Time for Goodbyes

September 26

If only you knew how many times I thought about writing. Part of me wants to apologize for not keeping up on the blog but the fact is we are only in Michigan a short time and people mean more than writing. I am glad I chose to be fully here and not leave with regrets.

So now we are down to our last two weeks in Michigan. It always goes fast and I always want more. When I know it will all be taken away from me for a year I want to do it all just one more time. Our three months here have been so good. It was our first time home for summer months in at lease four years and I found it made us extra busy. Although we loved all the camping, times at the cottage, picnics, beaches, campfires…we found we were ready for routine again. I was so tired of packing each week to go somewhere just to come back and unpack again. It has been nice to stay put in our home since school began. By the way the girls are really enjoying school. Lydia came home after her first day and said it is the best thing she gets to do in Michigan. We were a bit worried about Grace going her first time but she was excited because her sister was excited. She and her cousin Avalien were in the same class which gave them both great security. They are best of friends! Avalien went back to Uganda last week but Grace has done great even without her cousin. We are so proud of her. Sometimes it gets to be a bit much and she over reacts about something else but we know it is just extra emotions and tiredness with school. But that is to be expected. Luka was a bit lost the first few days with his sisters at school. He kept asking where they were. But he is such an easy going little boy and I have thoroughly enjoyed me time with just him. He often tells people he goes to school too. Well he goes to nursery ever Sunday and loves it. Luka and I go for walks every week and I love how he talks away with me. Yup, I really like having a “normal” life for a while. Being a mom is so much fun. And the beauty of the changing of seasons makes me so excited. I love seeing the color change, going to the orchard, or just hanging around home with a sweatshirt on! These are treats to us that bring comfort to me.

So many people ask if we are ready to go back to Uganda. Mixed emotions I guess. On one hand we know we are stilled called to Uganda, our home is there, we are excited about what God is doing and the ministries we are involved in, our team is there…I defiantly do not dread going back like I use to. And in a lot of ways it has gotten easier. But it will always be hard. Leaving our families is difficult. We love them. It is hard to leave the niceness here. It is beautiful, there is so much to do, comfortable, and we can enjoy. However like Josh says we can enjoy it because we know we are only here a short time but if we moved back to stay it would be hard.

So ready or not here we go. Now comes the last buys, packing and goodbyes. We have spoken at 15 churches and one left before we go. It has been great. We feel encouraged and appreciated. We are thankful for all of our supporters. Pray for us as we prepare to go back to Uganda.

-Pray for little stress and a lot of peace as we pack our 15 boxes, the girls finish up their time at school, we enjoy our last days, and as we say goodbye.
-Pray too for our families as they let us go again for another year. We are so blessed by their love and support.
-Pray for us as we fly October 9 and arrive in Uganda on the morning of the 11th.
-And pray for us as we adjust back to our lives and ministry in Uganda.
-Often at this time sickness comes into our family as we travel so we also ask for prayer of protection and good health.

We go knowing God goes with us. Look forward to updating you next time from Uganda and testifying to you of many answers to prayers!

Hey, finally got the other video uploaded to Youtube. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtx7plU0-zk