Mozzarella Cheese

As you may have noticed, it has been a bit tough to muster up the desire to blog lately. I am in Uganda for one more month and two days- and blogging just hasn’t been jumping to the top of my list. Here’s the thing. I am soo excited to see you all. Can’t wait, really! And I’m excited to start my new job. And I am also really looking forward to eating some real mozzarella cheese (yes, that’s what I’ve been missing lately…) and momma’s fried chicken.

These pictures are from visiting my stand-in Mama, Janet, for her birthday last weekend

BUT, I loathe the thought of all these heart-wrenching goodbyes I have to make in T-1month2days. But thanks to my dear friend who just returned to the US (shout out Jessie!), I am trying something. For every time that something is so awesome that I just want to be sad for how much I’ll miss it- I instead focus on how extremely grateful I am for the blessing. Whatever it may be.

Hopefully that is enough of an excuse for my lack of blogging… In other news, work has been grrrreat! I’ve been posing as an architect the last few weeks and working on finalizing construction documents and doing 3D building renderings! I’m talking sketch-up, Photoshop, the whole 9 yards. Crazy out of my comfort zone and skill set. But crazy fun. And Lord-willing I will be working on the estimate and construction schedule for this project after a client meeting this week.

The Lord has been teaching me thousands of lessons. I have discovered how much he can teach me if I just walk ever closer with him. Tons of lessons in just a single day! He’s cool, isn’t he? And by cool, of course I mean amazingly kind and generous, so worthy, and unrelentingly loving. Anyway, I’ll just share one with you. Soo, orphans. If you’ve read any of my blogs- you know I’ve been volunteering at an orphanage a few hours a week. I’ve been digging in a bit to God’s heart on orphans, and just love this:

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

Guess what God’s heart is for orphans? (PS Not pretending I know it all- or even half of it…) He calls for justice for the orphans and adoption into his family. Beautiful! “Oooh, ooh! Pick me! Lord, I want to do that! Adopt all these precious ones that I’ve grown to know and love so that I can teach them about YOUR family! Lord, yes please!”

But guess what else. I’m 100% sure that is not what I am supposed to be doing right now. Mostly, because it is illegal. I’m not 25 and I am not living in Uganda for the next 3 years. Also, I have only half of the whole “parent” thing to offer. They deserve a Daddy, too. But at least while I am here for the next month I get to pour into their lives and try to help them understand (at the tender young age of 2 or 3) that they MATTER. But soon, I won’t have an orphanage to volunteer at. Or a design project that will be serving orphans. So….then, what?

I’m not sure yet. But of this I am sure. When I get back to the states, if I’m not serving the “poor and needy, the widow and the orphan” then I am NOT living a biblical faith. I think I kinda faked
it before. Give a little money here, sponsor a child there. But that is not the way God has taught me to serve. He gives fully of his time, resources, emotion, and energy. He gives that freely to me. And so when he calls me to give, he wants me to do it in the SAME WAY. Is that what your giving looks like? In the words of Brooke Fraser and James, “Now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith without deeds is dead.” (Shout out to Reid for pointing me to Brooke Fraser’s song Albertine.)

Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Ps 82:3

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. Is 1:17

Praises:
-Can I list them all? Just thank the Lord for how good he is. He is worthy of all our lives and devotion and praise without offering us anything in return. And yet he gives us eternal salvation, an ever present helper, peace and strength for each day, and amazingly blessed relationships with others. So, just praise him for all of that.

Prayer Requests:
-For my attitude to remain thankful!! not sorrowful as I approach goodbyes.
-For the precious kids at Nsambya Babies Home. Pray that the Lord would be near to them this week and love them through us.
-For project work and all my fellow staff and interns. The end of a term can be a stressful time as we push to finish all of the projects and reports before the interns leave.

You May be in Kampala if:
-Your kiwi companion takes you all sailing one day off a semi-deserted island on Lake Victoria. (Mostly I just wanted to point out here that I got to go sailing on Lake Victoria…)
-Great worship is often characterized by lots of tribal dancing. Hips often move in Uganda as an act of worship to our Lord- which is pretty fun!
-You cannot imagine a better snack than fried banana chips.

Uganda Cranes game!

Thank you all for your love and support. And thanks especially for reading!
SForbes