Handfuls of Blessings

Even though English is the official language of Uganda, many of the words used are not what we would use in America.  Today Keith went to Kampala with some other missionaries, so I asked him to pick up just a couple of things at the store.  One of the items was corn starch, however, here the box is labeled "corn flour."  I wrote on the list "corn flour" but forgot to explain to my husband exactly what I wanted.  When I saw a bag of corn meal instead of a box of corn starch, I stared at it for several seconds before figuring out why I did not get what I asked for.  Then I realized the confusion and had to chuckle at our communication problem.  Let me share some other words or phrases that may cause confusion. * A torch is a flashlight. * To advance your car means to back up. * A nursing home is a medical clinic. * Pants are undergarments.  Trousers is the correct word for the outerwear. * Dismiss means to fire someone.  We do not dismiss the ...

One of the "blessings" of traveling for a year on furlough is all of the good food we get to enjoy.  However, we travel many, many miles and that does nothing to work off all of the extra food.  Needless to say, I lost count how many of our nationals have told me, "Mama Shane, you are so fat!"  If nothing else, that one statement really makes you want to turn right around and head back to the States where you are sure not to hear such a crude statement from your close friends.  Lest you get offended for my sake, let me clarify this - it is NOT offensive in Uganda to tell someone they are fat, but rather it is a compliment.  To be fat is to be wealthy and able to take good care of yourself.  When Keith lost 130 pounds before furlough, the Ugandans were very confused as to why he would do such a thing.  (By the way, he has already lost seven pounds of his "furlough fat."  I haven't been so successful.)  To them, being fat is a good thing. ...

While we look around and see how much we still have to do to get unpacked, yet we rejoice at all that has been accomplished this week.  Pictures are back on the walls.  New curtains are hung.  We are all sleeping in our own beds, and at the end of each day, empty boxes are gathered up.  We gave ourselves three weeks to settle in, so we have one more week to put our house in order.  Then ready or not, school must start back up. Everyone has found their way of fitting back in, except for Savannah.  She doesn't remember much and has asked several times when we are going to our other home or when are we going to Uganda.  This surprised me because she was the one who talked most about going home while we were in America, so I assumed that she remembered it.  Although she is excited about the "new" toys being unpacked, I find she is more clingy and wanting to be around me more than usual.  Many times a day she asks what she can do to help me, as ...

Thank you to all who have prayed for us.  We arrived safely in Uganda with ALL of our luggage.  Praise the Lord.  It is nice to be home.  Our church provided us a nice welcome-back meal on Sunday, and we enjoyed seeing everyone again. It will take us about a month to get settled in.  We need to paint the entire interior of the house, as well as make repairs, unpack (we had totally packed up our house before our furlough), and restock our cupboards.  Pineapple and bananas were at the top of our list of what we missed about Uganda, and in just two days we have eaten three pineapples and four hands of sweet bananas.  You really should come see us, if only for these to two fruits. Several of us have suffered with the cold/flu, so we covet your prayers concerning our health.  The children are lending help in painting, unpacking, sorting, and cleaning.  We are taking a couple of weeks off from school, but I think they would almost welcome som...

God's mercies NEVER FAIL! He has been so gracious to us during this year-long furlough that we can only sit back in wonderment that He loves us so much.  Does that mean we have not been without problems and difficult times?  No, but He has never left us nor forsaken us. After leaving the beautiful state of Idaho, we had some meetings in Montanna where we enjoyed great fellowship with a couple who has visited Uganda several times.  We left at the beginning of a snow storm in preparation for a long day of travel in our journey toward Oklahoma.  For those of you who have never been north, there is little else but dirt and trees between Billings and Cheyenne.  After eating lunch on the outskirts of Cheyenne, our van refused to start.  A mechanic came and confirmed Keith's diagnoses: the fuel pump was out. The temperature was 30 some degrees with wind gusts up to 50 mph.  It was cold!  We continued to hang out in McDonald's, while the mechanic would ...