Guess Who??

Guess who is coming to see me in 9 days? He’s tall, red-headed, sometimes bearded, really funny, and he’s married to me. It’s Cody! I am so excited that he’s coming for two weeks, and maybe just maybe, we’ll all get to come home together.


The past month or so has really been hard on me emotionally. I think the toll of the last 6 months hit me, along with the added pressure from the courts, homesickness, and mommy guilt. Cody and I had talked a few times about him maybe coming to see me, but we just didn’t know how we could make it happen financially.

Tuesday night Cody got a call from a friend of mine. This is someone Cody’s heard a lot about, but never met. This man told Cody that he and his wife have been following along with our story on the blog and then through Facebook. They had been praying about the best way to encourage me and decided that they needed to buy Cody a plane ticket to come see me. Cody was shocked and assured him they did not have to do this, but they insisted. What a gift! I tear up each time I think about it. God knew my need and decided to send His answer through this precious couple. I am humbled and grateful.

I am so excited that Cody is coming. I miss my man! And I am so excited for him to get more bonding time with Mercy. I can’t wait to see them together again.

Cody’s mom will be coming up to stay with Emma and Avery while Cody is gone. We are so grateful that she can do this for us.

9 more days!!!!

**Tomorrow we hope to find out about an upcoming court date. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Faces of Poverty

One of the things that I love/hate about my life here is that things always change. I can think I know my plans for the day, but they most always change and never go as planned. Yesterday was one of those days. I ended up spending most of the afternoon in a horrible slum. These were the worst conditions I’ve seen yet. This slum is next to or part of a garbage dump. Huge scavenging birds fly overhead. Children sit digging through the garbage and playing on the mounds. Many of the children were naked or half dressed. They had huge bloated tummies and ringworm on their heads. Trash was everywhere as well as the stench of raw sewage. I can’t even begin to describe to you all of the sights, sounds, and smells. I was there with some other Americans to see a child that hopefully will be adopted. Unfortunately, the baby did not look well. But today, I was able to take him to the doctor and get some better medicine and treatment.

After we saw the child, we had to wait in a field outside the slum while the lawyer with us interviewed some people. Children swarmed our van trying to touch us and talk with us. Some of the children literally hung on my legs. I shook their hands, gave high fives, and smiled and laughed with them. They were pretty fascinated with Mercy and I am sure they were trying to figure out why she had a mzungu mommy. Several things struck me about this moment. First of all, I had been upset earlier because Mercy had rolled around on the floor in her new clothes. Yet, running around next to these children she looked so clean and healthy.

Secondly, I kept thinking about how attention and affection starved these children must be to literally cling to a complete stranger’s legs. They just wanted to be loved. Thirdly, I saw the many children in need of medical attention. The need was overwhelming. Skin infections. Hernias. Rotting teeth. Bloated tummies from parasites. Open wounds. Hacking coughs. I wanted to take them all to the doctor. A pastor that was with us was telling me that his church does free medical clinics in this slum a couple of times a year, but the next clinic isn’t scheduled until May. That’s 3 months away.

Earlier in the week, I finished reading Richard Stearns’ “Hole in the Gospel”. Stearns is the President of World Vision. The book talks about his life story and the stories of thousands of people he’s met around the world. He talks about the great need for Christians to step up and take care of the poor and needy. It seems that lately there are “socially-minded” Christians that want to only meet physical needs and then there are the “evangelicals” who only want to share the gospel. Stearns points out that our job as Christians is to do both. Wow, this was a challenging book and I highly recommend that all of you read it. One thing that he talks about is how much more we as people connect with a personal story of a need than with just statistics. I can give you all of the stats on the orphan crisis in the world or I can tell you the story of Mercy. Which would move you more to give? I can give you mortality rates for women giving birth in Uganda or I can tell you about Mercy’s mother. Which would move you more? It’s challenging to me to realize that behind every stat I read in the paper or hear on the news are real people. Their lives involve fighting for clean water to drink, searching garbage dumps for food, walking miles to a doctor, hiding in the bush from a rapist, being forced to become a child soldier. It puts it in a whole new perspective. I have these things right in front of my face each day in Uganda. I know it’s harder for those of you that have never been to a third world country, but this is real. Look at their faces.

Thirty years from now do I want to look back and tell my children that I turned a blind eye to the hurting people in this world?  Do you?  Pray about how God would move you to help.  Sponsor a child.  Adopt an orphan.  Build a well.  Donate money.  Use your vacation time to serve.  Buy a book.  Do something. 

A Hard Day

Little did I know on Monday when I asked for prayers for my upcoming “Challenging” day, just how challenging it would be. My day began around 5 am with a text from my friend, Simon, saying that his wife, Kelly, was in labor at just 25 weeks and there was nothing they could do to stop it. I started praying for them and then I thought about Kelly. I knew if I was in her shoes I’d want someone with me, especially an American girlfriend. So I got up, threw on some clothes, woke up Lawrence to watch Mercy, and took off for the hospital. I’m so glad I got to be there with my sweet friend. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to watch someone go through, but she was so strong. I was with her while she delivered and afterwards while the doctor dealt with some complications. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Bentley. He lived for about 30 minutes, but then his little lungs couldn’t do it anymore. Pray for my dear friends. Their faith through all of this has been amazing, but still they are grieving. It’s never easy for a parent to lose a child and my heart breaks for them. 

Unfortunately, after all of that, I still had to get some of my things done for the day. As I predicted, it was hard, I was asked lots of questions, and things continue to get more complicated. However, I did feel some compassion and understanding from people and action was promised. Sometimes I feel like I’m living inside a movie or something. I’m in the midst of these crazy experiences and think, “Did this really just happen to me?” or “Did they really just say that?”, but I keep reminding myself to give it to the Lord and to let Him fight my battles for me. Because really people, this story is nuts. I could not make this stuff up. But the crazier it gets, I think the more glory God will get for the victory in the end.  Keep praying for our miracle. 

Living in the Gap (a Cody post)

Genesis 16:16 & 17:1

16. Abraham was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.  1. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty….”

Have you ever wondered why God was so much more vocal in “Bible times” than He is today? He was so chatty in the Old Testament. Always talking; always giving commands; always parting waters…or so my frustrations would lead me to believe.

The reality is that God seems to have spoken sparingly. Take Abram for example. Abram’s story does not show God as overly talkative. Rather, He is unbearably sparse in his communications with Abram. My friend Steve pointed out that the writer of Genesis gives us snapshots of Abram’s key encounters with God, and for a man who lived well into triple digits his encounters with God were relatively few.

In the above verses Abram goes thirteen years from the time Ishmael is born to the time he next hears from God regarding the status of the promise for land and descendants. However, take note that Abram waited far more than thirteen years between his encounters with God. His last interaction with God before age 99 came at the beginning of chapter fifteen. It is there that Abram first tells God of his idea to have a descendant through his servant girl, and God quickly corrects Abram (15:4). So the question is, how many years passed between 15:1 and 17:1? It was at the very least thirteen years and forty weeks, and that’s only if Abram walked away from chapter 15 and immediately paid a visit to Hagar. So how long was his wait? Fifteen years? Twenty years? How do you think Abram handled those years?

Sarai: Abram, have you talked to God lately? Why aren’t we pregnant?

Abram: You know I haven’t honey. I don’t know why things aren’t happening like he said.

Sarai: Well did you tell him about Hagar?

Abram: Of course I did. He told me she wasn’t the answer.

Sarai: Are you sure? It was so long ago and your memory is getting fuzzy.

Abram: Just because I forgot where I parked the camel ONE TIME doesn’t mean I’m losing my mind. I know exactly what God said. But I’m starting to wonder myself.

Sarai: We’ve been waiting so long. And besides we’re so old. There’s no way this is happening. I think it’s time to visit Hagar.

Abram: I’ve been thinking the same thing. It has been such a long wait. I just want us to be happy and have a whole family. Plus I know God wants this for us also. It only makes sense…

I wish we knew more about what life was like for Abram and Sarai in the gap between their holy visitations. I find it so hard to live in this gap between God’s promise and the fulfillment of that promise. I’m sure I’m not alone in this struggle. Why the wait? Why doesn’t fulfillment come sooner? At the very least could we get a glimpse of what’s going on so we’ll know the wait is serving some greater purpose?

Abram may yet hold the answer for us. In 15:6 we’re told, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” It is more than coincidental that Abram’s faith comes into play at every encounter with God. From Ur to Mt. Moriah, Abram’s faith is formed, purified, solidified, with alarming intention on the part of Yahweh. The gaps are there for a reason.

God appoints the gaps. Perhaps that’s the harshest reality in all of it, because the formation of our faith is far from painless. It is in the crucible of suffering, the dark night of the soul, that we truly discover the depths of our unbelief. Here our faith is shaken to its core. Prior to these sorrowful moments faith came easy because we had what we wanted, like a toddler getting a piece of candy at the checkout line. However, in the gap we find that faith does not come easy, nor does faith guarantee safety. We have to wrestle with the seeming contradiction that God is good, and suffering is real. The gap is that place, where loneliness reigns, where bitterness rages, where doubts mock us, where anger seethes, where tears never stop. It is also a place where we share company with people named Abram, Sarai, Moses, Naomi, Job, Jeremiah, and Simeon. And as with them, it is a place where God meets us.

In the gaps we learn to treasure God above all else. Our faith becomes pure as we love him in sorrow as well as joy. The harshest circumstances drive us deeper in communion, rather than giving us reason to flee. What’s more, I believe the gaps will make heaven that much more amazing (Rev. 21:4). There, surrounded by our family of faith, reunited with loved ones, face to face with our Savior, we will worship without reservation our God who was present in the valleys. The time in between promises given and promises fulfilled is hard, but good, because God is our reward.

Thank you Father for your presence in this gap; for your infinite patience with me; for redeeming this time. Since I am not enduring this time gracefully, nor willingly, I ask you to bend my heart to yours. Reassure my feeble faith by your Word. May I wait in such a way that brings honor to your name, and credibility to your gospel. Amen.  

Challenging

Tomorrow has the potential to be a very challenging day. I really can’t go in to details on this public blog, but I have to take care of some of the things that the judge wants done. It won’t be fun. It may be hard. I may get asked a lot of questions. So if you think about it, please pray for me. Pray for wisdom and for the right words. Pray for my heart and love for Mercy to shine through. Pray for people to see me for who I am and what my family is like.

Thank you for your prayers during elections. Things were very peaceful here in Kampala. Wednesday is voting for the local elections, so that means another day of staying in. Praying for peace to continue.

And one more note... Cody's been getting on to me for not allowing comments on my posts.  A lot of you comment when I link to the posts on Facebook, but he thought that those of you who are not my Facebook friend might want a chance to put in your two cents too.  So, comments are turned on.  If I don't know you at all, I'd love to hear a comment on how you found out about our story.  It amazes me every day to hear about people I've never met that follow our story so closely and continually pray for us.  It means the world to me and my family.  Happy Commenting!

Good day for Ugandan Adoptions

Today is a good day for Ugandan adoptions. At least five families will arrive home in the US. The US Embassy worked hard to get these families out this week before today’s elections. The good news is that these families were here less than 5 weeks, three of them were here for less than 3 weeks. That is amazing! It shows that progress is being made, judges are working, the system is working, and children are receiving new families to love and cherish them. The new judges are very thorough and the embassy is working very hard to maintain ethical adoptions in Uganda. I know our story has scared some from international adoption or more specifically from Uganda. I want you to know that there are more than two million orphans in this country that need homes. The process is working for many, so please don’t let our story and our journey hold you back from what God may have planned for your family.

I’m so glad that I’ve got to spend quality time with at least three of these families getting to know their precious new children, hearing how God called them to adopt, seeing them start to bond with their kids, and sharing many laughs. I’m glad that some of my experiences were able to make their trip a bit smoother.

Over the last 25 weeks, I’ve seen many other families come and go. Each time they ask me how I can wish them goodbye with a smile on my face. I’ll admit that it’s not always easy. I just keep clinging to the fact that God is in control. He knew the path their adoptions would take, and He knew ours. I still struggle with “Why me?” and “When will our big day come?”, but I find my peace in the idea that God has purpose in all of it. A couple of these families this week tried to downplay their joy a bit in order to not hurt my feelings. I quickly tried to put a stop to that. Each time a child finds a new family there is joy and God should be glorified. Each time a child gets a visa to come home and officially join their families there should be joy and God should be glorified. This joy is the same whether they’ve been in the whole process for a few months with a couple weeks in country, or if they’ve been on this journey for years with months in country. Now don’t get me wrong, when Mercy finally receives a visa and we board that plane for home, there will be lots of shouting and praising going on. You may even be able to hear me from the US. It will be that same joy as the others, but my shouts may just be a bit louder. I am still holding strong to the promise I felt God gave me the day I met Mercy. I clearly heard that she was my daughter. I will fight for that as long as it takes. Our day will come, and in the meantime I will keep sharing in the joy of others and praising God through my storm.



Celebration Dinner... yes, I am cool with my sling with no baby.  Mercy is in Kristi's arms next to me.



Election Day

Tomorrow Uganda will hold elections for president and parliament. This only comes every 5 years. Campaigning has been going on for months. Posters are plastered everywhere with candidates photos and names. It makes me laugh that you will often see 20 identical posters in a row for one candidate. Everyday campaign trucks go by with music blaring, tons of posters, and people standing in the back yelling for their candidate. I’ve been told candidates often get people from the slums or villages to ride around in these trucks and they pay them a couple of dollars a day.

In the race for President there are 8 candidates. The current president, Yoweri Museveni, has been in office 25 years and is expected to win in a landslide victory, but the difficulty comes in wondering if the elections will be fair. Museveni appoints the members of the election commission, so many expect fraud. The US and other nations have been encouraging them to make sure things run as smoothly as possible. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

We do not expect violence and protests like that in Egypt, but there will be some outcry I am sure when the results are announced. Thankfully there is a lot of extra security with the police and army. There is also some threat of a terrorist attack like those that happened in the summer. Some of you may not remember, but during the final World Cup game last summer, two Somalian terrorists set off bombs in the city of Kampala. Since that happened in July there are now security checkpoints at virtually every public place. I get my bag checked and “wanded” each time I enter a major business. It can be annoying, but I am also grateful for the extra vigilance.

My plan is to stay home for the next few days. Voting for the Presidential and Parliamentary races is tomorrow. Results will be announced within a couple of days. Elections for the more local offices will be later next week. Most people say that the best thing for Americans to do is to stay home. I stocked up on cell phone minutes, movies, and extra snacks today, so Mercy and I should be good for a while. We hope that the power and phone services stay on, but there is no guarantee.

Please keep the people of Uganda in your prayers in the next couple of days. Pray for wisdom as they head to the polls, pray for peace, and pray for the coming leader to be a great leader for the people I’ve come to love so much.