Here are a couple of pictures of kids who teach me about life!

The beauty of it all

So my time here in Africa is ticking down.

It’s unbelievable that the trip I have waited for my whole life is close to coming to an end.

Since I was in preschool I have had a desire for this beautiful continent.

Not knowing what country I wanted to go to, but just falling in love with the people in every one of them.

In two weeks I will be getting on a plane to head home.

To head home to a place that used to be so familiar to me.

To head home to the place I felt so comfortable living in.

I know it is time for me to go home at this time, but this place I called home will not be so familiar and comfortable any longer.

There will be the comfort of my wonderful family and friends, there will be the joy of eating food that I have dearly missed, but there will be part of me missing.

There will not be the early mornings with Mammas talking loud outside my window.

There will no longer be the kids continuously calling my name, “Auntie Grace!!” with their adorably loud voices.

There will no longer be the late nights of watching Grey’s Anatomy with all my new closest friends.

No late movie nights on the projector.

No more cooking food that takes 3 hours for each full meal.

Some of these things you might think that I should excited to not have, but I’m going to miss it ALL.

Yesterday was one of my favorite days since being here.

It was Halloween and we celebrated big in the Ekisa house.

It all started at 9 a.m. and we dressed up in costumes, we painted and carved watermelons, we made “sweetie bags”, had a dance party, ate funnel cakes, bobbed for apples, played with bubbles, and finally got to go trick-or-treating.

It’s these days I am going to miss most.

It’s the simplicity of playing and having fun.

It is absolutely beautiful.

These last four months have been the hardest four months of my life.

I have experienced things I never thought I would have to.

But these past four months have been the best four months of my life as well.

I learned a lot about myself.

The Lord has taught me a lot about him.

About his joy, his strength, his sovereignty, his perfect timing, and mostly about His extravagant love.

I have grown up here.

Spiritual I have grown up, and now Jesus is telling me to go and bring the things I have learned to my birthplace, Athens, GA.

Share what I Have learned.

Be the voice and speak the truth that has been continually spoken into me since the day I got here.

I am to go home and love the people who are “unlovely” to the human eye.

I am to go and put my love in action, just as Jesus did.

I am to go and plant my seed that has been waiting to be planted for some time now.

I am to go and serve.

Lead.

Be a light.

And Love.

Love.

Love.

This is not to say I am in Athens to stay.

I am not saying that at all.

As I have been reminded since the day I left I am in the journey.

I am living in this journey of life of not knowing where to go next and it’s ok.

So, I am taking a step and seeing if it is where God wants me.

And I will only know by lifting Him higher.

By bringing Him Glory no matter where I am in the world.

And by praying. Praying. Praying.

Praying to the one who gave me life to direct me in my journey in this life.

But for now I am to come home.

I do not know what is happening in my future, and I’m learning that that is ok.

I don’t have to know.

I just have to pursue Jesus with all that I am and do what He has asked me to do, which is to love.

This place will always have a place in my heart.

I WILL be coming back to visit, but I just have to take this journey one step at a time with Jesus right by my side.

A day of celebration

Today, October 24^th, is a day of celebration.

A day I have celebrated all my life.

A day to celebrate two people.

Two people who have supported me.

Encouraged me.

Comforted me.

Always supporting me in what I want to do, whether it be sports, school, jobs, or coming to Africa, these two people have always been behind me.

This is my beautiful grandmother, Mimi.

She is one heck of a rockstar.

Growing up she called me “her princess” and that’s exactly what I felt like when she came.

She would always make me Mini Mouse pancakes when I would have sleepovers at her house.

All of my long dance recitals, she was there.

All of my musicals, she was there.

All my sporting events, she tried her best to be there and if she couldn’t make it she would call and see how it would go.

This lady is one of the strongest women I know, alongside with my other grandmother.

My Mimi has beautiful piano skills!

It’s really incredible!

I envy the way she can play a piano.

I know every piano student that she ever had is truly thankful for her.

She has a servant’s heart for all.

She is one incredible grandmother and if you have never met her, please meet her next time she is in town!

Mimi had an amazing son on this day as well.

I’m truly thankful for her son.

That son is my lovely Dad.

My dad is the hardest working person I know.

He works hard and it definitely pays off.

He is BRILLIANT and loves to learn.

Maybe that’s where I get my craving for books from?

My dad is one of my biggest supporters.

He loves to encourage me daily about just life.

If I’m having a hard time with something, dad always comes to the rescue to put things in a better perspective for me to see.

My dad also plays music.

And he is a rockstar at that as well.

When he plays any instrument my heart is always happy.

He plays and plays.

I think he is the reason why I LOVE music so much too..

Thanks dad!

I love the way my dad thinks.

I love the way my dad loves.

I love the way my dad sings.

I love the way my dad cooks.

I love the way my dad dances.

I love the way m dad cares for all of us kids and my mom.

I love my dad’s beautiful heart.

So this day is a great day.

I get to celebrate two amazing people in my life!

So, Mimi and Dad thanks for all you do for me.

Thank you for always supporting me.

Thank you for loving music so that I can too.

Thank you for loving me the way you both do.

Thank you for being my grandmother and dad.

I will see you both very soon!!! 

Perfect Timing

As most of you know my mom and “aunt Tammy” came for a short visit to my lovely home, Ekisa.

It was October 10 and almost 4 o’clock. I was headed out the door to hop in the car with my driver.

It was time to head to Entebbe to pick them up.

I was really anxious because for the past two weeks moms and dads have been coming to visit everyone here.

This whole month is like our “parents weekend” that colleges have.

I was excited to see people I’m close to closer and more real than a computer screen.

From Jinja to Entebbe is about a 3-4 hour drive depending on traffic.

I slept, ate some food, listened to my music, got on my computer, and really tried to do anything for me to be patient in the Kampala traffic.

Finally 3 hours later we make it to the airport.

We were a little early, but I didn’t care.

I was ready to get inside and see my mom and aunt tammy come through the doors from baggage claim.

I waited and waited.

I saw that their flight had arrived and my stomach started getting into knots because of the excitement I had in me.

I waited and kept seeing unfamiliar faces.

I looked beyond the doors to see if I even could recognize the luggage that would be coming around the corner…. Little did I know I could have spotted their polka dotted and bright orange suitcases from miles away.

Finally, there they were!

It didn’t seem real.

They were standing in front of me.

Not in America, but in Uganda.

In a country I have been living in without them.

They were finally here!

We get in the car and begin to drive.

Driving in Uganda is not the most comforting thing to do first off, especially at night, but after the distraction of conversation and a few gasps from Mom and aunt Tammy we finally made it to their hotel in Jinja where I got to sleep in bed that was not a bunk bed.

I got to wake up to silence… no rowdy kids… who are simply amazing, but silence and a real good breakfast.

After being in a different country as an 18 year old girl without your parents for now 3 months is not the hardest thing anyone has ever done.

But after watching a very sick baby around the clock for a week and a half, then having a child go into a sickle cell crisis, then having a death, then having another sickle cell crisis so bad he is admitted to the hospital where we take shifts, then another child being admitted into ICU, and then discharged and back in within another week, it gets hard.

Exhausting.

Never debriefing.

Only relying on Jesus for comfort, joy, and strength not only for you but also for the whole house.

I am beyond thankful to be here at these times and be the help that is needed.

Be the support that people need.

Be the encourager I am called to be for my new close friends here, but I also need time.

And because everything has been going nonstop it’s been hard to find that time.

So having my mom and aunt tammy here to help me free my mind a little and have time for myself and be loved on by the people who know how to love me best was perfect.

Jesus knew the perfect time to send them.

Right when I began to miss home God knew exactly what to do.

Send them.

Their time here was short, and yes it would have been lovely to have them here longer.

But I am thankful for the time God had laid out for them.

I know the trip was not only good for me, but for tem as well.

Seeing how I live, seeing my kids that I love more than anything, seeing the country I love, and seeing what love really is here.

Mom and Aunt Tammy were not only obeying the Lord by being the amazing Moms they are, but also they were obeying Jesus by being servants of Him.

Being generous givers.

Being lovers.

Encouragers.

Being wise woman for all of us young girls here.

And just being the great comforters that moms know how to be.

I read a quote from Mother Teresa yesterday.

I loved it so much I wrote it on my arm so I could see it.

It says, “ Let us put love into action.”

How true.

Put love into action.

My mom and aunt Tammy were a great example of that on their week here.

Not only to me, but to my new friends here at Ekisa, my guy friends outside of Ekisa, the ladies at their hotel, my kids here at our house, the children in hospitals, the handicap on the streets of Jinja, and everywhere they went.

They put their love into action and it was evident.

It was real.

It was from the Lord and it was beautiful.

It was the most comfort I have felt since I have been here.

Listen to this beautiful song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcZhc__H6-I 

"All is Grace"

" Leave everything and come with me into the desert. It is not your acts and good deeds I want; I want your prayer, your love." – Carlo Carretto

A desert.

A desert is a place of solitude.

When I think of a desert i think of a place full of dirt. dust.

no water.

There is nothing around except maybe a few bushes. When I read that quote i think it is saying leave everything you are doing, good or bad, and follow. Stop running around trying to do just good deeds. Stop trying to please people just to "earn" his love. But leave EVERYTHING and go into solitary mode. Go to the desert where there is nothing.

No water so you thirst for something more than yourself.

For your Father.

Somewhere where there is no help.

No help but the one and only God is all... who calls himself your helper and refuge.

So the only person you can ask for help is the Lord by calling out to him in prayer and giving him your love and affection fully.

Not to other by doing good acts or deeds, but all to him. It reminds me of the verse in Matthew... Matthew 6:6 that says,

" But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father will reward you."

I think it is a reminder for me being here as well to take time for myself to be alone with God.

I need to leave everything and go to the desert.

I need to pray and send my love.

I need to be with God in solitude.

The work i am doing is great and the Lord is grateful, but only if I am bringing him Glory.

Not me, which sometimes i get caught up in doing.

I am human.

That's what happens, but i need to be drawn away from that and be reminded who it is really for.

The glory goes all to Him.

It is easy to caught up in the things I do here.

It’s easy to be distracted and overwhelmed with doctor visits, sick children, high maintenance kids, and constantly going from 7 a.m. to whenever I can get my head to my pillow.

I am not complaining because I am blessed to be called here.

Blessed to be apart of God’s work here.

BEYOND blessed to be apart of a place that has the right motives and intentions for al of the children and workers.

But I do need to take time for myself.

To be filled up.

To be alone in the desert for a little while.

The relationship between God and I is nothing but a perfect love story.

The most beautiful love story I have ever had the privilege to be apart of.

A love story that shows a man who loved me so much he died for me.

A man died.

For me!

And I tend to cheat him and not give him all the glory.

All my love.

Everything I am.

He deserves all my love.

ALL OF IT!

I praise the Lord for the grace He offers so freely.

The beautiful amazing grace.

Thank you, Jesus.