Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Donation button Again



Last day in the office

Wow the past few weeks have flown by. I feel so overwhelmed that I am struggling with where to even begin! Last night I was able to spray most of my clothing with the permethrin spray. The goal is obviously to prevent mosquito bites in the first place because while we will be starting our malaria meds friday there is no preventative measures for sleeping sickness which is also transmitted through mosquito bites. I still have a few things to pick up from the store and then it is just a matter of getting it all together.

Also I thought I should share with you some of the anxiety that I am having with a component of our trip. Each member of the mission has been asked to prepare a devotional to share with the group. I will be doing that on Saturday March 10. I have the pm devotional which Lindz said is the longer of the two. I am so sick with worry over it that I am almost tempted to talk about worry! One of the things I have always struggled with in my journey is evangelism. Even when discussing my relationship with God among christians I find my self very uncomfortable. I hope that all of this nervous energy I am putting into this will only make me stronger in the end, but until then I will fret about sharing something I typically view as very personal and very private with people who at this point are strangers.

On a lighter note I will be leaving good 'ole West Virginia in 25 hours and so begins the culmination of the journey Lindsay and I have been sharing with you over the past two months.

Monday, February 27, 2012

T-minus 4 days 23 hours

Wow I have to say that the past seven weeks has flown by! There is so much to do and simply not enough time to do it all! Since I am the lone traveler heading to Uganda from a point of origin outside the atlanta area my journey starts in 3 days. Over the next three days I will be doing lots of packing, hopefully I will get a few more blogs up before I leave but I just wanted to keep you all posted that we are still here and incredibly busy preparing to go and visit the children at the Humble School in Mukono Uganda

Monday, February 20, 2012

Its not what you take....


So Lindz and I have both referenced our car accident from 2003 and how that (in more ways than I have words for) has shaped us into the amazing women that we are today. As a survivor we can both tell you stories about that day; about how it was, and about how we remember it. Lindsay will tell you that she was terrified that she experienced her life flashing before her and about how even though we were in south Georgia she thought that we were going to go off the side of a cliff. I will tell you about this over whelming calmness I had up until the moment we stopped and I unbuckeled my seatbelt to find my phone and call my mother. I can tell you how I know for a fact that is was a cloudless sunny morning but when I play the tape over in my head that I will forever remember it as a gloomy monday. And my mother can tell you that my frantic phone call at 7:07 am is the worst and best call a mother could get from a daughter who has been calling her far too often for being so early. Monday, April 7, 2003 will be a day that will forever be burned into our memory and will continue to shape who we are. There will be days when our expirence will empower us to step in to help when others look away and there will be somber days when we question why our lives were worth more than the lives of some others who were not as lucky. In each of these moments it is impossible to not reflect back on the past 9 years an know without a shadow of a doubt that there was a plan, that there will always be a plan and whether we choose to fight it or surrender to it, God has a perfect plan for both of us.

A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher,
Ridin' on a midnight bus bound for Mexico.
One's headed for vacation, one for higher education,
An' two of them were searchin' for lost souls.
That driver never ever saw the stop sign.
An' eighteen wheelers can't stop on a dime.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.
That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres,
The faith an' love for growin' things in his young son's heart.
An' that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children:
Did her best to give 'em all a better start.
An' that preacher whispered: "Can't you see the Promised Land?"
As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker's hand.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.
That's the story that our preacher told last Sunday.
As he held that blood-stained bible up,
For all of us to see.
He said: "Bless the farmer, and the teacher, an' the preacher"
"Who gave this Bible to my mamma,
"Who read it to me."
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there's not four of them, now I guess we know.
It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

This blogging thing has NEVER been my strong suit!

I am so thankful that this blogging mission is a joint venture, because I have never been able to carve enough time out of my life to consistently update any blog I've tried to start! I think that Lindz and I co-blogging is just one more exmaple of how great the two of us are together :-) for what 12 years now (WHICH IS CRAZY WE ARE GETTING OLD LOL) the two of us have made our friendship work balancing the good and bad in both of us. I am so blessed to have such an amazing bond with this girl! And I cannot wait to share one of my favorite places in the entire world with one of my favorite people!

In 14 days we will be heading to Uganda and in one breath I think ahhh 14 days I do not know how I will be able to make it 14 more days! Because I am so excited to get to the Humble School and meet all of the amazing children and help make their lives and ours more rich. And in the very next breath it is not a feeling of anticipation but sheer panic!!!! 14 days HOLY TOLEDO!!! 14 DAYS there is so much to get done in the next well.....12 days for me before I am off to atlanta (the first stop on my way to Uganda)! I feel like there is so much to do and so little time to do it in. It is utterly overwhelming. So as I frantically try to pack, do homework, make cake pops, and prepare my staff for my 15 day absence from work I will try to be more diligent in blogging and perhaps get a video blog in on monday or tuesday night :-) Until then I will be running around like a chicken with my head cut off!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Trip update

“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.”
- Hudson Taylor


     Over the weekend Pastor Dalton held our first & only Uganda Mission Trip meeting, I was fortunate to attend & was able to meet the other 11 people on our Uganda trip! The group is very diverse & I am so excited to get to know each & every one of our team members along our memorable journey! Judi & I are definitely the youngest in the group with a close second going to the pastor & his wife. In our group there's a few that have traveled internationally for work, some that have been on many mission trips & those of us that are new to mission trips in Africa. There is even one gentleman- probably in his 50 or 60s that has NEVER even been on a plane & has never traveled out of the country before!! 

     As a non-member of the Johns Creek United Methodist Church, I was worried about not being accepted by the other group members, but thankfully everyone was very warm & welcoming & excited for Judi & I to be involved with their trip. Only 17 days left until we our on our way! I know Judi & I still have a lot to do in preparation for our trip, all that we are doing in these next few weeks will be so worth it once we land in Uganda & hopefully better the lives of others! :)