true religion...

James 1:27 says that true and undefiled religion is this...to care for orphans and widows. I am truly humbled to say that more friends than I can count are personally going through the adoption process to show a fatherless/motherless child what the Gospel means. There is no greater way to grasp the reality of being adopted into God's family, to be heirs with Christ than to rescue the least of these and cover them with love. I am learning so much from my friends as they endeavor to make forever changes to their current families and open their arms and homes to so many unknowns...and we won't even talk about the financial sacrifice involved. I am blessed by such amazing people that are following God's lead in their lives.

Two of those friends I met back in 2003 working Centrifuge at Panama City Beach. They rocked my world then and taught me about forgiveness and second chances. They taught me how to love and laugh and enjoy life. One of them in particular told me how to deal with "bitter mondays"...and now I am all the better for having them as friends. I have great love for Tina and Kevin Propes. Since our time in 2003 they have brought two children into the world, Dawson and Abigail. Today Kevin and Tina left for India to go pick up their third child, Rahul. Tina's blog has had some very profound thoughts and raw emotions about the excitement and the grief of adoption. The next two weeks will be a whirlwind for them and then they will bring Rahul home to meet his brother and sister. If you're reading this I hope you will join me praying for Tina, Kevin, Dawson, Abigail and Rahul.

attention to detail

....no not me....the OCD one.But the title of this blog comes from seeing a sovereign God show me that He pays attention to detail and along the way He let me see small and LARGE glimpses of that truth. I just want to give you some examples of seeing the Lord perfectly knit this team and our experiences together in a way that only He could:

* Sara Beth and I have been dreaming about going to Africa together for years and though I will be paying for this trip for a while the Lord gave me complete peace about taking the time off work and charging the trip to my credit card...didn't really understand all the hows and whys until the end of the trip and now living on a tight budget to pay off this trip seems like no sacrifice at all

* serving along side the team from Williamson's Chapel...there is no other church I can imagine having spent the week with. Knowing that in the near future I will be living in Nebbi and will be coordinating volunteer teams for Acres of Hope it was a God thing for me to serve along side this church team and to see their heart and have them see mine because we will be partners in the gospel in Uganda for years and years to come

* meeting Whitney Saucedo from Samartian's Feet...what a kindred spirit. We both have a love and passion for Uganda that was growing in us before either of us ever stepped a foot on Ugandan soil. We both had a hard few days initially and it was a joy to pray with her, cry with her, search for things to laugh about and then come to the end and see the Lord completely redirect our expectations and find a strength within each of us that knows we could spend our days serving in Uganda and overcome the obstacles that seem insurmountable at the beginning

* serving with Lacey and Amanda who come to meet up with us from Kenya. Both have been serving in Kenya for that last six months so if ever there was someone who could help walk me through the process of relocating overseas it was these two ladies

* seeing the Acres of Hope land for the first time...I have no words for all that was stirring in me at the time. As we joined hands and prayed over the land some really cool God things happened...first a group of children and women began to gather around to see what these mazungos are doing and as we finished praying they all began to clap. Now I know that had no idea what was said but they knew we were praying in their backyard for a reason and it's as if the Lord sent his applause through them to give his blessing to this sacred place. And can I just tell you that every time I heard Geoffrey and Stanley say "Acres of Hope" my heart welled up with joy that I almost could not contain. Secondly, as we were on the grounds Sara Beth brought up that in August she, Amanda, Stanley and Geoffrey prayed on this land that God would give someone the vision for this place to come along side them in this ministry. To make a long story short we were able to track down the date of that visit and then track some emails of Andrea's (the pastor of WCW) and realized that within 24 hours of SB and them praying the Lord had stirred in Andrea and Kathy's heart that they didn't need to go to India but that they needed to explore other options. Before too long Andrea connected with Sara Beth and as you see the rest is history.

Praise the Lord for God's attention to details when we can see them and especially when we can't. The Lord's timing is perfect....and he's never late but always right on time.

More processing, stories and pics to come but that is what I am pressed to write today.


my kindred spirit, Whitney


Our applauding crowd at Acres of Hope


these are my new friends from Charlotte, NC...Williamson's Chapel West
(names not in order of picture but Andrea, Scott, Layne, Andrew, Lance, Kathy, Pat, Eryn, Morgan and Julie)

overwhelmed

I am not really sure where to even begin processing the experiences, events, people, etc from my second journey to Uganda. As people have asked me this week how my trip was my instant response was hard but incredible.I feel like those two words contradict one another but for me on this journey they were the perfect mix. You see when I went to Uganda this past summer I was like a child at Christmas. After ten years of longing to go to Africa I was finally able to go...so I was soaking in the entire experience like a sponge. I loved everything about the experience...the food, the culture, the heat, being dirty, wearing the same clothes over and over...you name it, I loved it. This time going back my perspective was a little different. I went this time with eyes wide open to answering the question..."could I really live my life day in a day out in this culture?" For those of you who aren't aware I have felt the Lord's leading me to Uganda after last summer and so this was a question that I needed to find the answer to. I don't really think I experienced any culture shock the last trip. Between soaking it all in and being a source of stability for my team it just wasn't an issue for me. This trip I think culture shock hit me like a mack truck. To be honest I wasn't expecting it to shake me like it did and I spent the first few days being incredibly disappointed with myself. Why was it hard for me to have to use the bathroom in a hole in the ground and why was it that hard to take a bucket bathe? I'm not really sure but it just was. My first night in Nebbi while staying in a dear friend's home, I went to bed crying wondering how this could ever work. After talking with Sara Beth, our team leader, I decided to go stay in the hotel and just process what in the world was going on in my head, my heart and with my emotions. Though the time in the hotel with running water and a flushing toilet did help, I was quite ashamed that I couldn't cut it and was afraid that I had greatly offended a dear friend by not staying in his home. Before the week's end I had used more than my share of squatty potties and spent the night with another friend in his families' home and found myself coming around and being more okay with the situation. Is this going to be a major adjustment??? ABSOLUTELY! Is it enough to keep me from serving in Uganda and seeing Acres of Hope come to fruition??? Absolutely not.

Geoffrey if you are reading this....thank you for your patience with me. I hope you and Joy know that I love you like my own family and my decision to go stay in Gaaf had nothing to do with your hospitality and everything to do with the Lord rocking my world and making sure that my YES was on the table. Thank you for having us in your home!

wake the dead

Just wanted to let you know that I am not dead....though lack of blogging may indicate otherwise. I just got back from Uganda on Saturday night. After I have recovered from jet lag and caught up on all that is on my desk I will finish processing this experience and start blogging about it. Stay tuned for stories and pictures.