Trying to pare down notable events of our 2019 is like trying to squeeze all the IKEA parts back into their original box. At the end of this tome may the stories of people, laughter, tears, and answered prayers reveal His sure hand on the Britton Family and New Hope Uganda. Hopefully the things I leave out remain as dear memories in this old brain and heart, and the things I include will both give you a picture of our life tale and provide you the occasional chuckle.
Geoff and I welcomed 2019 in our usual way. We attempted to drown out the loud music and poor quality, double-digit decibel sound systems blaring overnight prayer events while we turned in early. The kids, however, whooped it up past midnight with their friends. They pitched tents and enjoyed “roughing it” in the wild of our back compound with other missionary kids from around Uganda. New Year’s Eve was the final night of a two day, two night soirée in which the boys showed their friends around Kasana and introduced them to our remote village, and also ate WAY TOO much junk food. (The sugar fest was compliments of so many of you who sent multiple boxes of American confectionary treats. THANK YOU (?!?!) for giving us insane amounts of what we can’t get in Uganda!!!!).
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Toby and the other MK boys trying to recreate a photo their fellow
female MKs had posted |
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| Sweets upon sweets!!!!! |
After New Hope’s annual 5-day envisioning conference in January, Geoff and I both taught sessions during the first Investment Year training. We LOVED interacting and encouraging the young adults in IY! What we miss most about being on the ground at New Hope are the rich relationships with the youth. We also miss our mentoring relationships!
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| Teaching the what, why and how of journaling to the IY group |
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| Geoff interacts with both IYs and senior high students at a career day hosted by the Early Adulthood office |
Once January turned to Feb the train which was headed toward a June furlough careened on greased tracks! There never seemed to be enough time to do it all—visit all the friends, keep up with homeschool, host visitors, attend the emergencies, make dinner in less than 3 hours (!), have that intense mentoring session or encourage the struggling, bare the heart to a dear friend and get enough sleep!! Geoff gave many 18-hour days focused on bolstering the Early Adulthood Office staff in anticipation of his upcoming absence. Almost everyday I sorted, cleaned, culled, reorganized or repurposed keepsakes, junk, practical bits and records in anticipation of time growing progressively scarce. Kevin and Acacia dug into their final semester of homeschool while Toby balanced a dual focus of school studies and making final memories with as many friends as he could. He gave both 100%! This translated into a lot of traveling around Uganda and many concessions of when and where he finished up school assignments! At this point Kevin and Acacia held out hope that they would return to homeschool after our planned furlough—a disappointment they’ve had to grapple with now that we’re staying in the states for an undetermined time frame.
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| Toby and his friends Godwin and David. This time he didn't have to travel to them, but they came all the way out to our village to see Toby! |
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| Toby and Abraham, his best friend (since they were 5 years old!) |
It took quite a lot of maneuvering, but we managed to pull off a TOTAL surprise for Geoff's 50th birthday! I wasn't sure how it was going to succeed, but just before people were scheduled to arrive, one of our David Family boys seriously hurt himself, requiring us to take him to the local hospital. The crowd gathered while we were gone and we got back right on time!!! (The boy is fine now!!)
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| The crowd required Geoff to wear a crazy "Birthday" hat. |
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| So many people came, the crowd spilled out onto the veranda |
In January and February I was also sorting through my emotions of a cancer diagnosis given to my mother just prior to Christmas. Geoff graciously rearranged some finances and scheduling to make it possible for me to SURPRISE my mom with a three-week visit in February and March.
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| Before they took me to the airport we met Nabukeera in Entebbe, where she attended university and together we celebrated Geoff's birthday. (I flew the day after his surprise party.) |
I REALLY surprised my mom--so much so she had to sit down!! https://youtu.be/PhTCJeUwaYY
I was able to accompany her to many of her early radiation appointments. Notice I said, “accompany” not “drive her”—that is because my mother insists on DRIVING EVERYWHERE herself. The woman is amazing and at 79-year-old she makes ME tired!! (She’s still working at least 20 hours each week!)
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| Mom, my high school friend Dianne, and me. It was therapy to be with my mom AND see my good friend!!! |
So many families at New Hope took care of my family while I was gone. We miss the New Hope community SO, SO much! And, my mother has been cleared of cancer—hallelujah!
In March Kevin turned 15!
He was two when we arrived in Uganda! Where does the time go? As I almost daily think about his 13 years of growing up Ugandan, I pray for his transition to the American culture.
In April some missionary kids on Spring break from boarding school invited Kevin and Toby to Jinja for a night of hijinks. Sending Toby and Kevin off with a driver, who went the looooooong way around, turning a 3-hour journey into 5-hours was a point for patience, prayer and fodder for their, “only in Uganda,” memories. Also not to be forgotten is their return home on public transport—4 hours and many taxis made for some tired boys—thankfully Toby is adept at navigating around Uganda on public transport. One thing we miss about homeschool is the ability to adjust the school schedule to accommodate life’s unusual adventures! Just before the boys went to Jinja, Geoff and I went northeast to Kumi district and then to Kapchorwa and a few other districts visiting friends and taking a “photo safari” of our beautiful, unique Uganda! Along this particular route we were given, by the family of a coworker and friend, a live turkey. Have you ever had to consider which hotel to choose based on whether or not there was a safe place for a live turkey to sleep? (We knew “safe” to be important because we had previously lost gift fowl in precious encounters with roaming nocturnal wildlife and didn’t want to go through THAT again!!!!! Well, actually, when we couldn’t find the turkey first thing in the morning, we did have a bit of hope that it had disappeared and we wouldn’t have to worry about it pooping in the back of the van. For better or worse, we found it.)
Our final full month in Uganda was a daily emotional roller coaster. The seemingly brief 31 days of May brought many losses: we held numerous "last" dinners with dear friends, sold our car to fellow missionaries, and Geoff led/taught his last Father Heart Retreat with the IY students!
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| Dinner with the Katabazi family--great, longtime friends! We will always remember being awakened at 2:30 a.m. in the middle of a torrential rainstorm. Seems Aunt Noelia was ready to deliver and needed to get to the hospital ASAP. We hadn't been in the country very long and Geoff wasn't sure where he was going!! |
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| Dinner with our first Kasana neighbors, the Muwanguzi family ...Oh, the stories! |
The final packing of our house made real to me our leaving the ministry we’d loved for thirteen years. Later in the month we enjoyed a family reunion for David Family. We had a great turnout of alums!!!!
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| Uncle Mulu and Senyonyi are all smiles at the reunion! |
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| Three dear daughters from David Family who came to the reunion also came by the house for a special visit. |
The timing was perfect as we got to say good-bye to many dear ones we don’t normally see. Following the reunion we had a special dinner and pow wow with our three Ugandan kids, Nabukeera, Sam and Lydia. We shared and talked of their futures—it does my soul good to see them growing and maturing!
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| L to R Sam, Benita, Benja, Nabukeera, Beckham, Lydia |
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| The EYO members surprised us with a goat roast and special evening of appreciation for Geoff's involvement and leadership in the EYO outreaches |
We had numerous visits with dear ones who stopped by before we left.
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| Kambo, Nabukeera, Moses and Sam join us at the table--unplanned, but oh, so welcome! |
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| Close friends of the kids surprised us with a sweet visit on our final night. |
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| Former fellow staff, from India, just happened to be in the country just before we left and we were able to share a quick visit and hugs. |
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| Sweet, dear young lady from David Family who blessed me with an impromptu visit |
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IY girls who stopped by for special hugs!
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| Our last Sunday. It was so difficult to say good-bye to the church! |
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| They prayed a special blessing on us |
The very last weekend, just a few days before we flew out of the country, we had to put our sweet doggie down. One of our David family alums is now a vet and we were all together in a private place behind our school banda as we watched her go. It was too much for me, I took my tears into the house while Geoff and the kids dug a hole for her and planted her favorite fruit tree, a jackfruit, over her burial spot. I still get teary when I see her picture or think of her. Saying good-bye, to dear people and sweet pets, is NOT easy—oh, the emotions!
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| Dear, sweet Bubbly, snacking on cassava she stole from the David Family compost! |
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| Our last photo with Medi, who kept our compound in order, and Jesca, who kept our house clean for the past 13 years!!!!! |
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The morning we left numerous people came by to say good-bye.
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| Of course, I HAVE to include a picture of Kakande! He came running to tell us good-bye! |
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Just 4 km down the road we HAD to stop the car to give special hugs to our close friend Irene! Tears on all of our faces!
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| And not too long after stopping to hug Irene, we saw Uncle Jonnes by the side of the road!!! He gave us some final blessings and sent us on our way! |
On June 4th we spent a last day with Sam and Nabukeera. After dinner that night the kids walked home to the guest house and played around in the streets, taking photos together.
The next morning we all had brunch with Jay, Vicki, Jennie and Elizabeth Dangers. They drove us to the airport where we could barely hold it together. It was, perhaps the last time we would fly out of Uganda together with all five of us Brittons! Tears, prayers, hugs over and over again.
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| There were very few smiles as we gave hugs. Sam held onto Toby for a VERY long time. |
Finally the time came and we walked off toward the terminal. So. Very. Difficult!
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| Praise God for the Dangers who loved on Sam and Nabukeera after we left. |
We landed in Denver on the 7th, not sure we were yet ready to be Americans.
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| The boys were excited about doing yard work (??!??), but they were ready to start at 7 a.m. I had to give them a quick run down of American etiquette ... NOT before 9 a.m. Before the clock chimed 9:01, they fired up the lawn mower and weed whacker! |
Regardless of where we were in our heart-transition, our bodies got moving only two days later as we drove with Geoff’s parents to Telluride for nine days of hiking, exploring, biking and resting. Geoff and I were still recovering from Malaria, which we got the final week in Uganda, so the altitude kicked us just a bit! One day we popped over to Ouray and explored an old mine and the historic downtown. If you’re ever in Ouray, CO, go to Maggie’s Kitchen for the BEST burgers EV-ER!
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| A fun part of Telluride was having to take the gondola to the nearby grocery store. Seems we only needed cream and green onions that day!!!! |
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| I think it's definite therapy to take a family vacation with the grandparents!!!!! And a gondola ride in the beautiful mountains of Telluride is icing on the cake! |
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| Though we were still recovering from Malaria (!!!) we were able to unwind a bit and enjoy hiking! |
On June 19th, we celebrated Toby’s 18th birthday by going to one of those movie theaters where you recline and they serve you drinks, snacks or even a full meal. Oh, America! The excess!
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| I hid a surprise birthday gift for Toby, from one of his best Ugandan friends, in our luggage. He was very surprised and thrilled to receive it! |
And the very next day we saw Front Range Christian School for the first time! A staff member, who later in the year would turn out to be Acacia’s discipleship group leader, gave us a thorough tour of the school. We were impressed and very thankful to be so, since we had chosen the school only by what we saw on the internet!!!!!
As soon as the tour was finished we drove out of the parking lot and off to California.
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| Acacia took the craft kits FRCS gave us for our road trip and immediately made goofy glasses! We were on our way!!!!! |
I drove the “night shift” in which we met torrential rains, road construction and roads lacking lane lines! At one point when everyone else was asleep, I thought I had veered onto the wrong side of the road as it appeared a semi was headed straight for us. I pulled off into the dirt only to find it was an optical illusion due to poor visibility. On reaching Long Beach we were all pretty wiped out, but still started three weeks of visiting friends, family, churches and supporters.
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| Every furlough, it seems, we make our way to the Cheesecake Factory with our friends and supporters Tom and Arlene. (Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling well that day.) |
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| Feast your eyes on a table of global Aunties!!! We couldn't believe we all pulled it off, but we had lunch with Allison, Katie and Constance, none of which abide on the same continent! Having these kinds of constant, long-lasting relationships weighs emotional anchor for us! |
The very next day we took Toby and Kevin down to San Diego to be a part of an evangelistic basketball camp organized by a young pastor couple we’d met in Uganda. The boys have great stories of their few days there, but the best is when Toby was baptized by fire on the San Diego freeways! It went like this . . .The pastor said to Toby, “You can drive? Here, take my keys (tosses keys) and car (points to car) and follow that guy to the beach.” Toby and his passengers quickly jumped in as the other car was already moving. He followed the car as best as he could, but it was moving pretty fast through city streets and then onto the freeway! If he lost the guy in front of him he had no idea where he was or where they were going! The first time on a Southern California major artery and he had no time to think anything about skill or safety, but just keeping his eyes set on Mr. “Quick to Disappear”. I have no doubt that his present good driving skills have everything to do with said baptism!!!
One of my three sisters came to spend time with me while we were in Long Beach and was excited to take me shopping. She had grand ideas of helping her fashion-less, missionary sister get some up-to-date threads. Oops. Disappointment. I found a packet of socks that I liked—that was IT! I’ve always found it hard to jump right into the current fashion once back from Uganda. Clothes styles are simply not appealing to me until I’ve had some time to get used to the American environment.
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| We made an overnight trip up to Fresno to see Geoff's sister Lisa and her daughter, Nicole and husband Will. |
Back in Colorado, we hosted good friend, John Morton. Geoff took the kids camping down near Mt. Princeton. Fun and also a lesson in what to NOT forget when you go camping. Seems we know how to survive the Ugandan bush, but have forgotten how to camp in America!
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| John, Toby and Kevin in St. Elmo |
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| The first night it rained heavily, but sunshine in the morning made for great hiking! |
And speaking of getting used to the American environment, getting the kids ready for school was a cultural adventure!!!! Banange! I’m glad we didn’t have to do that these past 13 years!
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| See? We managed to find some new clothes for the kids, just in time to take "1st day of school" photos. Of course, there was a lot of goofing around in between shots! |
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| cross country meet, Washington Park, Denver |
Once classes started they fit right in. It was the first time ever the kids had the opportunity to join organized sports and they loved it! We loved it, too, because we met a LOT of new people as we attended sports events. There’s also something called, “P3 hours” at FRCS. Parents sign up to volunteer for various events. Each parent has to give 30 P3 hours in the school year. So, we jumped right in: Geoff drove the van for the girls’ volleyball team; I received attendees (and their entrance fees) at both volleyball and football games, and Geoff learned how to keep the books during the volleyball matches.
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| Acacia and teammates listen intently to coach's instructions. |
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| Toby gave 150% to learning American football! |
Also in August, Geoff and I started our sabbatical which had to be creatively balanced with all the above, and more, school activities.
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| Geoff, Toby and Acacia volunteered to represent FRCS at the annual Littleton Parade |
In September, we kept on the same course. Here we are in our 50s having to manage, for the first time—when most of our contemporaries are finished with this stage, all the demands of getting kids to and from school, to and from sporting practices, meets and games; buying enough food to keep them fed through the day while they’re at school; and keeping track of a schedule that seems to change each and every day. I also joined the Mom’s In Prayer group which meets once a week. It has helped this introverted newbie get to know some lovely and dedicated believers! Our sabbatical focus added a life coach to the mix in September, and we found ourselves somedays happily diving into the process of evaluating our past 13 years, but other days I was literally so tired I just stared at the walls and thought, “well, maybe I should do something, ... nah.” Geoff seemed to keep moving much better than I did. He enjoyed being on the computer surfing around the kids’ school website learning all the new stuff. Not me. I mostly did nothing, wondering if I’d ever find the energy to move forward.
Meanwhile, we were also in the throes of cleaning up our home in Pueblo, which had been a rental these past 13 years, but was destroyed by our renters. So many friends rallied with us to get it ready to put on the market. It was a lot of work, more so for our friends who had aimed to get it cleaned up before we ever landed in the states. However, it was such a task that it took more time and manpower than any of us had imagined. Once on the market we had offers right away and were able to close on it just days before Geoff and I flew to Uganda for a two week visit. We are thankful it sold so quickly and are happy to have it behind us! While Geoff and I were enjoying Uganda and our beloved people there, the kids were finishing up their football, volleyball and cross country seasons and taking themselves to and from school each day. The grandparents took great care of them and the kids took great care of the grandparents.
Just one week after landing back in the U.S. Geoff’s mom awakened us in the night saying she needed to go to the ER. She ended up hospitalized for a couple of days and it reiterated to us that our decision to stay here with them is the right decision. His dad is also having some significant health challenges and we believe our being here has proven very helpful.
Beginning in August we had visited a number of churches near our home in Aurora, and finally settled in October on, “The Way,” which is about ten minutes from the house. It is small, about 120 members and is a good fit for our family. We love the Bible teaching, great worship and friendly, committed believers. The pastor’s wife grew up in Tanzania, so she has blessed the kids with her genuine interest in them and their well-being!!!
Last month Geoff began discussions on what involvement with New Hope Uganda Ministries here in the U.S. might look like. With fall sports over, the boys turned their attention to basketball. Toby and Geoff visited Colorado Christian University, John Brown University and North Greenville University with a side jaunt to see his sister Linda and her husband Jan in Alabama.
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| Jan, Linda, Toby and Geoff in Alabama! It had been three years since they'd seen each other |
We celebrated Thanksgiving in the states for the first time since 2007, in Pueblo with Geoff’s cousins and their families.
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| Thanksgiving 2019! |
The next day Acacia turned 17!!!
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| Acacia flies over to give Grandma a hug of thanks for her birthday gift! |
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| Just a few days after her birthday, she took the test for her driver's permit. We're looking forward to another driver in the family!!! |
Now that we’ve entered the last month of 2019, Geoff’s talk of possible work with NHUM has quickly parlayed into official online meetings, setting plans for travel beginning in January and taking the position of VP of Ministry Relations. Toby returned to Colorado Christian University, this time with me, so that I could see it and he could get a better feel as to the normal tenor of the campus. He will make a decision in the next few weeks between CCU and JBU. One thing I know, he will not be living with us everyday come next fall, and that’s starting to hit me hard. I know many of you have already been through this stage—it’s not easy, that’s for sure!
As soon as the kids’ finish their final exams on Friday, we will celebrate Christmas with Geoff’s parents. Early the next morning we drive to California. This will be the first time since 2007 that my family and I will be with my mother and sisters for Christmas!!!
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| We thoroughly enjoyed decorating for Christmas a couple weeks ago. |
And, we’re looking forward to 2020! I can’t believe Y2K was 20 years ago! We didn’t even have kids when Y2K took us from the 19s to the 2-0s.
What will the next 20 years be like? I’m thankful God knows and I don’t have to figure it out. With His faithfulness and goodness, provision and wisdom, I don’t need to figure it all out. I only need to yield and trust Him.
Woohoo! What a ride!
