Fill In the Blank

After four and a half wonderful holiday weeks in Denver, Colorado, We landed again in Uganda on January 14 and hit the ground running. LITERALLY! 

I hauled my carry-on, stuffed to zip-stress, out the airplane door and down the stairs to the tarmac, and looked ahead to see my family several hundred feet ahead of me bookin' toward the arrival building—NO ONE wants to stand in line at immigration—Git ‘er done.

From arrival to today, one of the few times we've stood still was after we retrieved our assorted trunks and duffels (of course, overfilled with goodies from the U.S that are not available here, as well as plenty of items requested by others) and went to meet the driver bringing our van. All our racing meant we got through immigration and baggage claim as fast as it’s ever been done in our 12 years of hopping assorted continents, only to wait in the tropical, humid-hot parking lot 40 minutes while the driver crawled through traffic jam. I confess to worrying more than once whether or not our massively over-sized bag(S) of chocolate chips were melting as I was. (They didn't!)

Kampala--the view from our overnight guesthouse stay

Yeah, we landed on the 14th and promptly went to sleep at 6:30 p.m. after 24 hours of travel. (Such a short jaunt compared to our 110-hour marathon on our way to Denver about a month earlier—see previous blog for details of that harrowing adventure.) On the 15th we shopped for groceries, got our phones working, ate some lunch and headed to home sweet home. 

The first signs of a beautiful sunset at New Hope near our house

The next morning Geoff, Toby and Sam had an Investment Year meeting to kick off the IY year. The following day, the 17th, we began our week-long, all-day New Hope Uganda Envisioning meetings. But, instead, I went to back to Kampala to be with our neighbor whose Down’s Syndrome son she sought adoption for had taken a serious turn for the worse, requiring hospitalization. I also went the next Wednesday so I could be with him as she spent some much-needed time with her daughter. (The following Thursday he died and we buried him Friday, February 2nd--with lots of heartbreak and emotional strain.)

On returning from Kampala that Wednesday I didn’t even make it home as I got a call from a dear friend that one of our fellow staff had phoned her stating she wasn’t feeling well. The one who called me was very concerned, but lived in a village quite far away, so when I pulled the van into New Hope I turned right to the staff member’s house instead of left to my own. At about 9 p.m. I finally walked through our door.

The next ten days was a kind of 24/7 type of arrangement with the ill staff member. In the midst of attending to her and trying to begin homeschooling, praying and walking with the neighbor for her very sick child, Geoff and I stopped.

He and I painfully looked at the ebb and flow of demands, and realized intentionality was in order. 

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and take a look around once in awhile, you might miss it.” There are no accolades for those who run through life. There will, however, be accolades to the first one who can give proper credit in the comment space to the one I just quoted. 

I do not share our discordant first couple of weeks to receive any pats on the back or “way to go” comments.  There is no inherent honor or praise in busy, busy, busy--even if the busy=helping others. (Read a great book I read last year, Addicted to Busy, by Brady Boyd and see for yourself.) I have one focus, one desire as I share my words with you.

We know that this year—Sam and Toby’s IY year—will be very different with each of them having two of their three internships and all three of their IY training series either in Kampala or elsewhere.  We’re expecting a sort of trial run before a true empty nest. 

With all the demands threatening to pull us away from having time together as a family we knew we HAD to set aside intentional time with our kids. 

And for what? To speak blessing on each of them.  With all the ministry, they HAVE to know of our love for them, their importance to God and to us, and of God’s goodness, love, justice and supreme authority over all of us as we will increasingly walk our different directions this year and beyond.

So, we set aside a Saturday morning—13 days after landing and two days before the first IY training began. 

1st IY Training of 2018

 Geoff and I cooked a huge, special breakfast—not the usual for a Saturday. We sat down all together and opened God’s word to Colossians 3 which contains a smattering of both exhortations and warnings on life choices. And we shared . . .  “You are a priority—please don’t forget that. Trust us and know that we want good for you.” We asked, “What does it mean to dwell in His temple? To inquire of Him?” We admonished, “Find His presence in His word, through prayer, with your life hidden in Him. Such doesn’t happen by accident. You must be intentional and accountable with your commitments to read, pray, meditate, wisely choosing your company and activities. And then we prayed a specific, focused blessing on each individual one. 

That day was a New Hope-wide, all day (from 8:30 a.m.) sports day. But, we didn’t join in until after 10:30. WHY? Because there will always be something that can fill in the blank, but if we don’t take time away from all the activity to speak truth, blessing and love we will all miss REAL life together—with Him at the helm.

When we broke off, stood up, cleared the table and the kids left to the various activities, their joy, peace, contentment and security was tangible. The discordant environment we had felt begin to encroach was busted up and a true feeling of belonging settled again. 

Listen people, we are ALL involved heavily in important ventures—ministry, teaching, serving, providing, discipling, counseling, leading. Our kids: God-given, God-planned, God-blessed MUST be told, from our own mouths, that we bless them as well as love them as God Himself has designed.             

If I do anything right in this parenting endeavor may it be intentionally pointing my kids to God and frequently speaking love and blessing, that they may always, even in difficulty, challenge, hardship, struggle and success KNOW both we and God are for them.

Hamburgers after midnight in Qatar, why not?

At the Luweero market on the way home, Geoff chooses our fresh fruits and vegetables for the week

Acacia and her team on the Sports Day scavenger hunt

Toby participated in the Sports Day basketball competition

Now, you, tell me sum’tin good. How do you intentionally bless your kids?