervous.

There. That's the truth.

In 72 hours, my family will be boarding a plane for a 14-hour ride (across a large ocean) plus another 5 hour jaunt, and we will settle into a two month adventure that will be, to say the least, challenging and unfamiliar.  I've had to come to a place of acceptance with a lot of my concerns (I'm still not sure I'm really there). I've had to question, re-question, and evaluate my motives for going.  I've had to reassure myself that my prayers are to my BIG GOD who, as CS Lewis best says it, "Not to what I think thou art, but to what thou knowest thyself to be."

God gave us this opportunity a few months ago.  He propelled the emails, paperwork, funding....really....He designed 5 years ago for my husband to shift from real estate to ministry to teaching so that we could be in this moment right now (both of us with two months off, ready to go as a family.)  He had this from the start.

(So why do I worry?....ugh.)

All that to say, if you'd like to follow along on this journey of ours, please be on the lookout for my updated blogs.  I will be blogging, photogging, whatnogging....from across the world.  Please stay in prayer not only for our trip (general health, safety, etc.), but for the Sixty Feet team already on ground, and the many others who will be traveling to minister internationally this summer.  It takes a lot of guts to give up the familiar, even for a little while. 

My next post -------Kampala, Uganda.

The Storm Before the Calm

Things have been a bit too busy here for my liking. May came fast and May hit hard. End of the school year means every celebration under the sun. This past week, I don't think our family had a moment to spare....field days, field trips, graduations, school plays....and to top it off, we're at our busiest and we only have 1 week until we leave for Uganda. That's right. One week.....I'll get to that in a later post.

For now, let's focus on the busy fun.

Grace's 2nd Grade Field Day

Her Science Fair Project - a classification lesson on her pet turtle, Jimmy.

Look who won the cover art for her Primary Annual? That'd be Grace!

Trying on their "proper" skirts for Uganda -

lovingly made by one of my student's mom

It truly feels like the storm before the calm. I have a sneaky, sneaky feeling that all our busy-ness in the past month will be a direct contrast to the simple living we'll be navigating in Uganda.

Speaking of simple, we did have a chance to take a moment after a rainstorm and do some good, old-fashioned playing in the mud. Those times are nice....

So Yes. Two Weeks and Counting.

The LOVE tees

That's right. Now the time has come for all the "talks" of planning for Africa to get their "action"on. Moving your family to another country, especially a developing country, is a little challenging. If it were just me and Boog, we would grab our backpacks, mosquito spray, and passports and be gone......but adding in children, well, you have to account for a little more.

Uganda has been weighing heavily on our hearts these past few weeks. Lots of hurdles have been thrown in front of the Sixty Feet team, and most recently, the hardships in the remand centers have increased. I'd like to say I'm prepared to help, but in so many ways I'm not. It's like trying to get ready for a hurricane. You can be prepared, but Mother Nature tends to have her own plans.

So here we are. Two weeks out. We have a plane flight from Dallas to Dubai (never been there before!)...an overnight stay in Dubai will be followed by landing in Entebbe, Uganda. Our first steps into the red dirt and smelling the familiar, yet unusual air will be exhilerating for all. Our first objective will be to get our bearings in Kampala, for sure.

On a different note, I have to say thank you to all out there who have helped us get to this point. For two teachers, a trip like this would have been next to impossible if it weren't for such wonderful, generous friends (even strangers!). We created and sold LOVE tees (above) and while I had doubts that we would even sell 20....God surprised us by selling close to 200! We made close to $3,000 from sales and donations .....blown away for sure!

I, also, have not given up painting furniture. Client pieces like these below have also helped fund this mission

Overall, we've been overwhelmed by the words of support and donations.

We are waiting. We are ready. We will be flexible.

Hub's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie

To say this is his favorite is a big huge earthshattering deal. To compare anything I cook to the cooking of his mother, his grandmother, his sisters.....well, it's just not fair.  They are wonderful, wonderful cooks and bakers.  The gift of the "kitchen" has been given to them in a mighty dose.

 I almost think he was just wanting to make me feel better....but then again, they are really good.

They are called

CHEWY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.

The batter is very sticky....at some point, I have to take it out of my mixer and stir by hand.

They are thick, hearty, and chewy. A great combination!

 The recipe: (follow the steps, do not try any shortcuts or bowl cleaning savers....

I've done that and it just don't work ladies!)

Step 1:

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup veg. oil
Mix well.

Add in two eggs

and 1 tsp vanilla.
Mix completely.

Add 1 and 1/2 cups of quick cooking oats

and mix well

Step 2:

In a separate bowl mix

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Step 3:

Pour the flour mixture into the batter slowly. About half a cup at a time.
The batter will become thick and sticky.

Add 6-8 oz. of chocolate chips.

Mix by hand.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT let the cookies become brown in the oven.Take them out when they are light and just about to become brown.....chewiness! 

Grace is 8....and Africa.

The Birthday Girl

It doesn't take too long to realize that this is the best time of your life.  The time with young children who want to hang around their parents. The time with a little girl who's idea of a fabulous birthday party is to go and dress up her doll (not herself) at the money-eating factory store called the American Girl Doll.  The time where cupcakes in the classroom are 

THE. BIGGEST.DEAL.

I love it all.  My girl. My firstborn. The one who opened up a whole world of new love for me and my hubs. We just never knew.

Grace, you are wonderful and we love you so.

You have a tender heart and a desire to please.

Open to new ideas & opportunities.

Responsible and Concerned.

You.

Happy 8th dear heart. 

(Getting the shock of her life - a Kindle from her mimi & papaw.  The child has already finished a book and downloaded "Little Women".  Who can argue with that kind of technology??)

And BTW. Africa....in 3 and a half weeks.
One thousand, two hundred and twenty-two things to do.
Fundraising?  Complete. Thanks to generous souls who blessed our lives. Some I don't even know who they are - they just gave. Giving......wow. Overwhelmed by it..