Sweetness

I know I said I would post about Uganda and how a life CAN be transformed by our choices to serve, love, give, and pray....BUT, I can't help but share this nugget of goodness with you all.

So, the other day I had a heart to heart with our son, O. I have to be honest and say that our transition home to America after spending 7 months in Uganda has been hard. We've been spinnning around like tops for the last month and a half since we've been back. It's been SO fun, life giving, refreshing, and full of LOVE, but I think we all have felt a bit overwhelmed with the instant busy-ness of life in America.

Most people have asked us how the kids are doing adjusting to the transition home and our general answer has been "good". Yeah,...they seemed to be doing just fine for the most part. Although I had noticed a bit of a change in O since we've been back. There's been an increase in his disobedience and his attitude has been pretty "poopy". Being a new mom I'm still learning how to read my own kids and I didn't think that it had anything to do with being home. So, finally after weeks of attitude and disobedience we sat down and had a serious heart to heart. We talked about what had been going on for the last month and he agreed that he had a hard month.

I never would have expected to hear the next few words that came out of his mouth. (A little background on O: He is all about movies, fun activities, electronic things that make noise and flash, he's into the BIG, LOUD, MOVING, FLASHING, FAST anything!! So, picture us in Uganda with minimal electricity, no movies really, very few toys, and well...that's it.)

Anyway, he told me he was having a hard time being home in America. I asked him why and he said, "I MISS HELPING PEOPLE". Oh my,...my heart broke and rejoiced at the same time and the tears started to flow. He continued to say, "I miss walking together as a family everywhere, I don't like that we have to drive in a car all the time". He continued saying, "I miss hunting and killing cockroaches with you mama!". Oh my... I NEVER would have expected to hear this from O. In fact many times I have prayed that God would prepare our kids hearts if He calls us to go back to Uganda. I honestly thought O and F would be upset to go back because they would miss all the comforts of America. And here sat my son telling me he missed our simple bug filled but Kingdom filled, life in Uganda. This was the best gift a mama could ever get. Our son GOT IT! He gets it!! He gets that life in God's way is SO much better than any flashing, beeping toy or any 3-D movie in the theatre. He can sense in his little spirit that listening to Jesus, loving and serving others, and obeying God when he calls is WAY MORE FUN than the best amusement park around.

Eversince O has been home from Liberia he has wanted to be a pilot and a builder. He has always told us that his dream is to build playgrounds for kids in Africa! After living in Uganda for 7 months and spending time with our Ugandan friends in thier villages, he is determined to make his dream come true. We are going to start something and we've been playing around with a name, fundraisers, (lemonade stands, bake sales, etc..), and all the "how to's" of making it happen. I want O to see that he CAN make a difference in someone's life. He can love and serve others in the way God's called him.

So, we celebrated O's bday the other week and in honor of his "dream" we made him a "playground cake"! Jeff and I put it together with skewers and duct tape and Auntie Mekay and I decorated. Here's to dreaming big and loving others!

We surprised O with an Ethiopian birthday dinner, his favorite!!!