Beauty of a Heart

It was wet this morning. I usually start my day in the nursery with a nice warm hoodie on but by the time I've ended my breakfast break at 10:30 it's hot enough to put on sunscreen for my walks with the boys. 

I made it through a whole walk without Sande wetting his pants! Yay!

Me and Paul

All Amani volunteers are taken out for a meal before they leave. Londa and Elena leave Amani on Sunday night though they are staying in Uganda for a while longer working in other ministries. We decided to do our "last supper" at the same time so we could enjoy it together before everyone leaves. It worked out best for everyone to do a lunch rather than a dinner so we chose a day when they serve posho at Amani. Posho isn't horrible it's just not everyone's favourite. 

We went to an Indian restaurant with quite a group of us all piling into the van.

I ordered butter chicken and naan bread which was so amazing! There was just enough spice to make me sweat but not too much that it was unbearable. 

We were so glad that many of our friends could join us; even Anna was able to meet us there, as well as Charlie's adoptive family. 

Today was also our last scheduled outing with the kids, though we plan on doing some extra things on the weekend with the kids. On a volunteer's last outing they get to choose any child to go with them. I was so blessed that both Londa and Elena chose to bring one of my boys because they couldn't choose out of their own cottages. Londa has always had a soft spot for Michael and Elena has always adored Isaiah. I decided to bring Joseph with me. He hasn't had a turn at going to the pool yet and I just love the way he is when he's just one on one with his aunty. It worked out well that all three boys love the water and were so much fun to take to the pool. 

We had an interesting boda ride to the pool! It's probably a 15-20min ride and our drivers decided to take a shortcut on the roads mostly used for cattle. We had specifically told them not to take this route as it's quite rough but they thought it would be funny to take us that way anyway. Anyway we arrived safely. The drivers offered to come back for us when we were ready to leave. We didn't really want to go with the same men but didn't have much choice as it would be starting to get dark when we left and it would be hard to find 4 boda drivers without walking a fair distance.

The boys had a great time in the water but again their little bodies get cold so quickly that it wasn't long before we were out of the pool wrapped up in towels. 

Anna had decided to come with us which was great as she took a lot of photos for me. Thanks Anna! 

We had the pool almost to ourselves which was nice. 

The boys tired out and Londa and Elena both laid down with their boys wrapped up in towels. I was just sitting on the edge of my chair with Joseph to begin with but he wanted to lay down just like the others so we napped a little in the sun together. 

A rare moment when Joseph is still:).

We had milkshakes and chips with the boys. Joseph kept picking out the biggest and best looking chips and giving them to me to eat. 

I tried to get a picture with all three boys before we left. Didn't really get one with all of them looking at the camera smiling but got a few really funny ones! 

It's such a beautiful place! See the water in the background? That's the Nile! 

My hair is usually a mess by lunch time when I'm working. Babies pull at it and when I bend down to help my boys put their shoes on they often use my head to balance themselves:).

Putting my boys down for their nap today I went to kiss Christopher and he gently brushed back all the wispy bits falling out of my bun and said, "Aunty, I like your hair, you look smart". This kid knows how to make my day. 

I don't care what I look like to other people, the love of these children makes me feel beautiful in a way that no one else ever could. 

I have weird tan lines, a bright red sun burnt nose, mosquito bites, messy hair; I'm usually sweaty and dirty by the end of the day. Yet I'm full to the brim with love and joy, which is a beauty that cannot be painted on. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words; I'm not so sure. A picture cannot describe the beauty of Uganda and the wonder of a thunderstorm, a picture cannot show the true loveliness of these children to me and fellowship of friends together. Words, for me, better describe the beauty of a heart. 

"For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7

New Role: Photographer

It was another busy morning with a half empty nursery of cranky babies, walks with the boys and taking Joseph to the office. 

It always seems that when we go to Budondo we're all exhausted. Londa made the point though that we always seem to be tired in the afternoons anyway, which is true. 

While I waited by the van for the guys to be ready to leave I captured this lizard sunning himself in the garden. 

First stop was to a girl that Charlie had noticed at the kids club with an infected ear. Her ear looked pretty bad and was oozing pus. We took her to a clinic not far away to get her checked out. The clinic is the photo above. A small room with a few chairs and some boxes stacked in the corner. Fred even had to use the light on his phone so that the lady could see in her ear. Sarah, the little girl, is about four and was very brave. She sat there with her hands folded in her lap and never moved a muscle as the lady cleaned her ear out for her. 

We continued on to our many other stops. Aaron had got more hoes to give out to families again and wanted me to take photos of every gift and family. He had me following him around taking photos all the time. Aaron knows several different languages and has a habit of talking to us in Lusoga when we're out at Budondo. I think he must think it will help us learn the language more but it hasn't really helped! So every time Aaron spoke to me, or nodded in my direction I assumed he wanted me to take a photo again. I said to the others, "if all else fails, take a photo!". I felt like his personal photographer, but at least I was doing something. I now have a whole lot of photos of Budondo families holding hoes and I'm not sure what he wants me to do with them!

We visited this little boy who has been sick recently. He's looking better now though. 

We visited Joyce and caught her in the bath:).

And the photo shoots continue. 

This is Aaron and Salim. 

Managed to get a photo of myself, thanks Elena! 

This is Sarah and I after we dropped her back home to her family along with some antibiotics. 

You can see her ear in this photo. 

The last few times we've been to Budondo we've ended up with a van full of kids. They sit in the van patiently while we visit families and then we drop them home again on our way back to Jinja. I was sitting next to a little girl in the van and as I smiled down at her she said "I love you". I didn't even realise she could speak English as she was fairly quiet. Spontaneous declarations of love from a stranger. I love you too little girl, though I don't know anything about you.  

We have made so many little friends from these visits that last Saturday, for kids club, they ended up with about 300 children instead of the normal 120 or so. Sometimes we feel a little bit like the "white representatives" on these trips which is a little uncomfortable, but I love befriending so many children and making them smile. 

With so many babies sick now, Emma moved several cots into the clinic for them and is sleeping in the adjacent storage room tonight. We're all forbidden to enter so that we don't spread it further. I understand and don't want to spread it, but it's also hard for me not to be able to cuddle my babies when they are so sick. Joanne came down with it pretty bad around lunch time but was almost back to normal by bedtime. Rosie is better but very weak and David has worsened and has also had a feeding tube put in. Many of the girls in the cottage are coming down with it now and Alex is as well. Please pray that they will all get over it soon and that Emma will be able to keep up with them all. 

I've started reading a book called "The Lamb" to my boys each night which details the redemption story from creation to the cross. Hopefully we'll be able to finish it before I leave. The boys especially love the pictures. Sande has become so much more animated at bedtime and now wraps his arms around my neck as tight as he can to say goodnight. I love his smile for me which he gives rarely to anyone besides Isaiah. He very rarely shows extravagant affection, but tonight when I told him I loved him he quickly gave me a big slobbery kiss on the lips:). 

I wonder how many of them I can fit in my suitcase?

"The rich and the poor have this in common, the LORD is the maker of them all."

Proverbs 22:2

Ugandan Hospitality

The nursery felt so empty this morning. 

Rosie and David are both sick at the moment and so Emma has taken them to stay with her to keep them away from the other babies. Poor Rosie has been vomiting so much that Emma had to put a feeding tube in. 

Plenty of walks again:).

Edmund loves flowers. He kept trying to put his flower in my hair and then ripping it out again. 

Babu almost choked on his lunch today. He quickly recovered as Mama Dorothy patted his back. Mama Dorothy turned around to do something and Edmund, who was sitting beside Babu, took up patting his back. 

We went into town for lunch today to use some coupons we had for a restaurant, go to the atm (finally worked for me), and get some meat for dinner. 

It felt the hottest today that I've felt since being here. We got back from town exhausted from being in the hot sun and started activities with the kids. 

After some circle games and singing the kids where ready to run around. For some reason they felt the need to all pile on Elena for some fun, and yes it seems the culprits where mainly my boys. I took a photo and realised that she needed saving and had to go over and pull children off of her so she could get up. I often tell my boys that they need to be careful or they will break me:). 

One of the guys from Worship Harvest came and visited and spent some time playing with the kids which was nice. As Elena and Londa have gotten to know people more through the music team, they have been trying to get more guys to come play with the kids. The kids love it when an uncle comes to visit and they need more than just aunties to play with.  

I was carrying Alex around, as he's feeling a little sick too, and Paul felt the need to carry a baby too. Salim is pretty small so he was light enough for Paul to carry around for a while, until Salim got a little tired of it. 

My nose is still quite red from the pool yesterday and Paul asked me, "Aunty, why is your nose so big?" :) I love the way children bluntly state facts.

A lot of the girls are in the half way process of getting their hair redone. Dorothy's is now finished. She has another of these little buns at the back which makes her look a little bit like a dinosaur:). 

Tonight was a long night for bedtimes. I'm pretty sure John is coming down with the same thing as Rosie and David now. I supervised potty time for the older girls while the mamas fed Zion and Anna. They are pretty good at staying on the potty now, but tend to annoy whoever's sitting next to them. Most of my time is spent breaking up fights between the girls; Jane whacks Joanne, Joanne whacks Jane, they both start crying etc.

I went to read to my boys and they were only just getting ready for bed. So I dried them off from their showers and brushed teeth before reading to them about the creation of the earth and man. 

I went upstairs later than normal and was greeted by some amazing smells! Florence and Becky cooked for us tonight. We bought all their groceries and they treated us to some well made Ugandan food. They are both pretty good cooks, but they're also very funny to watch as they argue about every ingredient and method. We watched a movie for a while and Florence noticed I was wearing my glasses. She's never seen me wear them before and said in surprise, "you're a geek! but a very pretty geek." I think I'll take that as a compliment:). We had a good night together and were able to call one of our boda drivers to make sure they didn't have to wait for one. By the time they'd gone home and we'd done the dishes I could barely keep my eyes open. I took the time to load my photos before heading off to bed. 

Sisters in Christ enjoying a meal together. 

"The LORD is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the LORD our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth? He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes, with the princes of His people. He grants the barren woman a home, like a joyful mother of children. Praise the LORD!"

Psalm 113:4-9

Out and About

We were given permission to have the day off today. 

We were very happy:).

It gives us the freedom of taking kids out and not having to worry about a schedule. 

We slept in a little and then headed off to the pool. Sandra and Adeline wanted to join us with William and Matthew so they ended up taking us to a different pool a short drive away. 

As we drove over the Nile, Frank kept asking me "that is the pool?". :)

We took Frank, Christopher, Lydia, William and Matthew. The pool we went to was a lot nicer than the one we normally go to and the kids loved a little slide that went from one pool to another. Christopher was a little timid in the water and soon tired of it. Frank loved it so much he got into trouble for not listening to his aunties and sulked the rest of the time. Lydia was also a bit wary of the water but soon warmed to the idea as long as she was close to an aunty. Matthew and William are both used to the water and were under it as much as above it. William wanted to learn how to float and so I spent some time helping him out; me, who barely knows how to swim herself:). He managed to float for a few seconds before lifting his head and then sinking. He wanted to keep trying though and kept at it, gaining another few seconds on top of the water each time. 

Me and my boys:)

Christopher, William and Frank.

William doesn't stay at Amani anymore, he lives with Charlie but when I first arrived he was in my cottage with my boys.  

Katie Davis was also at the pool with all her girls. I've seen her before a few times when we've been out walking as she lives just a few streets away from Amani. I've now said hi to the famous Katie Davis, who, by the way, seems to be a fairly ordinary human being:). 

Christopher looking very cool in Adeline's shades.

Frank, finished sulking and back to his usual mischievous self.

We had lunch together, which was very nice and sat in the sun for probably too long. 

Frank and I drying off and eating lunch together. 

Christopher and me

By the time we arrived home we were exhausted! We rested for a while before heading out to town. Elena and I needed to go to the bank so the three of us took a child each and headed into town. 

One of the best parts of taking children out is getting them all dressed up.

Isn't Miriam adorable? (and Elena too of course)

Londa and David, also looking pretty smart.

Hmm...this outing could be interesting. This is Judah protesting at not being held. Judah is always the first to greet me with a smile and throw himself into my arms. The problem is every time you put him down he throws a fit. 

He was pretty good while in town though. He waited patiently while I battled to get money out of atms. I gave up after 4 different atms either didn't take visa or were out of cash. I'll try again tomorrow. 

We got some icecream at The Keep and then headed home, just in time for Judah to eat with his brothers.

It was a long exhausting day but lots of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing my babies again tomorrow.  

We had a lazy evening together and I watched a sermon from home on you tube. I went to bed early to get plenty of rest for work again in the morning. 

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand."

Psalm 95:6-7

The Garden

He is risen! 

Amani just beginning to wake up. 

We headed off this morning for a sunrise service at Charlie's house just around the corner. 

It was a beautiful morning together. We probably had about 15 people come and it was a very informal gathering. We prayed together, read Scripture and sang together on Charlie's porch in the garden. Afterwards we had breakfast together and then many of them headed off for music practice before church. I helped dry all the dishes and chatted for a while before walking back to Amani to get the kids ready for church. 

All the practice that the worship team puts in during the week pays off. We lift the roof with our voices and music! 

Outside after church together. 

What a beautiful Easter morning!

We headed off to the pool in the afternoon with Emily, Elijah and Jonah. There was a bit of confusion to begin with about which kids were going but we still had a nice afternoon together with the kids after everything had been sorted out. 

Easter egg hunt in the afternoon with the kids.

It was quite funny while Mary was trying to organise the kids in groups to go look many of the younger ones burst into tears. We're all thinking this is meant to be fun guys! We're not trying to force you to find chocolate!:)

Mary got the older ones to take a small child first and find one for them to eat, which was very cute. 

Sarah, for once eating chocolate and not dirt. :)

Philip

Anna and Tina enjoying their chocolate.

Jonah and Matthew with their plastic eggs full of goodies and their Easter crosses from children's church. 

Judah

Two of my boys, Judah and Joseph, have the chicken pox now. Also Mercy and Rosie have been sick in the nursery too. 

We had a long relaxed evening together, cooking dinner and chatting till later than we normally would.  

My Easter Thoughts

This morning, as I sat on the porch surrounded by Charlie's beautiful gardens, I thought of some other gardens. I thought of Mary standing in the garden weeping for her Lord, I thought of the disciples falling asleep in the garden as Jesus spent hours in anguished prayer, and I thought of the first garden where God walked with Adam and Eve. All these gardens are part of the great redemption story unfolded in history. 

That first garden, the Garden of Eden, where God the Father communed with man and Adam and Eve experienced a perfect loving relationship with their Creator. 

This is the way we were made. 

We crave after this relationship with all that is within us. Instead we chose to reject our Creator, broke our relationship with Him and were banished from His presence and that garden. Mankind no longer experienced that close communion with our Creator as the huge chasm that is our sin separated us from our Father God. We attempted to fix this relationship by bringing sacrifices as a substitute for us, but animal sacrifices are temporary and insufficient. We continued to sin and fall away and no amount of lamb's blood could bridge the great chasm which separates us from Him. 

Fast forward a few thousand years to the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Jesus walks upon the earth. 

The Son of God, the Creator in flesh, dwells in humility amongst men.

Leaving His throne of glory, with all heaven declaring His praises, to eat with outcasts and sinners, to walk the dusty roads with 12 ordinary men, to become a servant to all. 

Here He is, in the garden, falling on the ground in anguish at what He is about to face. 
He is about to face the great chasm.
Before the beginning of time He has experienced an eternity of a perfect relationship with God the Father. He's had only perfect communion within the Holy Trinity. 
Jesus is fully God, and fully man; completely sinless. 
Our against a Holy God, that great chasm, requires payment; requires our eternal death to bring true justice to an eternal God. 
There is no way around this great chasm, there are no excuses, there is no amount of good that can make payment for our sin. 
We need a sacrifice.
We need a substitute.
We need an eternal substitute to take on our punishment of eternal death.
We need a perfect sinless substitute to take on all the weight of our sin.
We need a man to be our perfect representative sacrifice. 
There is only One being ever to exist that qualifies.
Jesus.
Fully God, He is eternal.
Fully man, He is our perfect representative.
Completely sinless, He is able to take our sin upon Himself.
So, lying face down in that garden before His Father, He says, "not what I will, but what You will". 
He knows He is our only hope. 
He is fully aware of what He has to bear to bridge that great chasm.
Not only did He experience the agony of the cross, but He experienced all the agony of what we deserved. He felt eternal death; separation from His Father as God turned His face away and the earth went dark. He felt the weight of all our sin as He became our substitute. 
The weight of our guilt and condemnation, the weight of our separation from God, the weight of the great chasm; upon His shoulders. 
He breathes, "It is finished" and gives up His own spirit as His Father willed. 

On the third day, Mary Magdalene stands in another garden weeping.
Outside the empty tomb, she grieves, for His body is not there. 
She turns and sees a man. 
Not recognising Him, she asks if He knows where the body has been taken.
He speaks her name, "Mary", and she knows that Jesus has risen!
He has defeated even death itself!
The great chasm has been bridged by His own body and blood.
Not only has our sin been paid for but we have been given eternal life!
Our relationship has been reconciled and we can experience eternal communion with the Creator God. 

Today, two thousand years later, I sat in a garden and praised Him for His death and resurrection; for the life I have received in His name, for the relationship I now have with God the Father, because He bridged that great chasm. 

My heart overflows.
I rejoice as I look forward to a heavenly garden.
A garden with a river of life running through it, flowing from the throne of God. A garden with the Tree of Life itself. 
When I get to spend eternity in a perfect relationship with the Creator God, my Father; because He placed the weight of my eternal death on His Son's shoulders. 
When I inherit all that I don't deserve, because He took on all that I do deserve. 
When I am resurrected, because He is resurrected.

(Genesis 3, Mark 14, John 20, Revelation 22)

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."
Romans 5:8-11

Easter

We headed off this morning to The Keep. We'd told Florence we'd like to treat her and arranged to meet at The Keep together. Florence forgot and slept in so we ended up just having breakfast the three of us. It was nice and relaxed and we chatted for a long time about being away from home and how quickly you get used to life in Africa. 

We wandered around town for a little while afterwards and did some shopping and then Londa and Elena went for music practice at The Hub and I walked home with our purchases. 

I spent the next few hours tidying up my room a little and chatting with Mama Josephine while she cleaned. I love Mama Josephine so much. She takes care of us like her own and I love the feeling when I go to leave for somewhere and find that my shoes have been washed. :)

When the girls got back we relaxed for a little while and waited for the kids to get up from their naps. Once they were up we went and said hi, and then decided it was warm enough to head off to the pool. I got Eric ready for the pool while trying to deal with Frank at the same time for behaving very badly out of jealousy. I've been planning to take Frank and Christopher on Sunday with a group of older kids, but haven't told them in case it rains or something. 

I took this from our balcony as Londa was inundated with children:). 

The three of us headed off to the pool with Eric, Salim and Caroline. It was very crowded at the pool. There was even a wedding party arriving as we got there! 

Eric is a fairly reserved 4 year old, but he did splash around a bit with me. He even dared to splash me! I pretended to be extremely offended and splashed him back. Soon it was Elena, Caroline and me against Eric, poor little guy:). He enjoyed himself but got cold very quickly so we got out and I rugged him up in a towel. I kept asking him if he wanted to get back in but he was content to just sit in my lap as I rubbed his arms. I was pretty happy to sit there and enjoy some cuddle time with him:). 

We had a snack together and the waitress mixed up our orders. Oh, well. 

Londa headed off early as Salim eats at 6pm with the younger ones and Elena and I headed off a little later with our two who eat at about 6:20pm. 

We arrived back to find a stick of sugarcane waiting at our doorstep! Job and Charlie had told us that little Elena from Budondo had brought it for Elena to have. So sweet! :)

Anna came around for bible study and brought a whole bag of assorted vegetables with her! We had mince meat that needed using so I cooked some of that up and made Ugandan burritos with mixed vegetables and fried cabbage and Anna cooked the potatoes to go with it.  

Anna couldn't stay long for Bible study as there aren't many bodas around for the public holiday and didn't want to leave too late. Londa also wanted to call her family before bed so we decided to do something different to our usual Acts study. Instead we read through the last four chapters of John together and meditated on Jesus' death and resurrection and then Londa read a monologue written from the perspective of Mary, Jesus' mother, on the crucifixion. 

Again, a lovely evening spent over the Word of God and fellowshipping with my sisters in Christ. 

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26