Caught off guard

I remember this happening last year too. It seems that in one week the daily temps here begin to exceed 100 degrees and the sun begins to feel unrelenting and bakes the earth and everything begins to  turn brown and die and it dawns on us that suddenly the hot, dry season is upon us. And it correlates strangely with your "arctic blasts" and I'm actually jealous of about .5 inches of your snow. Not the scraping and slipping and frigidness of it but there is something about all that sharp bite to the air and the crunch of snow that I wish we had here.
I'm not sure I'm ready to spend the next three months flossing the dust out of my teeth, sweating through my sheets at night and wondering if I'm just mildly dehydrated or critically dehydrated. Really wasn't intending to complain today. Just to have you all appreciate your weather just a little bit.

And looking ahead...

There are lots of exciting things going on for me in the next few weeks. The last time I was up in Lormoruchbae I spent lots of time helping the ladies harvest their seeds. They offered me land to build my own house and offered to teach me how to build it. I've been praying about it and feel like it would be a great step. I'm honestly looking forward to it. There is a bit of confusion as to if I'll be a 4th wife but I think we can get around that matter. I think I'll be spending more time out in the village in the coming months.

At the CLIDE office we are deep in preparation for the Timothy Retreat. The first week of December we bring about 150 students from Karamoja for a week of games, lessons and activities. It is a bit like camp and fun for more than just the kids.
Then in January a team comes from the States and we spend a week in Karamoja meeting with leaders. It is always an adventure.
Will you be praying with me?

• For relationships with ladies in the village. 
• For wisdom to do the right things while I'm there 
• For opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ
• For the students who come to the retreat to feel special and loved
• For the Holy Spirit to move in powerful ways while we are there with visitors in January. 

Also, one last prayer request. Holidays are tough times for missionaries because we are far from family and friends.  It is also a busy time in regards to ministry but it isn't always the things that we would choose to do.  Please be praying for us. 

Looking back

Oh man. It is really seems that the loneliness that comes after having family members (and other visitors) leave almost steals the joy of having them here at all. I hate that!! It becomes very comfortable in a very short time to have people to share all my meals and quiet evenings with. And suddenly very empty when they go.
It feels necessary to throw myself back into ministry when they go. And not really because I neglect it quite a bit when they are here so there is lots of catching up to do. But mostly because being so busy feels better than the alternative.
But anyway, that is enough of that.
Catching up a bit: Overall my time with my friend Rachael was very refreshing. There was lots of time away from Soroti and Karamoja which gave me a nice break. She posted some of her a pictures on her blog- well worth going over and looking at.  We spent some time in the game park and traveling around Uganda and having several unplanned "adventures".

On the same trip to drop her off at the airport I picked up my parents. It is always wonderful to have them her. I treat myself to a bit of a "stay-cation" when they visit though we also spent some time resting at a nice little place on the Nile.

 Dad did a whole pile of projects that I needed done around the house. Hung pictures, fixed the oven, screen doors, hours working on the truck, updating my solar power, the list could go on and on. Mom and I canned nearly 20 jars of salsa (Aunt Pat, I still use your recipe every time!), and she made piles of pot holders and yelled at me every time I used a towel to pull stuff out of the oven. :-)

Some how he broke several of my tools....

They also really served the team in providing hours of child care at our team retreat while the rest of us got to spend hours in meetings.

We also spent a few nights at my house in Karamoja. Both of my parents were given Karamojong names. My dad's means big bull with large horns. (As demonstrated in the photo.) Mom's name means windy. I'll reserve comment. :-) 

Mom and Dad, when you are ready to retire I could make you a nice little mud hut next to mine...

I'm sure the village will happily accept you as elders. And cost of living will make Dad's pension excessive.

Too many hobbies?

So one of the unexpected after effects of having my parents here is that they've left me several fun hobbies to do in the evenings. Mom brought the supplies to make rugs, dad made these great toys while he was here and left me the paint and good brushes. I have several pots to macrame, and I want to start some  of the seeds they brought for my garden.  So bad news for you. I could sit here and blog how wonderful the past few weeks have been and then get sad about how much I miss my visitors already. Or I can paint tucks to give as Christmas presents.  Maybe tomorrow night I'll feel like writing about their trip.