“Eat your peas! Don’t you know there are starving children in Africa?” Familiar. Mom and dad drama dealt to the picky child in hopes to coax another mouthful or two off their dinner plate.
And then we grow up. And OH MY we realize…there ARE starving children in Africa. Continue reading
I am tired of telling sad stories. Though at times therapeutic, telling your story makes it real, concrete, and final.
Recently, Grief has knocked heavily upon my door. She has been a constant visitor and one I have shrugged off for almost a year. Strength has been my best friend. She has cheered me and journeyed with me each step of this Epic Adventure. Grief was not welcomed or wanted. Nor did I have any time to entertain her. There were children to bathe, clothes and dishes to wash (by hand mind you)–and there were stories to be read and boo boos to kiss. I kept Grief at bay. Even at the “end” of our journey with our Ugandan kiddos…(if you missed that chapter you can learn more about it here)…Grief was not invited to the party because Hope had made her way to the forefront of the story line. Hope was carrying a banner waving, “Justice.” Her message comforted me. But a few weeks ago Heartbreak and Sorrow delivered a message of gut-wrenching proportion. They said that the two little ones we thought we protected and placed into good hands were actually taken back by Evil hands…ones not to be trusted. Trafficking hands that were protected by the police and bribery and social status. Reunification failed. Corruption, culture, and paternal biological “rights” all took precedence over the lives of precious little ones I love.
Not my typical blog post…I almost didn’t post it for fear that I just couldn’t hear my voice in the text. But it is a story worth telling, so grab a cup of coffee and let’s hang out!
About 3 weeks ago I started to feel a little flu-ish with a touch of fever and headache. I walked myself to the clinic and sure enough tested positive for the infamous…malaria.
Later I found out it was severe malaria–like the kind that kills people. Of course it was. I couldn’t have the cute simple-to- treat malaria. In Uganda we seem to like to go big or go home…and typically we just go big.
Most human beings strive for some semblance of control in their world. We cannot control the weather, the traffic, the way our boss treats us, or the fact that our child brings lice home from school. We can control our Facebook page, what we eat or drink, how we treat others, and the tidiness of our kitchen.
Some people have stronger control issues than others. None of us like to admit we are control freaks. Some of us (aka: me) are trying to recover from a nasty case of ECI. (Extreme Control Issues.) By the way, this is my totally made up thing! Control issues manifest themselves in domineering mothers, authoritarian fathers, manipulative sisters, and bullying brothers. Control issues can be discrete. Control issues can come in the form of eating disorders…or can create them. (Again no data, just years of observation and personal experience.)
I received this text at 3:14 am on Tuesday morning:
“Hello beautiful and handsome friends. I am in Gulu what do you want me to bring back to you?”
Our friend had just arrived in his hometown in Gulu. A little sleepy and never having been very good at making gift requests, I responded with, “Surprise me!”
Understatement of the century.
What a wonderful visit with our dear family friends!
Thought pictures would be most appropriate to describe our week.. Jon and Haley are not only quite photogenic they are awesome photographers…many of the shots below are theirs!
100 Cups of Coffee 