Blessings

I have so many things that I am grateful for, but this morning in particular, I have been pondering how much I love my sister Allie.

I love that I have an older sister that I can look up to and learn from as she is experiencing and learning how to be the best mommy and wife to Henry and Garrison. And I would say that she is doing a pretty dang good job!! And the cool thing is I get to sit back and take notes on her greatness for future use :). Even though she is all the way across the states in Georgia, its wonderful that we are just a phone call away :).

If you haven't checked out her blog I would highly suggest it.
http://elevenyellowdandelions.blogspot.com

We're on our knees and are not alone.

Blessed according to Webster's Dictionary is defined as divinely or supremely favored;Holy;Sanctified.


Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are htose who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:3-12

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; and give you peace." -Numbers 6:24-27

Please be praying.

Today I found out that my Ugandan mom passed away due to a motor accident. I don't know the full details, but Ugandan roads are very dangerous and constanly there were accidents when I was there. The dad is now left with 4 kids to raise, the youngest only a couple months old and there is currently an American student staying with them. Please be praying for them.

Ugandan Siblings I miss you

I would come home from school and my siblings would always ask me for either my camera, ipod, or laptop. :)

Reliving Africa One Day at a Time

Since I have been back from Africa I get random different memories at different times of the day through conversations with people and places I go...which makes me miss being there all over again. But when it comes to applying what I have learned and not forgetting other memories I sometimes get overwhelmed trying to recall EVERYTHING. So I thought I would try to write a blog about one of my million of African pics a day. Feel free to read up on random recall of Africa experiences and events, but be aware that these blogs will probably be VERY random and probably boring most of the time so, I guess read whatever you want as I remember Africa one day at a time :p.

Picture #1



This picture is from the village that we spent one week of our 4 month stay in Uganda at. Kapchorwa (the village) was AMAZING and my favorite part of my whole stay in Africa. Things that come in mind when I think of this village: No electricity. Great hospitality. AFRICA not as Westernized. Fresh fruit. Genuine people. Lots of kids. LONG church services. Playing with all of the kids. Describing the Ocean and seafood to my Kapchorwa parents while we cooked dinner. Drinking too much milk tea. Grounding fresh coffee beans. Learning their language and greeting people with CHICKASTE YESU!! (Praise the Lord!) Walking everywhere. "A visitor is never an interruption" lived out. Morning Runs to waterfalls as little school children ran along side of me until they had to turn off to school, killing a chicken, making futbols (soccer balls) from matoke trees(green banana like plants), not getting away from drinking only one cup of milk tea :P, Feeling so at home and comfortable there, having everything about this village being an exclamation point in my journal....So much. But the picture is of my little Kapchorwa sister and her buddies that would be over at the house all the time. They LOVED the camera and LOVED to dance. As soon as the camera went up they grabbed chairs or what ever was around them and showed off their greatest moves. Below is one of the many videos taken.

SOCCER Fest!!

Today was Carly's and Stevie's last day of soccer games. And emphasis on games as Carly played three games almost in a row and Stevie was super busy reffing and playing games as well. Soccer Fest is a BIG DEAL! It was so much fun watching Carly and her team play hard all the way to the end. And man is my sister aggresive! She may be the littlest one on the field, but she does work and gets in there! Their team were short players so they had to play the whole time while the other teams they played all had subs :(. They won their first game but lost the last two taking 4th place overall.

Stevie did so well reffing as well. There are so many rules and intense coaches to deal with yet he stood his ground. Ya! Thats my brother :). In one of the games, one of the coaches came on the field yelling at Stevie about a call he made, and he just responded with, "I am sorry but you have to get off the field, you aren't allowed to interfere like this." And these players were 10 year olds! Crazy intense. And STevies team won the championships taking home a medal :).

Here are some pics from the day:















And Renee is and AWESOME goal keeper with attitude and spunk of course :).

Home :)

Today Carly and I were looking at the calander in my dad's office at school and realized that I have been home (In Oak Harbor) for 2 1/2 weeks! Crazy. It feels like I have been home for 3 days...

But looking back to the past, I recognize that I have been blessed with the opportunity to not only be apart of other families but also see the dynamics of how different families work- The Bothels in Stanwood while going to school in Everett, my aunts and grandma's house in Mt. Vernon, and a Ugandan family (The Bumanyes).

These experiences have all been great and God has grown me tons in different ways...

But through these experiences and being home after being gone for 4 months has also shown me that there is no family that could EVER take the place and the love that I have for my biological family.









And no scenery compares to Whidbey Island sunsets :)