Feb 28
My Grandpa
I’ve been blessed to have known all my grandparents, but my Grandpa Walt was so special to me. The memories that I’ve been blessed to have of him and with him will be held close to my heart for the rest of my life. I think the first memory I have of him is going to church with him and Grandma at the original Harlan United Methodist Church. They would take me when I was little. I would fall asleep in the pew during service and he would always pick me up in his arms when the service was over. How comforting that was to me.
When I got older I remember riding my bike down to his market to visit him. Many times he and I would sit outside on the stone bench in front of the store chat, and have a nice cold bottle of soda (pop). It was very refreshing after a long ride and fantastic to spend time with him. As a child I sent many weekends over at my Grandparents house. Mostly because of my close age and friendship to my Aunt Lisa. One thing I loved was sitting with Gramps in his big old brown recliner as he told stories to me. On Sundays during the summer he’d make home made ice cream. We’d put the ice cream in these big pink bowls. He taught me to put chocolate on it and swirl it around till it was mushy again. That ice cream was the best I’ve ever tasted! When we were eating the wonderful goodness of cream, the whole family would sit in the living room and watch Wonderful World of Disney and Wild Kingdom. What a great memory!
I have so many more memories of my Gramps that I could tell but I think what is so awesome to me is the life that he lived. He lived simply, off the land, did things his way and loved life! He enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, and traveling. His fish stories were bigger then life and his love of nature was awesome! One memory that comes to mind was the first time he took my family and I morel mushroom hunting. We went out in the woods to one of his favorite spots and sure enough we headed home with bags of morels. That night he and Grams cooked them up. They sure were yummy! He also loved people and it showed in the last few months of his life, with all of the cards and people that visited him that they loved him back.
I was so blessed to have been able to spend the last week and a half of my time in the U.S. with him. I thank the Lord for that time and the conversations that we had during the last few weeks of his life. He was an awesome man and I’m so glad that he knew the Lord and is in Heaven watching over all of us smiling and telling a dirty joke!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Praise the Lord!!
Feb 19th
Praise the Lord!!
Praise the Lord for many things today!! We visited a hospital, and Stella Maris- a boarding school, went to Uganda Child care for dinner at the cafe and went to their pray & worship night and then God answered my prayers....we got the internet at the house up and running!!! Thank you God! :) So please check out the blogs I just posted. Love you all!!
Praise the Lord!!
Praise the Lord for many things today!! We visited a hospital, and Stella Maris- a boarding school, went to Uganda Child care for dinner at the cafe and went to their pray & worship night and then God answered my prayers....we got the internet at the house up and running!!! Thank you God! :) So please check out the blogs I just posted. Love you all!!
Muzungo's Painting
Feb 16th
Muzungo’s Painting
After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs and pineapple, Rob, Sam and I went to work on painting the 2nd coat of bright white paint on the walls of the girl’s room. We had a great time getting to know each other more and asking questions. At times I think there was more pain on me then on the wall and trim I was painting. After lunch of guess what, beans and rice, we started in on clean and preparing the 2nd room in the girls quarters for painting. We had to take down these useless wooden brackets that were all over the room. It was actually pretty fun to do demolition with the flat bar and hammer. We are making that room a study room for the girls. We took a break and then it was on to painting the 1st coat of paint in that room. By the time we were finished the 2nd coat of paint was done drying and we were able to move the girl’s new bright pink, triple-decker bunk beds into the room. It was so cool to see them in there! What was even more exciting was to see the reaction of the girls when they came home from school. They were so thankful!! They kept saying, wabala, Auntie, wabala. Which means thank you, thank you!
Muzungo’s Painting
After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs and pineapple, Rob, Sam and I went to work on painting the 2nd coat of bright white paint on the walls of the girl’s room. We had a great time getting to know each other more and asking questions. At times I think there was more pain on me then on the wall and trim I was painting. After lunch of guess what, beans and rice, we started in on clean and preparing the 2nd room in the girls quarters for painting. We had to take down these useless wooden brackets that were all over the room. It was actually pretty fun to do demolition with the flat bar and hammer. We are making that room a study room for the girls. We took a break and then it was on to painting the 1st coat of paint in that room. By the time we were finished the 2nd coat of paint was done drying and we were able to move the girl’s new bright pink, triple-decker bunk beds into the room. It was so cool to see them in there! What was even more exciting was to see the reaction of the girls when they came home from school. They were so thankful!! They kept saying, wabala, Auntie, wabala. Which means thank you, thank you!
Quenn Betty (not finished yet)
Feb 15th
Queen Betty
Today is Sunday and what does that mean around here? Church of course! Today we went to Queen Betty and Gerald’s church in Indo. I love that church!! It is so filled with the Holy Spirit!! How can I describe this church; a brick church with no doors or windows, with a dirt floor, that the breeze flows through and the Holy Spirit reigns? There is NO pretension and people interact with each other and with our Lord so easily.
When we arrived they were worshiping and praising the Lord in amazing song!! It was so great to join in.
Queen Betty
Today is Sunday and what does that mean around here? Church of course! Today we went to Queen Betty and Gerald’s church in Indo. I love that church!! It is so filled with the Holy Spirit!! How can I describe this church; a brick church with no doors or windows, with a dirt floor, that the breeze flows through and the Holy Spirit reigns? There is NO pretension and people interact with each other and with our Lord so easily.
When we arrived they were worshiping and praising the Lord in amazing song!! It was so great to join in.
Sick Day and Care Packages
Feb 14th
Sick Day and Care Packages
Hey all well today passed by as I slept. This morning I woke with a horrible sore throat, headache and congestion. I was so bummed because it was Rob and Sam’s first full day here and my first full day with all the children. Robyn was so sweet to me this morning, because she brought me breakfast, but I was so out of it I couldn’t eat. About noon I got some Alka-Seltzer Plus in me and I was knocked out the rest of the afternoon. By evening I was feeling much better and even got some food in me! Thank you God and Janet for introducing me to Alka-Seltzer Cold! One more round and I hope to kick this.
If anyone would like to send me a care package you can use the below addresses. I’ve found that I need more Alka-Seltzer Plus and Sinus Tylenol as they don’t have anything like that here. Oh and you know I’ll take any food or sweeties that remind me of home.
Home address:
29 Speke Rd
Masaka, Uganda, Africa
(Delivery time 1 to 2 months)
Christian’s Government mailing address that he so graciously offered me for packages:
Christian Smith
2190 Kampala Pl.
Dulles, VA 20189
(The packages are shipped to a special box in the states then sent to the US Embassy in Kampala. Delivery time is 1 to 2 weeks)
Sick Day and Care Packages
Hey all well today passed by as I slept. This morning I woke with a horrible sore throat, headache and congestion. I was so bummed because it was Rob and Sam’s first full day here and my first full day with all the children. Robyn was so sweet to me this morning, because she brought me breakfast, but I was so out of it I couldn’t eat. About noon I got some Alka-Seltzer Plus in me and I was knocked out the rest of the afternoon. By evening I was feeling much better and even got some food in me! Thank you God and Janet for introducing me to Alka-Seltzer Cold! One more round and I hope to kick this.
If anyone would like to send me a care package you can use the below addresses. I’ve found that I need more Alka-Seltzer Plus and Sinus Tylenol as they don’t have anything like that here. Oh and you know I’ll take any food or sweeties that remind me of home.
Home address:
29 Speke Rd
Masaka, Uganda, Africa
(Delivery time 1 to 2 months)
Christian’s Government mailing address that he so graciously offered me for packages:
Christian Smith
2190 Kampala Pl.
Dulles, VA 20189
(The packages are shipped to a special box in the states then sent to the US Embassy in Kampala. Delivery time is 1 to 2 weeks)
Heart and Reality- Lost in Translation
Feb 12th
Heart and Reality- Lost in Translation
I woke in my new room from a good nights sleep on the mattress on the floor. Today was the day I set aside to organize my room and unpack but Robyn asked me to join in on a talk to the 4 senior students, Pricilla, Barbra, ? John Travis, whom haven’t started school yet. We needed to discuss helping out with cooking and chores. I started out the talk with a verse from my devotional that morning, 1 John 4:20-21. Daddy Brian spoke to the children about the situation. They all understood that they needed to learn things like cooking because it will help them as they go out on their own. It will also show love to the others in the family group.
After the talk it started to pour down rain so Jim, Robyn and I unpacked and organized the house more. It was very good. I felt like I was settled into my new home. About 1pm we walked into town, about a mile, to start our errands for the day. We decided to stop off at the bakery for lunch since Jim didn’t want beans and rice again and I was already glad that he had made the decision. We had meat pies and meat samosas….very yummy!
Then it was off to starts the errands for the day and whittle down the large list the Robyn had prepared. We were just headed to our 1st errand to drop papers to Ritah at the child protection agency. As we passed by the local jail Robyn and Jim ran into a young girl, Nicato they had meet last year. She hugged Robyn tight and teared up, as she told her that her father was in jail and had been slain. She also needed 30,000 shillings to take his body. Of course Robyn’s heart melted as she deciphered the broken English from the girl, translating that her father had been killed in prison and she needed 30,000 shillings to move the body from Masaka to their village. Jim being the reality side of the couple asked the girl if they could talk to the authorities at the jail about the situation. Jim went straight to Alice, a police officer on the youth correction side of the jail. He asked her to find out about the situation and translate for them with the girl. She said sure talk to the girl and her mother who had joined us and went into the main jail. When Alice returned outside she had a man with her and stated that the man was Nicato’s father. Hum, was he Lazarus raised from the dead or did we really botch that translation? We all proceeded into a room to talk about the situation and get the correct story. It turns out that the father had been caught doing marijuana and opium and was put in jail. His bail was 30,000 schillings. Of course we weren’t going to post bail for that. Nicato got down on her knees and apologized to Robyn for the misunderstanding. Robyn had Alice translate as she talked to the man about repentance and accepting Jesus. He said that he will accept prayer but didn’t feel worthy to come to the Lord until he was out of jail. Robyn stated that she would pray for him but right now is when he needed God the most and that God loves him now matter what situation he was in. He still refused so we all gathered hands and prayed for him.
As we left the jail we headed to get minced meat for tacos for dinner but the shop was out. While Jim and Robyn were in the shop I started talking to a girl that was sitting on the step out front. She was Ali from Maine. She said that we were the first Americans she had met in Masaka. She was in Uganda to help out with a Farming and Gardening Project in a village outside of Fort Portal, but would also be back and forth to Masaka. She was traveling alone, so Robyn insisted that she know where we live. That was she could visit and stay with us when she was in Masaka. Ali’s driver, David, drove us all down to our house and we exchanged phone numbers and emails to stay in touch. It was so nice to meet her. I hope she comes by the house soon.
Oh my, it was finally time to work on our errands! We spent the rest of the day, till dark purchasing, everything from wastepaper baskets, to toilet seats, to wash basins for the house. We finally got home around 7:30pm and had dinner of beans, rice and cooked cabbage. I don’t think we went to bed until 11:30. It was quite a first day in Masaka!
Heart and Reality- Lost in Translation
I woke in my new room from a good nights sleep on the mattress on the floor. Today was the day I set aside to organize my room and unpack but Robyn asked me to join in on a talk to the 4 senior students, Pricilla, Barbra, ? John Travis, whom haven’t started school yet. We needed to discuss helping out with cooking and chores. I started out the talk with a verse from my devotional that morning, 1 John 4:20-21. Daddy Brian spoke to the children about the situation. They all understood that they needed to learn things like cooking because it will help them as they go out on their own. It will also show love to the others in the family group.
After the talk it started to pour down rain so Jim, Robyn and I unpacked and organized the house more. It was very good. I felt like I was settled into my new home. About 1pm we walked into town, about a mile, to start our errands for the day. We decided to stop off at the bakery for lunch since Jim didn’t want beans and rice again and I was already glad that he had made the decision. We had meat pies and meat samosas….very yummy!
Then it was off to starts the errands for the day and whittle down the large list the Robyn had prepared. We were just headed to our 1st errand to drop papers to Ritah at the child protection agency. As we passed by the local jail Robyn and Jim ran into a young girl, Nicato they had meet last year. She hugged Robyn tight and teared up, as she told her that her father was in jail and had been slain. She also needed 30,000 shillings to take his body. Of course Robyn’s heart melted as she deciphered the broken English from the girl, translating that her father had been killed in prison and she needed 30,000 shillings to move the body from Masaka to their village. Jim being the reality side of the couple asked the girl if they could talk to the authorities at the jail about the situation. Jim went straight to Alice, a police officer on the youth correction side of the jail. He asked her to find out about the situation and translate for them with the girl. She said sure talk to the girl and her mother who had joined us and went into the main jail. When Alice returned outside she had a man with her and stated that the man was Nicato’s father. Hum, was he Lazarus raised from the dead or did we really botch that translation? We all proceeded into a room to talk about the situation and get the correct story. It turns out that the father had been caught doing marijuana and opium and was put in jail. His bail was 30,000 schillings. Of course we weren’t going to post bail for that. Nicato got down on her knees and apologized to Robyn for the misunderstanding. Robyn had Alice translate as she talked to the man about repentance and accepting Jesus. He said that he will accept prayer but didn’t feel worthy to come to the Lord until he was out of jail. Robyn stated that she would pray for him but right now is when he needed God the most and that God loves him now matter what situation he was in. He still refused so we all gathered hands and prayed for him.
As we left the jail we headed to get minced meat for tacos for dinner but the shop was out. While Jim and Robyn were in the shop I started talking to a girl that was sitting on the step out front. She was Ali from Maine. She said that we were the first Americans she had met in Masaka. She was in Uganda to help out with a Farming and Gardening Project in a village outside of Fort Portal, but would also be back and forth to Masaka. She was traveling alone, so Robyn insisted that she know where we live. That was she could visit and stay with us when she was in Masaka. Ali’s driver, David, drove us all down to our house and we exchanged phone numbers and emails to stay in touch. It was so nice to meet her. I hope she comes by the house soon.
Oh my, it was finally time to work on our errands! We spent the rest of the day, till dark purchasing, everything from wastepaper baskets, to toilet seats, to wash basins for the house. We finally got home around 7:30pm and had dinner of beans, rice and cooked cabbage. I don’t think we went to bed until 11:30. It was quite a first day in Masaka!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Kampala Visit continued
The jet lag finally set in! I slept from 10:30pm on Sunday till 1pm on Monday afternoon...oh my! I couldn't believe it! I woke with a headache but it slowly dissipated as I went about getting ready. As I got ready I thanked the Lord for the amazing blessings He has given me in friends like Christian and Lidia. They opened up their lives, and the guest house to me....how awesome! :)
After getting ready I headed to the kitchen for some lunch. Might as well have lunch since it was 1pm :) (Donna- lunch consisted of left over pizza and salad...didn't think I'd get that here) The kitchen is were I met Estella, the kids nanny. She is great! She is working to put herself through school. She is getting her GED as she didn't finish when she was younger. I commended her for being persistent and doing so. She is in her last year and hopes to go to university after. After lunch I went out and read God's word in the wonderful sunshine that He had blessed me with.
Later on in the afternoon Lidia dropped me at the local strip mall were all the mazungus go. I was able to exchange some money and activate the blackberry that I was given (Robert and Gabe you'll be happy to know it worked...thank you guys) I now feel connected to my new world here in Uganda!! Yea!!
After getting ready I headed to the kitchen for some lunch. Might as well have lunch since it was 1pm :) (Donna- lunch consisted of left over pizza and salad...didn't think I'd get that here) The kitchen is were I met Estella, the kids nanny. She is great! She is working to put herself through school. She is getting her GED as she didn't finish when she was younger. I commended her for being persistent and doing so. She is in her last year and hopes to go to university after. After lunch I went out and read God's word in the wonderful sunshine that He had blessed me with.
Later on in the afternoon Lidia dropped me at the local strip mall were all the mazungus go. I was able to exchange some money and activate the blackberry that I was given (Robert and Gabe you'll be happy to know it worked...thank you guys) I now feel connected to my new world here in Uganda!! Yea!!
In Kampala
Hi All- Sorry it's been a few days since my last blog. I'm in Kampala. I arrived Sunday 2/8 in the morning from London. It was so wonderful seeing Christian, Lidia and the kids, Maia and Chiera! They are old friends of mine from San Diego and who knew that one day we'd see each other in Uganda! We spent the morning catching up and then went to lunch at a local pizza place....very good and tasty. I didn't think I'd get pizza again until I was back in the states! :) In the afternoon some of their friends and families from Christian's work, US AID, came over for a casual dinner. Very nice and relaxing time! Beleive it or not I didn't even nap that day.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Adventures In London
Hey All- I had a jolly good time in London today. Actually in Windsor. I arrived in London at 11am this morning. After "freshing up" to feel human again I headed to the luggage day check and then the currency exchange to get some pounds. After asking a few questions I was directed to the correct local bus to take me to Winsor. I waited out in the cold for about a 1/2 hour and then the bus finally came....ahh warmth! :) It was about a 30 minute ride out to Windsor. On the way I went through the town of Sloan....pretty big town. Winsor is a quaint town. Of course I was going there to see Windsor Castle and do the tour but the Queen was in residence today so no tours. I took a few pics and popped around some of the shops. Then I felt a bit peckish so I popped into a pub and sure enough they were watching Rugby....yea!! So I stayed, had a bowl of soup and a pint....yes a pint. I can't be in England and not have a proper pint when I'm in a pub! hehe. England and Italy were playing and England was beating them up. All the locals sure loved the trouncing! :) At half time I was off to check out more of the town. Then if was back on the bus to Heathrow. It was a brillient day! I'll be in Kampala tomorrow so I hope to write more soon.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Road Trip Adventures Con't
I know I've already arrived in Indiana but I wanted to up date you all on the last leg of the road trip. :)
Well Albuquerque with my brother and his family was great! We spent Saturday at the Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanical Gardens. What a great aquarium....it is actually better then the Scripps Aquarium in San Diego! I was impressed. My Nice, Blakeley loved seeing the sharks! That is all she could talk about. It was so relaxing to sit in front of the largest tank and watch the sharks, rays and other fish being feed, so much so that Blakeley fell a sleep :) Guess we wore her out hehe. That night we went to a nice New Mexico style dinner at Coronado Grill and then took a drive down Historic Route 66 into downtown Albuquerque. It was really cool to check out the old buildings and then stop off at a dinner for dessert....yummy!
The next morning I was on the road again. This was my longest day to date, 9 hours, ABQ to Oklahoma City. I will have to say that New Mexico and the Panhandle of Texas are pretty desolate places but there is still beauty in the wide open plains. While I was board driving I took a couple of "road pics". I've attached them for your enjoyment. One fun stop that I did make was dinner at The Big Texan in Amarillo, TX. I'm not a steak person but I just had to have one since that is their specialty. It sure was tasty!! I heard on the radio that there was going to be a big ice storm coming through the next day so I pushed pasted Oklahoma City through to Shawnee, OK that night. I was whipped when I finally found a decent priced hotel and laid my head down on the pillow for that long awaited sleep. :)
The next morning I a woke to winter and freezing rain! Gees I hadn't seen the likes of that in 11 years. I missed San Diego that morning!
Well Albuquerque with my brother and his family was great! We spent Saturday at the Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanical Gardens. What a great aquarium....it is actually better then the Scripps Aquarium in San Diego! I was impressed. My Nice, Blakeley loved seeing the sharks! That is all she could talk about. It was so relaxing to sit in front of the largest tank and watch the sharks, rays and other fish being feed, so much so that Blakeley fell a sleep :) Guess we wore her out hehe. That night we went to a nice New Mexico style dinner at Coronado Grill and then took a drive down Historic Route 66 into downtown Albuquerque. It was really cool to check out the old buildings and then stop off at a dinner for dessert....yummy!
The next morning I was on the road again. This was my longest day to date, 9 hours, ABQ to Oklahoma City. I will have to say that New Mexico and the Panhandle of Texas are pretty desolate places but there is still beauty in the wide open plains. While I was board driving I took a couple of "road pics". I've attached them for your enjoyment. One fun stop that I did make was dinner at The Big Texan in Amarillo, TX. I'm not a steak person but I just had to have one since that is their specialty. It sure was tasty!! I heard on the radio that there was going to be a big ice storm coming through the next day so I pushed pasted Oklahoma City through to Shawnee, OK that night. I was whipped when I finally found a decent priced hotel and laid my head down on the pillow for that long awaited sleep. :)
The next morning I a woke to winter and freezing rain! Gees I hadn't seen the likes of that in 11 years. I missed San Diego that morning!
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