Shoes!

I’ve written about shoes before. Last time was when I went shopping for shoes on the streets of Kampala and had the irksome experience of trying to get a fair price and fair treatment.  Not fun, not fair, but that’s in the past.  A few years ago I also wrote about shoes during a Christmas season when Acacia was much younger.  Geoff was preaching the sermon on Christmas morning 2008 at New Hope and as he shared about the true meaning of Christmas she leaned over to me and, just checking to make sure she’d gotten her facts straight, asked, “It’s about shoes, right?,” such a girl.

Earlier this month we tearily left New Hope and began our journey to the U.S. Our first stop was a friend’s house in England where we were privileged to relax, sleep, read, explore and enjoy the quiet and beauty of the English countryside.  We took many, many walks on the numerous foot paths around the area and our shoes became very muddy. I thought it would be a wise idea to wash our tennis shoes the night before we left the cottage.  Before bed I put them in the dryer on the high setting to make sure they’d be dry by morning. Looking on the positive side, I only completely destroyed two of the three pairs!!!  They were annihilated--the soles popped off and the special support structures separated from the rest of the shoes!!!  Fortunately, Kevin’s were still ok to wear and Acacia had another closed pair of shoes to wear, but poor me . . . I was left with only a pair of Ugandan flip flops to navigate the wet cold of England, the freezing cold airplane (why do they keep the planes so cold?????) and then my first day in Denver!  Brrrrrrrr, my naked toes intensely felt each and every degree below 75! I was so glad to reach the in-laws and put on my monkey slippers!

Geoff’s mom had a new pair of tennis shoes she loaned me,

 but I needed to get something else to wear for when we speak at events.  Wow, a legitimate reason to shop!  :) 

So, Geoff and I ventured into the Denver shopping mecca where I found a nice pair of boots, but sadly had to later return them as they were a bit too big.  After a couple of days I went out with Acacia to find another pair and found a beautiful and comfortable looking style.  I was about to try them on when I noticed that the name was “Jezebel”--are you kidding me??? The most wicked woman in history and someone feels the need to name a boot after her?? No way am I going to support that kind of nonsense, so out the door we went and off to another store. Finally, I found a sweet boot at TJ Maxx. I love to shop discount! But, I digress.

As we trod this earth, regardless of the styles we wear, where we shop or who gifts us, our fascination or lack there-of with shoes in general or whether or not they are adequate for the weather we find ourselves in, may we remember Who it is Who has given us EVERYTHING. The core of life rests forever with our God and His ultimate provision for us. Even our unique desires, interests, aptitudes and affinities can be attributed to His grand design for us. 

Acacia now knows the true meaning of Christmas, in fact, as a family, we quote from memory this scripture every Christmas season, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17 

This Christmas, may you rest in Him, knowing His design for you is perfection. Look for His provision, it is always there.

--Mary

From Uganda to the UK

Toby and Sam's teacher Uncle Robert came over on Tuesday for supper. We all cooked together--he contributed pork and atapa (a traditional food from his part of Uganda) and we contributed roasted maize, ground nut sauce and rice. Kambo showed up at just the right time, as usual and it was a fun night!!

giving the barbecue a work out

On Sunday we said an official goodbye to the church family as we walked into our last four days on site at New Hope Uganda. It has been an extremely full agenda these past few weeks. Trying to juggle the daily responsibilities as well as getting ready to leave our house and work for five months was a recipe for tiredness, and unfortunately sickness as Geoff and I both fought illness while packing and tying up final preparations. It was MORE THAN hard to say good bye, especially to the children in David Family. I couldn't hold back the tears as we drove away from the house and the friends who had come to pray for us. 

And, in less than 24 hours we were in a different world . . . what a whirlwind!

Walking down High Street

We're spending a few days in England before flying onto Denver to spend Christmas with Geoff's family. At present we are staying near Broadway in the Cotswalds and took this morning and early afternoon to explore a little.

Sights on High Street in Broadway

Yummy fruits and vegetables!

A little tea time

Perhaps this isn't the most exciting blog you've ever read, so forgive us for being a bit tired and enjoy the pictures!

"I LOVE walking in the English countryside!"

A phone booth in the middle of the horse trail--in case a horse needs to make a call!
:)

There are many walking paths near where we are staying and we intend to explore as much as possible!

--Mary

So very thankful . . .

We go through our days . . .well, just stop there. Often we robotically "go through" our days. With all the components present, The Routine, The Expectations, The Knowing There Will Be Unknowns, we jump in and get going through. And at the end? Is there a stop to ponder about it or only a longing for sleep stores in order to have enough stamina to "go through" the next one? Admittedly, this is not always the case, but it is not foreign to any of us.

  I started out from our veranda and onto the path in front of our house this week on my way to the house of a friend for a meeting. The air was warm and sweet and suddenly I was struck with the thought that I should savor the moment. So, my ears focused on the birdsong, my skin received the warm sunshine, the rich GREEN of the green leaves and the brightness of the flowers stood in sharp contrast to the striking blue of the sky. And I became aware that the sleeves on my shirt were short and there was no jacket required, in a few short weeks my arms will not weather being so uncovered. And so I realized afresh that the day, the warm, sunny day, was a gift and I fully soaked in the unique ability to be overtly thankful! Yes, the unique ability to deeply recognize God's gifts and give thanks is expressly ours as human beings.

As I write, it is the day after Thanksgiving. We celebrated it in grand style here in the bush. It started early in the morning with call of the turkeys registering loud and clear across the compound from our storage room where they had stayed the night. Within two hours the calls were heard no more and their journey to the oven had begun.  Yum.Yum.

Ivan and Perez headed the slaughter,  but had many enthusiastic assistants in Toby, Acacia, Kevin, Sam and numerous primary school students who stopped by to watch!

plucking off the feathers . . . 

Two turkeys . . . double header

Acacia, Kevin and Toby made, colored and cut out leaves for decorating the Institute Hall where we Americans held our annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner.

In the afternoon there was a game of football (Toby was on the winning team, sorry to Kevin, Sam and Geoff).  In the evening we gathered together and Keith McFarland and Jennie Dangers read the history of the Thanksgiving meal. As we ate together we shared our thanksgivings with those at the table. It was a great night!

Last Sunday night we hosted a pizza party with our former neighbors, The Muwanguzi family. When we shared the same duplex, Anthony and Alice would come over and help me cook and they especially liked pizza!  It runs in the family apparently, because their dad, Uncle Tony, was expert at showing up "randomly" on pizza night. On those nights, he rarely passed up the offer to taste and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to share pizza with them before we go on home assignment to the U.S. in a couple of weeks. 

The kids played charades after dinner. There is ALWAYS TOO MUCH laughter when we're together!!!

Aunt Sarah, Uncle Tony, Geoff and I amazingly held a very enjoyable conversation only a few feet from where the kids were yuck yucking with their charades game.

Uncle Simon and his kids!  He is very faithful to take his kids on an early evening ride. As the family grows (this picture lacks some children!),  he may have to invest in a side car!!!!!

We finished up our school year recently (we followed the Ugandan calendar this year) and we completed our efforts with a certificate ceremony! Our kids worked very hard this year and we are very proud of them.

Ooooooooo the sheer excitement of life!!!

Holy the Goat had a baby girl last week and has brought a new dimension of joy to our growing farm! We've named her Chili, which is short for Kilabo (gift in Luganda).

Blessings to you and yours as we immerse ourselves in the holiday season and celebrate life abundant!!!!!

--Mary

We EXCEL at OUT OF THE ORDINARY!!!

Our 3-tire swing is a big hit for EVERYONE!!! Geoff made the extra effort recently to make sure Brian and Kakulu got to participate as well!  A little back strain to lift them on is worth the smiles received!!!!

Kakulu is all smiles as he gets his thrill ride on the tire swing!!

Brian wanted to go over and over and over . . .

Johnny got some extra tender care from Sam as they went quite high with pushes from Uncle Geoff

We finished our science class for the year with a party last week! Our final topic for science this year was dinosaurs.  Kynan and Tiegan had gone digging for fossils and came up with this "dinosaur head" fossil!  Pretty impressive!

Toby, Kevin and Acacia are Sooooooo happy that the tire swing is up and working again!

Brownie, our own personal Kaweewo (Lugandan name) comes every morning for a visit

He loves to eat maize out of our hands. 

Sorry for the lack of updates here lately, the internet has been quite sketchy until this morning. I've been trying to post something on and off for the past couple of weeks, but couldn't get much of anything to load.  I was thankful this morning when things seemed to be working a bit more smoothly.  This past weekend we took Nabukeera and Sam to Entebbe to swim. We all had a great time, despite the cloudy, rainy sky!!! Nabukeera says she likes to swim when it's cooler anyway! After a day of swimming in Entebbe we hooked up with the Brown's in Kampala and swam the second day as well. The kids had a great time playing hard with their friends and Nabukeera enjoyed some fun after the hard work of her S4 exams over the past three weeks! Sam, Toby, and the rest of the kids in David Family will take their end of year exams this week, so please be praying for them to do well. 

These days we are cleaning out, cleaning up, organizing, giving away, throwing away, packing and gearing up for the end of the year festivities (NHVI graduation, Primary school closing, S4 banquet, NHICF graduation, end of year staff party, an introduction for Stella and Bizimungu, and trying to visit with as many people as possible before we go)!!! As I talked with one of my dear girls yesterday, I explained that I am not happy to be leaving her and the other kids in David family, especially as they are entering a pivotal year next year. But, as I told her and will reiterate here, God made it clear to us that His plans are not all about US, but what He knows to be best, and His best plan right now is for us to go to the U.S. for a visit. So, we Brittons fly out of Uganda on the 7th of December, will spend a few quiet days in the Cotswalds, and land in Denver on December 12th. We'll be sending out a tentative itinerary with our next newsletter, so you can get an idea of the areas we'll be visiting. We'd love to see as many of you as possible!!

THOUGHTS FROM RECOVERY

It has been an interesting three weeks. I have experienced God in some new ways and I can’t say all of them have been enjoyable, but God has made His presence clear and powerful.  Three weeks ago marked about two months of suffering from what appeared to be a sore in my mouth.  As usual when I have some sort of ailment I commit it to prayer and try to relax in the knowledge of God’s goodness.  Well, after about six weeks the thing continued to give me pain and actually seemed to be increasing.  Mary agreed we would try a round of antibiotics, something I usually keep as a last resort.  Well a number of days later we saw no change which indicates no need for the antibiotics, but here in Africa could mean a number of other things.  Since eating was becoming difficult I thought ok I guess I can go to the Dr., again something I really choose only to do as a last resort.  

We took a day and went into Kampala to see the Dr. and take care of a little business while there.  Well, the Dr. was concerned that it did not appear to be a sore, but some sort of growth.  He referred me to a ear, nose and throat friend of his with the good news that he was available that day.  So we went across town and by 4:30 were in his office.  This Dr. too was a little concerned and said actually we needed to quickly take care of this things through surgery.  We booked the O.R. the next Wednesday.  WOW! what has this turned into?  Immediately the mind begins to run to all kind of nonsense, might this be cancer?  Do I have a real problem that has gone undetected for long?   The past few months have included a number of other people and family members facing cancer, car accidents, heart attack and even death.  The mortality we all face as we grow older was suddenly there before my face.  But amazingly I could feel the reassuring presence of my God encouraging me that “MY LIFE WAS IN HIS HANDS”.  We went home that evening and told the kids that I would be needing surgery and we should be praying.  I was not quick to tell many people around New Hope as generally people worry and besides God had encouraged me that my life was in His hands, thus no need to worry.

The surgery required me to go under anesthesia which I have never done, but again I had my word from God.  As I went under I could feel the peace of God and apparently the Dr. and nurses could see the same.  Upon waking, it was as if only a few seconds had passed, yet it was over four hours.  Even upon waking, the peace of God was overwhelming.  Later in the evening the Dr. gave us the news that the growth was not normal, but seemed to be made up of many hard strings or smaller growths spread throughout out the tonsil.  Something to worry about? But again he commented that it was obvious that I had something calming me through the whole process, what was it he asked.  A word from my God, My life was in His hands.  Now comes the next process of waiting, the biopsy would take one week.  That week was probably the hardest part of this whole process, the pain that I was experiencing was unbearable.  No matter what I did, sit up, lie down, sit still or walk around the pain was incredible and medicines didn’t seem to do anything to bring relief.  

In the nights I lacked sleep and they actually proved the greatest test of my faith.  And I must admit I failed the test.  In my lowest point one night after four nights without sleep and constant pain I found myself questioning God and what I was passing through.  If this was cancer how could I endure?  If this pain from the surgery was enough to finish me then how could I endure the long and painful struggle with anything worse?  But God’s amazing grace is enough to sustain us. Despite my lack of faith I found God speaking the same word to me, “YOUR LIFE IS IN MY HANDS”.  Just like the man with the epileptic son, Jesus heard his cry to help his unbelief God injected me again with His faith. As we passed the next few days the pain began to reduce and we continued to wait for the biopsy results.  

Friday we went into Kampala to meet the Dr. and receive the lab results from Kenya.  No cancer!  Praise God!  But the amazing thing is that as we received the news, I didn’t feel the immense relief that Mary and many others experienced.  Why? Because all along I knew my life was in His hands.  Whatever the outcome my encouragement wasn’t that I was going to live, but that He had my life and I was His.  What a greater security can we have in this life?  The reality is that most of us find our security in life and the things of this world.  Our fulfillment comes through earthly experiences not the knowledge of our maker and experiencing Him. Where is your faith?  In this life or in God’s plan for you?

We fight to do what we can to protect ourselves or our loved ones.  To prepare life to keep us happy and sustain us into our old age.  What can we really do?  Even in America where we say we have the best health care, life insurance, 401Ks, the best police force and the highest standard of living, life is still fragile.  We try our best to create security but in reality the only security any of us can have is in our Maker.  Riches, poverty, sickness or health.  Not even life or death can threaten that security.  And the last few weeks have been a testimony to me personally that all the days of my life, that which is most important is I remain in His hands.    

Up Early!!

Saturday morning and we’re up at 5ish. What is wrong with us?  Are we getting old?  Apparently that is not the issue as we find Toby also up!!!!! Craziness abounds. 

The kids are enjoying some EARLY Saturday morning POP TARTS!!!!! They were a gift from the 1st Alaska team and a welcome addition to the normal breakfast around here!!!!!

I deliberately set my first appointment at 10 a.m. so that I could sleep in! To no avail. 

5:55 a.m. and Geoff is already off to Kampala for pre-surgical lab work. Yes, surgery. Nothing major, just a tonsillectomy.  

Ok, not exactly the total truth, but no big deal--here’s the situation . . . A little over two months ago Acacia and I had a virus that caused some very painful mouth sores, but they cleared in about two weeks. As we neared the end of our bout with it Geoff began developing some. After three weeks his had still not run their course, but he had the outreach in Kapechorwa for a week. When he returned and they were increasingly  bothering him I thought maybe the virus now had some bacterial involvement, so I planned to put him on antibiotics. But, the process of convincing him of their merit took a week or so. Eventually I threw some good broad spectrum antibiotics at it--no response. He tried gargling with salt water which didn’t burn or hurt at all, hmmmmm.  So, off to the dr we went last Wednesday in which we experienced a total miracle!  After our visit with our primary care dr he referred us to an ENT and we were able to see him the same day within an hour of leaving the first dr’s office! I love the beauty of smooth transitions!!!!!

The ENT suggested a tonsillectomy and biopsy of a large encapsulated growth on Geoff’s right tonsil. Of course surgery means the usual pre-surgical labs, but the ENT office doesn’t have its own lab. When we finished in Kampala last Wednesday, offices were already closing. Sunday they are closed, Tuesday they will be closed for the Jubilee celebration of Ugandan’s 50 years of independence and on Monday Geoff has a number of commitments already laid out. Nothing will be open before 7 a.m. on Wednesday either (which is when we report to the hospital), which leaves only today to get the lab work completed. (On Friday I checked with a dr friend at our local Kiwoko hospital and found out that our lab here doesn’t perform the needed labs.)

Once the tonsils are out, the tissue for biopsy will be sent to South Africa and has a turn around time of about a week. 

Geoff and I will need to stay at a guesthouse on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The kids will be here at New Hope with friends.

Both of us are committing this, another of the varied and challenging experiences in life, to our God who is sovereign and GOOD. Praise HIm!!!!!We appreciate your prayers as well as we walk together as a family through the next couple of weeks.  

Goodies!!!!!

Sam has now been a part of our household for more than a month. The kids are thoroughly enjoying having him and he is fitting in very well. He is quiet, but has learned to answer and speak up when spoken to. He has learned to say, “no, thank you” or “yes, please”  instead of “hmmmmm” He has come to understand that chores are a part of life, EVERYDAY, and that in the midst of responsibility there truly can be joy. He has filled our home with laughter and fun and has also been a great study buddy for Toby as they are in the same primary school class. 

Former staff members, John and Jenessa Biedler, are back for a month-long visit and carried with them some gifts from Sam’s sponsor family. He opened the back pack last night and as he unzipped compartments and dug down in to bring out goodies, his smiles just kept busting out and his laughter was contagious!  

If you’ve ever been far from home and received a surprise package full of thoughtful gifts, you know something of what we experience when packages arrive from the U.S. There is amazing power for joy in a small box arriving after weeks of travel. We have a tradition of waiting until after supper to sit together and open the parcel. It is like Christmas!! The kids ask every few moments ALL DAY LONG, “do we really have to wait until supper?” “Do I have to clean off the table first BEFORE we sit down to open or can we just get started?” “HOW MUCH LONGER???” 

Yesterday, we told the kids early in the day that Sam had received a package and that he would be opening it after supper. We asked them to not focus on themselves AT ALL, but to show their excitement for Sam, to be thankful for the blessing that had come to him and to rejoice for him. They did great. It was all about Sam, so much so that I think he was a bit embarrassed that all the attention was headed his way. But, what a fun night!!! He was truly, truly beside himself with joy and thankfulness!!!! 

stickers and a pencil bag full of school supplies!

He was soooooo excited about this crazy hoodie!!

He couldn't wait to try it on . . .

off they march to the mirror to see how it looks!!

What??? A watch???  !!!!! He has loved wearing Kevin's this past month and now he has one of his own!!!

HEY! Look at my new white t-shirt!! Perfect for wearing under my school uniform!

WEDDING SMILES!!!!!!!!A

So often we have been at weddings where it's been difficult to find the bride smiling. TODAY WAS DIFFERENT!!!!!!! Enjoy these few photos.

A fun little dance with the bride, groom and wedding party ON THEIR KNEES!!!

Ahhhhh . . . don't we look smart :)

smiling as they take in the words of wisdom from Uncle Jonnes

So happy. It is WONDERFUL to see the smiles!  They both carried so much joy today!


That's all I have time to post!!! We have sent the happy couple off to the honeymoon and are thankful to have been a part of their special celebration!!!!