Day 2 - Monday

We kicked off day 2 with a breakfast involving Super- Human Honey. This honey’s label told the story of the earth’s first 2 “super humans”, one of which birthed a gazelle in her womb and all the earth’s creatures followed. I don’t even know. But the honey was good. At our table was a group of guys (and gals) from Visiting Orphans/Sixty Feet. It was cool because Marty and I went to Atlanta a few weeks prior and actually met some of the guys in that group. Even cooler, the wife of the leader of THAT group was with US on our September trip. She actually told us that this group was going at the same time AND they had extra room at the guest house so that’s how we all got to stay together.

After breakfast, our driver (and newest friend/family member) Harriet picked us up and took us to exchange ½ of our American currency. That is important to remember for when we get to Day 6. We exchanged our dollah dollah billz, y’all and became millionaires because every $1USD is worth like 2400 schillings - we walked away with 1.7 million of them. That's how ballers do, y'all. Afterwards we bought a Ugandan cell phone, hit up a coffee shop for a glass bottle Fanta (yes!), and were met by Harriet’s husband, Francis. THE COOLEST UGANDANS ON THE PLANET! Francis took us to meet our attorney and then dropped us off at an orphanage. It was a place we visited last year and over the past few months we kept in touch with them. We LOVE this place. The director and the staff are amazing. I could literally gush until I cried about all they do for the children there, but I won’t. We spent the afternoon loving on kids, helping do laundry, feeding, bathing, changing diapers (they are cloth. And disgusting.), and played peek-a-boo forEVER with the cutest little nugget on earth. He comes up a lot so I’m going to call him Nugget, henceforth. We could have stayed there all afternoon, but had a good walk back to our guest home and didn’t want to be walking in the dark. Although I am basically 140# of RAW FURY, it didn't seem safe. We spoke with the director before we left and she told us that a large group had just left that morning, so if we wanted to move into their guest home, we could. And be with those crazy kids for HOURS every day? HECK. YES.

After our eternity long, uphill-all-the-way, walk back in the blazing Africa sun, we ate dinner with “The Group” and hung out for awhile, thinking about all those kids. We called OUR own kids from our very low-tech Uganda phone (we bought the cheapest one we could) and told them all about our day. They were pretty excited that we were bringing them back presents. But I like to think they missed us too…..

Tomorrow is really cool though………

Recap: Day 1

I haven’t posted since our return from Uganda and I really cannot offer a good excuse. Lots happened while we were there, so I’ll take the next few days to re-cap our trip, but in a nutshell we: loved on lots of kids, lost our American currency, visited some beautiful places, marty hacked his head open with an axe while chopping wood at an orphanage, we saw the Nile River, we visited an emergency room, we had an awesome 11 hour layover in Amsterdam, our visa card got cancelled, we ate $19 hotdogs outside of Anne Frank’s home, we made several new friends and got to reconnect with old ones, oh, and we met a boy……

Day 1     We arrived super late at night after 2 super long flights, one of which I was seated by a cranky old lady who spent 8 hours hogging my armrest and turning off my air vent. Fortunately, I’m passive-aggressive in nature so instead of actually saying anything I’d regret, I kept my bitter thoughts to myself and Facebooked about her the first chance I got. I felt much better after that. This was upon arrival in Amsterdam where I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at McDonald’s. You can take me out of America, but you can’t take America out of me.

The last leg into Entebbe was pretty uneventful. When we arrived at the airport, we were met by our driver, Tom. Tom was pretty awesome and had the best laugh EVER. He took us to our guest home, Adonai 3, where we were greeted by Ms. Sarah and despite the fact that it was midnight, she greeted us with big hugs and the most beautiful smile EVER. We’d stayed here last September and she remembered us. Despite having no air conditioning (because it’s AFRICA and a/c is a LUXURY), we slept well………

I Want Some Chipati

This photo above? THIS is what a Ug*ndan Feast looks like and let me tell you, it was AMAZING! Mama Catherine not only has a heart of gold, but she is an awesome cook. This is the kind of food we’ll get to eat in a few weeks and I am so ready for it. In the meantime, I’m supplementing an actual post with our menu this week. Mainly because I already had to type it out and I didn’t want to duplicate another “writing” if I didn’t have to. Yes. I’m that lazy.


Friday: Hamburger Helper, carrots
Saturday: Poppyseed chicken casserole over rice, broccoli, mac n cheese
Sunday: Chili and cornbread
Monday: Chicken and dumplings, green beans
Tuesday: Tacos, refried beans, chips and salsa
Wednesday: Chicken pot pie
Thursday: Omelets, sausage, pancakes
Friday: Pizza, salad

So, yeah. There’s that.

A Hero's Not Afraid to Give His Life.....


On my drive in to work this morning, I listened to a song called “Hero”. The lyrics very plainly stated this:



“A hero’s not afraid to give his life,
A hero’s gonna save me just in time”


Immediately my thoughts went to those faces of the children in Ug*ndan Remand homes. Where is their hero? Who is going to save them? Is it America? Is it me? And then reality struck me. We are not heroes for being obedient. These children already KNOW their hero. Their hero saved them when He laid down His life on that cross. These kids are extraordinary. In their culture, they are unwanted. By our standards, they have nothing. In a caste system, they are truly the least of the least. They have no name brand clothes, no Nikes, and no PCP or iPods, but what they do have is faith that could move mountains. And that’s all they rely on. They get it. I am so, so wrong. I went to Ug*nda thinking I was going to help some kids, but in reality they encouraged me more than I ever thought possible.

Our trip is coming up shortly and it hit me this morning as I was “feeling sorry” for them. You guys, they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. They are YOUR brothers and sisters in Christ. Our circumstances may be different, but we are all the same. Our lives have no greater value than that of an “unwanted”. He loves them just as much as He loves us. Sure, we each have a different, personal story to tell, but in “the big picture” we each have our own roles to play. My role is not to be a hero. My role is to follow in obedience to adopt, to mentor, to mother. Our God is up to some big things in their lives, I just know it. Those kids who I sit around feeling “sorry” for? They may one day be called to rise up and lead their country. I can’t keep questioning God, “why?” It’s His plan and by His glory it’ll be done.


In the meantime, I’ll take comfort in knowing that while I may not understand a lot of things, I do know we share the same hero.

Matt 10:29-31...Not Even a Sparrow.....

"Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows." - Matthew 10:29-31



M1



Meals

"A"

"R"

"V"

"C"

 

"J"

"W"

"S"

They are on my heart today. 

Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, Y’all

Wow. Contrary to popular belief, I did not give up blogging for Lent. It just seems that way given my track record of sporadic postings as of late. But! As many of you know, MP and I have been preparing for our next UGA trip so that has taken up a lot of our time. Well, that and two kids, two full time jobs, two dogs, one potential income-producing side job, potty-training, weekends out of town, weekends with company in town, laundry, couponing, homework, school projects, and mandatory weekend naps. Also, we’ve been collecting playing cards for one of the remand centers In Kampala, baby formula for another and at the same time, we’re still trying to complete our dossier. If you have no idea what a “dossier” looks like, let me give you a visual. Take a brand new ream of paper of say 1,000 sheets or so, and imagine it is made up of your most personal and private documents. For example:


1. Home study report + Agency license + social worker License.
2. All state requirements regarding adoption.
3. Bank statement.
4. Marriage certificate / Birth certificates
5. Infertility letter (if any)
6. Employment letter per adopter.
7. Proof of residency and home ownership.
8. Financial information
9. Tax returns (3 years)
10. Medical clearance letter per adopter health
11. USCIS Approval – I-171h
12. Recommendation letters
13. Photos
14. Post placement obligation
15. Criminal clearances from abroad
16. Copy of Passports


Now. Make four or five copies of everything. Get EVERY.SINGLE.DOCUMENT.NOTARIZED. Seal each one in a nice plastic report cover. Recover from carpal tunnel syndrome. Do a victory dance. And don’t be afraid to Tebow.

We leave in two weeks and still have a lot to get done. When we get back, we are going to be some Fundraising FOOLS, y’all. We have been blessed tremendously by you guys and we cannot thank you enough. We’ve come a long way, but still have money to raise

When we get back, we’ll be designing T-shirts (for real this time), so get ready. We still have some Ug*ndan paper bead necklaces for sale ($15). Also, we’ll be making more crosses to sell ($20 includes shipping). They would make wonderful Easter gifts, so keep that in mind!!!!

You guys, HE is pretty amazing. It’s awesome to see how He paves the way in our obedience. I am ashamed at my initial doubts. I never doubted that He COULD, but honestly, I doubted that He WOULD. I once heard someone say, “God finances what He favors.” It’s no doubt that God loves the orphan. He also loves our obedience, so if you have EVER felt called to adopt, but hesitated because you didn’t think you could afford it, DON’T LET IT STOP YOU. If He has called you to it, He WILL make a way for it to happen. Trust.

Donations are great and if you want, you can click the Donate Paypal button, but above all we need prayer. Please join us in praying for our little nugget or nuggets (oh yeah, we’ve been approved for two). Pray that the Lord will be preparing them for us as He is preparing us for them. Pray for good health. Pray for healing hearts. Pray for comfort of their losses. Just pray.

Uganda. Four Weeks from Saturday. OMG.

We are preparing for our 2nd visit to one of most beautiful places on earth - Uganda - and I literally CAN. NOT. WAIT. This visit will be to well, visit, and volunteer and love on kids. We are staying at the same guest house we stayed at last September so I feel pretty good about that, but I am nervous y'all. Last time there was a group of us and a leader and we didn't do anything but show up when we were supposed to. We didn't handle  the itinerary, we didn't worry about money exchanges because someone ALWAYS had schiilings for us to exchange our good ole USD if need be. We didn't worry about eating or traveling or transportation - these were all provided worry-free. MP and I are going on our own this time. We DID find out that a group Visiting Orphans and Sixty Feet will be there at the same time and AT THE SAME GUEST HOUSE so there is comfort in that. Although we aren't "with" them, we are still totally with them.

That was the most rambling post I believe I've ever made. And I'm ok with that.

Once Upon a Time, I Had a Blog....

It has occurred to me that I had a blog one time. One that I actually got to, ya know, blog in. If I were one to make resolutions that would have definitely been it, but I don’t. So instead, I bask in my glory days when blogging was more of a hobby and less of a chore. Life has gotten a little out of control right now and something had to give. That “something” just happened to be “The Pickle.” Sorry.

Right now we are *thisclose* to being 100% paper ready to adopt our lil UGA nugget. That means my heart and my head are *thisclose* to ‘splodin with excitement/nervousness/love/joy/fear. Pretty much any emotion you can think of, I’ve got it. Multiplied by a million. We are now on an 8 week countdown til our next UGA trip. Gulp. It is a very real possibility that we may meet our next child and the thought of that renders me feeling overwhelmed, yet useless. It consumes me. I have a hard time concentrating on anything right now because of it. I want to be there. I want to KNOW who our child is. I want to bring them home. Like, NOW.

But we wait. And then we’ll wait for a referral. And then we’ll wait for a court date. And then we’ll wait for a travel date. And then we’ll wait for a ruling. And then we’ll wait for a visa. And then we’ll wait til we all come home. Together. Have you noticed a pattern yet? There’s a lot waiting involved. And I don’t wait well.

In the meantime, I find myself nesting already. It’s insane. No drawer or closet is safe at my house. My heart is being prepared for something so wonderful I can’t imagine. My house is being prepared to rival Niecy Nash in TLC’s “Clean House”. The cleanliness and organization of it all would make hoarders cry. Part of me does it because I know it’ll be NUTS with three littles running around. Part of me does it because I actually enjoy it. But most of me does it just to pass the time in between.

Humbled

I am humbled by how our God works. Never would I have thought that we’d ONLY  be $8,800.00 shy of our adoption fundraising goal. Never could I have imagined the friends He’d place in our lives at just the right time. Never would I have believed you if you’d told me that we could have purchased FOUR round trip flights to Africa, a 2 week mission trip, Immigration fees, a Homestudy, Travel immunizations, Adoption education fees, and no telling how much money spent on physicals, fingerprints, and certified certificates of every kind. Since June 2011. And paid for them IN FULL.


Um, that’s 6.5 months.


You guys. Our God is GOOD.


This adoption journey has done so much more for me than just the addition of a third child. It has renewed my faith in a way that I never realized it had waivered. I’ve never had any disbelief about our Lord and Savior – let’s clear that up. But I have questioned so many things:

1. Are we sure we’ve been “called” to adopt?
2. How are we going to do this?
3. If so, will He would provide? I knew he COULD, but would He? And how? And when?


Then I got slapped in the face. And He provided. Through friends and family and strangers from Canada. Through our blog and Twitter and Facebook. He provided. And He provided the exact amount of money needed and the exact time it was due. Best of all? He provided encouragement, strength, and everlasting friendships.


During this adoption journey, I’ve come to understand that through obedience, there should be NO fear. I should never question where He leads us or how we’ll get there. I should only say, “Yes Lord, I’ll go. Just tell me when” and leave the details up to Him.

 
Thank you all.

We Serve a God who has RAISED THE DEAD

It’s not too late to donate to Sixty Feet for the purchase of land!   www.sixtyfeet.org

Today I got an email from Shelly. According to her, Sixty Feet has raised $32,000 of the $60,000 needed in order to purchase land and to build a home for some sweet little nuggets in need. That means they need to raise only $28,000.00 by DECEMBER 31, 2011 in order to make every single cent eligible for a 100% match (up to $60k). Sounds impossible, right?

WRONG.

You guys, we serve a God who has RAISED THE DEAD. This ain't nothing for Him.

So, if you'd planned on getting me a Christmas present, don't. Instead, please consider making a small contribution to Sixty Feet. If you hadn't planned on getting me anything, well then, bah-humbug to you.

I kid. But seriously, consider it.

Please?