Thursday, May 1, 2008

April 30 -- weekend get-a-way

April 24

I have been feeling so much better lately. I am SO grateful for everyone’s emails and phone calls. I was so encouraged by your prayers and concern for us. It helped me a lot knowing people cared.

The girls are doing well. Lydia can write her name now. Grace can get out of her bed (there is a railing on it) – that is a bummer. Grace also regressed in potty training – bigger bummer! Grace is praying all by herself now. And Lydia is still praying for a baby brother. Both girls love wearing their “clappy” shoes (dress up high heel shoes). The girls still miss all of you and sometimes ask when we are going to MI or if Grandma is packing to fly here. Oh, how I’d love for you to just see them play and hear their little voices sing.

April 30

We just got back from the best weekend we have had since we came to Uganda. Our team was blessed with a spiritual retreat at Speke Resort in Kampala. We had so much fun! Speke is on Lake Victoria and is a beautifully landscaped resort. We did a lot of walking because the place is so big. Everything was done to high standards and the workers were very professional. They offer a weekend rate for residents that includes; all your meals, horse rides for the kids each day, and boat rides. The meals were amazing and we ate way too much. You got to choose an appetizer, main course, and dessert each meal. Breakfast was a buffet and so were our last couple meals. The desserts were so good. We felt so spoiled. Sitting outside looking at Lake Victoria, served a four course meal, no cooking or cleaning – what a break. The girls loved the horses! They weren’t scared at all and looked forward to it each day. Grace road a horse called Casanova. She called it, “my Casanova” and wanted to check on him every day. We all enjoyed the pools. We had sun the whole weekend. The resort has a pool on the lake and another Olympic size pool. I have never seen such a big pool. It was like a lake. They even used a small boat to clean the pool. They had a wonderful, big kiddy pool too. We had a great time swimming together. We went for a boat ride on the lake too but it wasn’t anything special. What good is a lake when you can’t swim in it because of the sickness you can get. Besides, it was so full of green scum. Each day Josh led us in a Bible study about Barnabas. It was a bit hard to keep the kids entertained or find a time when they were all sleeping but we made it work. The whole weekend was such a blessing – a needed break. We didn’t have to go anywhere or worry about anything. We are so thankful!

It is hard to get back into things now. What a different world when you leave the resort! Back to reality. Hopefully we will adjust soon. However; there is no way around it, it is difficult living on the mission field. Will I ever feel at home and content? Not that I want to pack up and move home (although a long visit would be nice). So what do I want? I guess that is part of living in a world that is not our home.