Handfuls of Blessings

We left our home in Uganda on July 31st and landed in the States on August 1.  During our layover in Dubai, Keith found his favorite fast food restaurant - Burger King - and got his whopper.   After Keith and the boys had walked the airport for awhile, they came back with a very excited Skyler.  "Mom, you should see the watering holes that you can actually drink from!"  I think he has tried every drinking fountain from Ft. Worth to where we are. We all tasted his whopper, but it wasn't very impressive. One of the most heart-breaking moments was when our plane touched down in Ft. Worth, and while everyone was standing up getting their luggage down, our youngest sat down in her seat, stared out the window, and started crying.  "I want to go home," she told me between sobs.  It is very hard leaving our home, pets, friends, and ministries.  It is hard feeling totally lost in a country that we are citizens of.  It is hard living out of a suitcase...

With just one month before leaving on furlough, July continued with speed.  We praise the Lord that our two youngest took the important step to be baptized, both having trusted Christ as their Savior quite a while ago.  They are not water-lovers as my older children are, so they have been fearing getting "dunked." Amid the chaos of packing up our house before leaving, we had a multi-family yard sale.  We praise the Lord for all that was sold, especially since yard sales are not a Ugandan thing.  We were able to give each of the kids some money for spending upon arrival to the States, and to give Stanley some for starting Bible college. As a mom, one thing that I love to see is camaraderie amongst my children.  I want them to be best friends with each other.  To see them serve the Lord together brings such joy to my heart.  Shae-Lynn manages to get her siblings to sing specials with her every once in a while that we all enjoy to hear. ...

We started June with a church group of 10.  There were too few for a bus, but too many for one van, so we ended up renting another van, and I drove for two weeks solid - much, much more than I usually drive.  And much to my family's delight (those siblings of mine who say they never see pictures of me), this post will include many of me since one of the ladies in the group took several, understanding that the mom is usually the one behind the camera. One of the greatest joys I have is teaching.  The Ladies Sunday School is a special delight, and I will greatly miss them on furlough.  As you can see, it is actually ladies and babies since we don't have a nursery. Another joy I have is being the church pianist (or keyboardist).  Our children, also, contribute to the music of our church with Shae-Lynn playing her guitar and Stanley his violin.  We hope to get some instruments for the others to learn to play, too. Babies are always so much fun. ...