I hate Mondays (well at least this one)

Today I drove with Ryan to a town called Mbale which is the half way point between Jinja and where he lives in Karamoja. He had been in town for the weekend for a friend's wedding and it was awesome having him back so soon, of course that kind of re-opened some of the wounds that had barely scabbed over from when he left but it was still great. Over the weekend, I didn't try to think about that today would bring me saying goodbye to him for probably six weeks this time. Even today when we said goodbye it was less emotional because I really didn't allow myself to think about the true reality.

After I said goodbye and drove out of town (just FYI, we have an automatic car that I can drive with my broken foot), I was just listening to music and as the reality began to dawn on me, I began to break down. Then, as I was trying to recover from that, it all of a sudden sounded like the windows were opened, and I look in the mirror to see my back left tire flapping. Yeah, my tire didn't just go flat, it seriously exploded. God was so good though and I didn't roll over, and God just kept me really calm. I pulled over and considering I was on crutches and couldn't really do anything anyway, I immediately called in my go-to man, JB. I was told that as soon as he got the call, he grabbed Davis (one of my other awesome go-to guys) and they drove the 45 minutes to come and rescue me. After I waited in the car for them to arrive, I was able to see the damage, and JB told the truth when he said that I was very lucky that I didn't get hurt. God definitely protected me on that one and answered some serious prayers.





Now, as I was driving on the way there, I realized that it has been one month ago (four weeks) since I broke my foot, it's also been two months to the day that I had my birthday and I knew that I was embarking on one crazy year. I just can't believe what all has happened over these past two months. It's just been way too crazy for words to just wrap my mind around just how much has happened, the pain, the struggles, the lessons, and it's only been two months... It's just seeming like it's one thing is coming right after the other. I'm exhausted in every sense of the word but also encouraged that in the midst of days like today that seem to go as bad as possible, God is still faithful to have His hand on every situation. But I'll admit my flesh definitely says "I hate Mondays".

The God of ALL comfort

In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul describes God as the "God of ALL comfort". Now...I won't lie, I've enjoyed this verse before but in this season of life, it seems to have slipped my mind what it really means. Isn't it funny how that happens? You know verses and you know the promises but to actually put them into practice is a whole other ball game. I think for me, I'll be honest when I say that in a weird way I guess sometimes I don't want to be comforted...yet at the same time I want it with all of my being. I don't know if you could chalk it up to the martyr mentality or just say it's for attention sake. I guess the lesson of the day is that I need to allow myself to be comforted - the challenges of life are not going to change (broken foot, Ryan gone, Jess and Bev gone, and now I have a cold) - so I need to look to God to comfort me in ALL of these things so that I can be used by Him in the ways He wants to instead of living in a perpetual pity party.

Our newest addition

So I've had several people say that with Ryan going, I should get a puppy, and I just would tell them no. Then last night we get the e-mail that we should take advantage of some German Shepherd puppies to add to our posse of guard dogs. So JB and I went to pick one out today...needles to say, meet Kabong. He's six weeks old, and ridiculously cute. I know he won't stay this way, he's actually going to be pretty massive considering his size already and the size of his mom. I won't lie, he's pretty awesome!

He's finally gone

Today I went through one of the longest and hardest goodbyes. Ryan has finally left to move to Karamoja. I can't believe it's finally happened, there's no more, "first this..." or hearing "how long until you go?" He's gone...one of my dearest friends has gone and our lives of being together through all of the exciting as well as mundane things of life has come to an end. This morning, waiting to say goodbye to him I just couldn't believe it was for real and then when we had our final goodbye, I can't even begin to express how hard it was as we just hugged and I sobbed like a baby. I'm going to miss this guy so much and even now with each moment of him getting further and further away, it hurts all the more knowing that he's not coming back to live here and will now just be a visitor whenever he drives through that gate. It's so hard to have him gone but I'm so proud to call him a friend and I just ask for your prayers as he embarks on this new journey.

Nobody likes me...

That song "nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll eat some worms..." is kind of going through my head right now. That is so far from the truth but to make a long story short I'm suffering from a rather intense pity party at the moment - definitely digressing to the Elijah "Why can't I just die" state of mind although not to such an extreme degree. I had the hope that the crutches/cast would be gone in a month and that I was 1/4 of the way through it, but this evening I found out that the usual six weeks is actually what I'm going to have to do. Life here is so the oposite of handicap friendly - my cast is definitely not that fancy new fiber glass or waterproof material, my crutches are definitely very "african", and well...the complaints could just go on and on. Can you tell I'm just in a whiny mood right now? On top of that it's also just again setting in how Ryan is leaving in less than 48 hours, which is just fantastic (NOT!) and I spent my evening in a waiting room with one of our sponsored students who had a rash and needed to be checked out. I wish I could sound super spiritual right now and just be that hard core missionary that people tend to think I and my comrades are like, but really I'm just having "one of those days" right now. I feel for those who I live with because when I got home from the hospital I may or may not have thrown my crutches and went on a wee little rampage. Oh the joys of growing pains...

A little too close to home

After a late night of watching the World Cup at a local restaurant, I woke up on Monday morning thinking that the week would be just like any other. Then the news came that there had been a bombing in Kampala (which is about 2 hours away), and we found out that it wasn't just some small thing where one or two people got hurt but the numbers of people who were killed by the two bombs continued to climb. Currently, the count is at 74 people who have died and it's been pretty much confirmed it's by a Somalian militant group who is not happy about Uganda's presence in their country. It happened while people were just hanging out and watching the game. The pictures are just so crazy because even in the paper they show people who are just sitting in their chairs, arms crossed, looking like they did when they were watching the game, but they are covered in blood and are dead. It just goes to show you how you really NEVER know...you're not even guaranteed today. It is now going to be interesting to see how Uganda deals with this situation. Most people are in a state of fear just because we have a trade show happening here in Jinja where rumors have circulated that it could be a target as well. Needless to say, we are all safe but are still taking precautions.

Artists at work

I can't stand for anything to be white for any length of time, every surface in my house that used to be white is covered in paint.. my cast was no different. At first I did my own decorating, but then today my somewhat boring cast got quite a face lift - between tire tracks drawn on the bottom to resemble the "Firestone" shoes that people in Karamoja wear to one of a kind art done by a group of kids between the ages of 3 and 13, I'd say I'm pretty set as far as having one shnazzy looking cast.