New Faces

   On Tuesday evening the second part of our group came in, making us a total of 14! I was really worried about the change in dynamic, but I was completely overwhelmed with joy just seeing their van pull up! They brought in so much excitement and energy!  It was a much needed lift since I haven't been able to see my little Masse in about a week.  Apparently she went with her Aunt to another town. I’m not quite sure if that means to live or just to visit, but I am hoping to see her before I leave. 

   Wednesday was a relatively short day, we all went into the village to show the new members Namatala. We did find out the cost of our medical clinic was way above what initially was planned, so it has been reduced to only 2 days.  The Lord has His hands on the situation and we are confident that He has big plans for this! 

   On Thursday the fun began with building a new garden at Teacher Sara's house.  It went by really quickly and was finished in one day!  With the addition of 3 guys to the team, the digging up of the garden goes by much faster ha.  In the afternoon we came back to the hotel to get all kids gifts for Saturday ready to go.  It took us a good while to sort out all of their shirts and dresses and place them with gifts! 

   Today we got a bit of a late start, so some of us stayed to hold babies at the sewing club, while others went into Namatala to hold more babies!  I have been told everyday by Masse’s family that she is coming the next day, but so far “the next day” has yet to come!  From what I understand they need transportation money so it is delaying them. After lunch we went to Irene’s ( Masse’s older sister) to plant another garden.  It was amazing to watch all of the people jump up to help.  The kids are so willing to work! We finished half of the garden, and after we get manure, we will finish the rest.  We are finishing our day with dinner at Chat n’ Chino and some relaxing! 

   I appreciate all the continued prayers from everyone, we have all received so much love and encouragement during our time here!  The Lord has done a wonderful job of smoothing out the wrinkles in this trip!

2 Down, 6 to Go!

This past week was a busy one! We got one of the keyhole gardens finished, did a small wounds clinic, spent some time in the village, and went to Sipi Falls.

We planted the first keyhole garden at Mama Sara’s house since she had some space to put one.  So many of the kids came to watch and were eager to help us lay bricks, it was precious! We bought seeds for kale, tomatoes, cabbage, red pepper, eggplant, and carrots. The ladies were so excited that we were going to do these.  Not all of the families own the land where their huts are and a lot of the owners won’t allow gardens.  We also planted some of the seeds in one of the sewing ladies gardens since she already had one started.  We are looking to put one more near Masse’s family since there are 10 kids in that house. 

Our First Garden

The small wounds clinic drew many people to where we were stationed.  We got everything from small cuts to ear infections. So many of the kids came over, and even more came for stickers!  Kids are kids when it comes to stickers, they will mob you for them ha.  For all of the people who didn’t have small wounds, we told them about the doctors we have coming in on June 11^th.  It is heartbreaking to see the conditions that they live in on a daily basis, and just how severe sickness can be.

giving out bandaids and medicine

On Thursday we went to Sipi Falls, and it was absolutely beautiful!  The drive there was tough at times considering the road conditions, but the scenery was amazing!! We hiked a little bit up to where we were behind the falls.  It was so pretty and refreshing with the cool water splashing up.  We ate lunch there and then headed home!

The pictures can't even capture how beautiful it is

This Picture just shows great perspective!

On Friday morning we went to the St. Kizito Baby Home here in Mbale. Those kids are so loved on by the Nuns that run the home.  They were all so healthy, almost opposite what is seen in Namatala Village. We went back into Namatala for the afternoon to check on some of our patients and tell all the I Choose You families about a little party that evening.  We strung up some Christmas lights, and when we ran into a snag, the Mommas dug a hole and put in a post! It was crazy, they had it dug and planted in less than 5 minutes!  Unfortunately it rained that evening and we had to go inside the house.  There were probably 60 people in this tiny house all dancing and singing, it was a precious way to send off the part of our team leaving Saturday morning.

Today we were able to just relax after sending off 3 of our team members.  It is crazy how fast these two weeks have gone by!  On Tuesday 5 more of our team members will come, and we are all anxious for them to be here! So thankful for all of the continued prayer for our safety and travel! I have been sick the last couple days with what  I think are allergies, but it would be great to also receive some prayer that it isn’t anything else!  

Little Ones on My Lap

The last couple of days have really been a mix of emotions for me.  I have been completely overjoyed at times and then missing home a lot too.  I love the time I get to spend with the children, but never having a chance to be alone has been hard for me. 

On Friday we had the chance to join all of the school kids in chapel.  It was so sweet watching all of them sing and recite their memory verses!  I love that their little faces light up when you give them a smile, they truly have the most joyous laughter. After chapel we went into Namatala and started our plans for a keyhole in the village.  We piled up our stones and rocks and then broke for lunch.  We had one of the I Choose You girls come stay the night with us afterwards!  We painted nails and played UNO, she really seemed to enjoy it!

On Saturday we had a family day for I Choose You. The kids had so many songs prepared for us, and they have such beautiful voices! The moms were so grateful for everything, their speeches left us in tears.  During the whole thing I got to hold this little girl, Masse. She grabbed my hand during break and never let go!  She is so precious and is just content sitting in my lap. I also got to hold another little girl, Marion, they call her the humble one since she has so few words.  She was a tough one to get to smile, but when you could it was like a little treasure! Both girls couldn’t be any older than 4.  As for Saturday night, we had a few more overnight guests.  This time we had 3 of the I Choose You Girls: Vicki, Winney, and Justine.  They went swimming in the afternoon, got their nails painted, played some UNO, and had a bubble bath!  They loved getting to sleep in the big bed, but they were up pretty early! 

Today (Sunday) we went to the church service.  I was forewarned that the church services here can get quite long, and that is no lie.  First we all went in and prayed and sang, then they dismissed the kids for Sunday school.  It was our job to teach the lesson, so Jennifer took on the task of teaching David and Goliath. The kids loved looking at all of the pictures, but the ones around me were very distracted by my hair, my skin, and my watch.  Its so funny how fascinated they are with things like veins and freckles. My little shadow Masse found my lap quickly in Sunday school!  All of the kids love to hold our hands, and will sometimes even fight to get to.  After Sunday school we went back into church for singing and prayer.  Sweet Masse stood on the pew for most of the songs, but she fell asleep quickly when we sat down. 

The little girl on the left is Ester, she held my hand the whole time.

After the singing and prayer the kids were released again to go outside.  I went with the little ones( how could I not with little Masse on my hip?!) and we played ring around the rosie and duck duck goose!  The little ones loved it, but they weren’t the best at keeping a circle!  After the parents were released from church, all the children got in line to get  little gifts.  There were so many in line, and they got all kinds of different things!  Some of them got socks, some candy, and others toys.  They were so excited and eager to show one another!  Everyone went home shortly after, and we went to go eat lunch and then spend the rest of the evening at the hotel!

Here is another picture of my sweet little Masse!

Two planes, a hotel, and a bus later...

We made it!!!  It was such a long travel, but so amazing!  We were fed and fed and fed on the plane to Dubai. I slept a good bit and watched some good movies!  Although we were tired once we hit the hotel, we all decided to go on a tour of Dubai for a couple hours!  We saw: the worlds only 7 star hotel, the worlds tallest building, and the worlds biggest mall!!  It was fun but exhausting.


When we got to the airport in Dubai the next morning we were super blessed to be driven to our gate, which saved us a ton of time since it was far away!  The plane from Dubai to Entebbe was much smaller than the one from Houston to Dubai.  Fortunately we were able to spread out a bit because the flight wasn't full, this was a huge blessing for me!  Once in Entebbe we started on our way to Mbale

It was quite the drive to get to Mbale, but it was a beautiful drive!
I have felt so at peace since being in Uganda, and even in my exhaustion I can hardly contain my excitement!! I just want to be out there loving on little babies and serving Jesus!

A little last minute

So....its normal that you would have to be at the airport in 3 hours for an international flight and you are still picking up stuff from the store...right? ha   These last few days have been a wee bit stressful getting all of these last minute items together and ready to go!  I would definitely say the most stressful part is trying to remember all that I will need...seeing as how I can't just walk to the local CVS and pick up things!


I am so nervous and excited!!  I have had last minute dinners, a graduation party, and a little bit of dancing. Everyone is so excited for me to go and I have received so much encouragement and prayer! The only one who seems not so keen on me leaving is little Miss Sophie

 (hoping she isn't going to hate me for leaving her!)  Thank y'all so much for keeping me and my team in your prayers, see you in Uganda :) 

5 days...say what?!

I am finally in that excited/nervous/anxious/giddy stage of getting ready!!  With less than a week until I leave, there is TONS to do!! Thankfully, today I got a lot done. I knew I had to get my school stuff for the fall set before I leave, and I was really stressing about getting in to get advised.  After calling to get an appointment, leaving a voicemail, not being called back, and finally being told that advising was so busy they couldn't answer their phones, I was thinking this process would take hours.  I drove to Austin (in the pouring rain) dreading sitting there for hours to just see someone for minutes. The Lord took all of that and made it so easy, I was taken in to get advised in like 20 minutes!  I also had to return my textbooks today, and was preparing for that to take at least an hour after last semesters experience, but when I walked in I was the only one there!  It is so cool how the Lord knows our littlest worries and needs and completely provides for them!!  There is still a lot to do, but I am so relieved that some of the things that have been stressing me the most are out of the way!!


All thats really left are a couple days of work, catching up with some friends, and my graduation party! I am finally feeling prepared and really ready to go, I can't wait to see what the Lord will teach me on this trip!!  I know He is preparing to change my life, what's more exciting than knowing my Father has big/exciting/fulfilling plans laid out for me?!

Reality Check

       First I want to start by saying how cool it was today at church when our group was prayed for!  It was amazing to me how so many people came up to lay hands on us in prayer. It was such a beautiful picture of what the Lord desires for community.  I feel so blessed to be a part of a community that loves so well.

       It is really starting to set in that very soon, I will be on a plane to a completely different country for a trip that will change my life. This is both incredibly exciting and crazy scary.  Being the planner that I am, it is hard for me to accept that this is something that I can’t completely plan for. I just have to simply rest in the fact that the Lord knows me better than I know myself, and He has all of the details taken care of.  All of this has been a big growing experience for me, and I can’t wait to see what the Lord holds for my future.

       I have to admit that these last couple weeks have been a struggle for me.  All the stresses of school have left me feeling really apathetic.  Graduation should be an exciting time, but with all that is going on I really just feel like it is another item on my pre trip to-do list that needs to be checked off. Not to mention that fears and doubts about the trip have really been creeping in as well. A good friend warned me a while back that this type of thing would happen, so I know that these are attacks from the enemy. But I also know that the God I serve is stronger than any of these lies. 

       Lastly I am happy to say that ALL of my money for the trip has been raised!! I am so grateful for all of the people the Lord has lead to give, I have been very blessed! Most importantly, please keep me in your prayers these last two weeks, I definitely need all that I can get :)