Tuesday, March 24, 2009

We Made it!



Dear Friends,

We have arrived! We cannot tell you how much your prayers meant to us. After packing 12 boxes, saying goodbye to our family and friends, flying almost 18 hours, and driving over 7 hours - all over the course of three days – we made it home and God’s peace remains with us. Many times in our journey we stopped to marvel at how God answered prayers. Checking into the airport went better than ever. An airport employee actually helped us with all of our boxes, all of which weighed the right amount. We all cried when we said goodbye in the airport so Lydia told Grandpa to tell Grandma some jokes on the way home to make here happy. Lydia gave Grandma her teddy bear named Lydia so that Grandma could take care of it and not forget her. Grace looked at us concerned so I explained to her that sometimes we are sad when we have to say goodbye and so we cry a little. Later she assured me it is okay if we are sad when leaving. Thankfully the girls were very excited to return to Uganda.

Both flights went better than we expected. Our whole family slept the whole first flight and half of the second flight. Josh even said the first flight felt more like 30 minutes than 9 hours. We had a 10 hour layover in London so we decided to splurge and get a hotel room attached to the airport. We were so thankful for a bed to rest and a shower to freshen up. We were all happy and ready to go again. Even down to the little things God was with us and answered prayers. The girls did great going through all the security checks (which can be a stressful point with kids, bags, and a stroller). Luka was happy and content. He has reflux quite bad and blows out of his diapers frequently, but we didn’t have to deal with either of those messes the whole trip. At one point in the airport I looked at our little international travelers wheeling their backpacks and I just smiled. I was so proud of them. It is a long way to travel and they did so well. Dare I say we almost enjoyed it this time? God is good!

We arrived in Uganda at 8 a.m., got all our luggage, passed through customs, and loaded the van where our driver was waiting for us. More answers to prayer! We spent the day in the capital city. We were tired by 4 p.m. but managed to stay awake until 7 p.m. There is a seven hour time change from MI to Uganda so we were concerned that the kids would have a hard time sleeping all night. Thankfully every one of us slept (some of us for over 12 hours). Praise God!

The following day we drove safely to Soroti. The kids did great with another long ride. They were SO excited when we arrived and they saw their cousins again. I haven’t seen much of them since they just play and play. They seem very happy to be back. Tim and Angie, Mandy’s sister and our team mates, blessed us with a wonderful welcoming. The house was clean and they had meals ready for us. It is good to be together again. It makes returning so much easier to have someone (family!) here waiting for you. Tim and Angie were also very happy to meet Luka. He gave them many smiles already. We also got to meet a few new team members that will be with us for the next year.

So, thank you for all your prayers! God has so clearly been with us. His peace is felt. He helped us in many ways. We thank God we are home safely. We told many people as we prepared to return to Uganda that we knew all would go well because we had so many people praying for us. Your prayers gave us so much peace and encouragement.

With all that being said, we still need your prayers. Today is Saturday March 21 and we have been in Soroti for three days now. Adjusting has gone better than we expected so far but we have a long way to go. Ups and downs are bound to happen. We quickly realized that we had forgotten how hot it is here. It is hot! Daytime temps are over a hundred degrees. Lydia keeps saying it is a HOT, sweaty day here. She decided she likes snow better. Heat really takes everything out of you (and can bring out the crabbiness in you).

Pray too for Grace. She seems to have the hardest time with change and stress. She doesn’t communicate it well so she has melt downs or gets upset quickly. She is having a difficult time at night. She gets out of sorts and doesn’t stay asleep. Last night Grace was crying and nothing we did helped so I asked if we should pray for her she said yes so we know she is troubled by everything going on. We are thankful that God is her comforter.

Thankfully Luka has been so good. Most of the time he just goes with the flow and happily coos and smiles. He has been sleeping very well, too. Last night we had no power (actually all day) and the girls woke up from the heat and all the noise, but Luka slept through it all.

We will be moving into another home next week, hopefully. We found this house to rent before we left. It is only a mile from where we are now. Our current home will be made into a guesthouse for all our visitors. Pray for us as we make yet another change. It may not be the best timing for more stress and change but we know it will be a great place for our family.

Lastly, pray for the ministries here. Especially pray for clear direction as we continue to minister here. Things change a bit when you are away for awhile and we want to make wise decisions. We pray God will lead us and use us where and how He wants.

We will keep you informed as much as we can as we adjust back to our lives here. The updates will most likely be put on our blog if you want to read them. Thank you again for praying for us! God is faithful and true.

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