Although there is no PetCo in Gulu, we tend to find most of the creatures sold at American pet stores in our yard.  Tristan has asked to keep anything from moths to monitor lizards as pets and always gets a “NO WAY.” But, when Cole found a chameleon, we decided to make it a home inside.  We have had them before and loved them, but this one (Tristan named him Buck) would not eat when we held it up to flies.  So, after a few days, I asked Tristan to let him go in a tree so he would not die of starvation.  As we were releasing Buck, I was startled by an eye moving in the tree.  I realized it was a huge chameleon.  Black, at least 9 inches long, and giving me the death stare.  It was menacing and I finally understood why Ugandans are deathly afraid

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who serves a motherly role to someone!  Whether you are a teacher, a big sister, a mentor, a Bible study leader, an aunt, a foster mom, an adoptive mom, or have biological kids . . . thanks for loving on God’s children and showing them the love of a mother.

Mother’s Day has often been a struggle for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my hubby letting me sleep in and fix me breakfast.  I love waking up to hugs, kisses, and handmade cards from my three beautiful, healthy children.  BUT . . . I can’t help but spend the day feeling so unworthy.  Why would a sovereign God ever allow my horribly sinful self to be a mom?  Why would He choose to let me have 3 children when others cannot have one?  Why would He choose to let my kids all be

I thought I knew the answer to this question.  From the time I was in the 6th grade, it had been my dream to be a missionary in Africa one day.  Being a missionary meant I would go to another country and play with kids who were always happy, always smiling, needed my love, needed my clothes, needed my toys, and had never heard of Jesus.  Being a missionary would be just like a short term visit – I would be out in the village all day, everyday.  My days would be packed with walking people through the plan of salvation, giving them a new Bible, and singing praise songs. I would shower the people with all my excess blessings.  I have so much, why wouldn’t I pass out food, clothes, and medicine all the time?

We came on the field with no training and therefore made LOTS of mistakes.

During my brief visit to America last year, I needed to drive to my Dad’s house, but he was so afraid that I would accidentally drive on the wrong side of the road after over a year in Uganda.  I tried to tell him how easy and thoughtless it is to drive in America.  On the other hand, driving here is just more than I can take most days . . .

As I pull out on the dirt road that is barely wide enough for one vehicle, I have to make sure no bodas, cars, giant trucks, animals, people, or bicycles are coming and try to avoid the drop-offs on both sides.  I see a kid running through his field with hoe in hand to come wave at me as I drive by.  Of course, I have to wave after so much effort has been put into greeting me.

With over 1,400 beads rolled, it was time to make some jewelry.  What an exciting day for us all.

The beads were hung for a second coat of glue, while preparations were made to assemble the first set of necklaces.

Each strand had over 200 beads on it that had to be pulled off.  This was the first real chance to evaluate the quality of the product.  Annet instructed the ladies in which beads were good and which were bad and how to make them all better.

The stringing began!  That was the easy part.  Tying off the ends so that the clasp is strong, but there are no gaps and no evidence of the knot was MUCH harder than any of us realized.  They had to laugh

Today, the Four Corners team gathered at the site of Abaana’s Hope to dedicate the two completed buildings back to the Lord.  Check out what the day looked like by clicking here or going to the FCM Facebook page to see the pictures I posted.  What a beautiful afternoon!

Let me tell ya’ . . .

No matter what I say, people will only hear annoying sounds unless I show them love.

No matter what I plan, or envision, or know more about, or believe with total faith, I am nothing if I don’t have love.

If I give all my time and possessions to others and even give my life for someone or some thing, I gain nothing if I don’t have love.

Love breathes deeply and counts to 10.  Love speaks soft, kind words.

Love does not long for what someone else has, it does not feel proud because of its good qualities, it does not tell others how it is better than them.

It is not rude and hurtful, it is not out for itself, it is not easily angered, it does not keep up with the bad things others do.

Love gets no pleasure from meanness or hurtful words but loves

In the awesome movie “Field of Dreams,”  they keep saying “Build it and they will come.”  Today we learned, “Offer it and they will come.”

The Abaana’s Hope womens’ jewelry program is officially up and running.  After the initial meet and greet last week, the ladies began working today!  To say the community is eager and responding well would be a huge understatement.  5 ladies were hand selected last week by the local chairman to be the pioneers of the program.  This week, they invited their friends.  After 50 women were counted, we had to start sending women back home.  Quite the turn out!

We knew that to teach the women how to make the paper beads would take a lot of one-on-one attention, so we set a 10 person limit to begin with.  We had a lottery of sorts to see who the additional 5 women would be and kept

How is it possible to read something over and over and miss the the point each time?  For the past few weeks, I have been studying Galatians.  With the method I’m using, I have read each verse of the book more times than I can count.  Today, I am thankful for my J. Vernon McGee commentary.

Galatians 1:3  ”Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (NIV).”

How many times have I heard people repeat this?  How many times have I said this?  Well, maybe everyone else got this a long time ago, but I am having such a moment of awe.

McGee says, “This is Paul’s formal greeting that he uses in most of his epistles.  The word grace (charis) in this verse was the gentile form of greeting in that day, while peace (shalom) was the religious greeting of the Jews.  Now the grace of God