photo credits to Sopha Hughes
I'll admit I'm not doing a terrific job at keeping up with this blog. Lots going on in life- some good, some bad, some just in between. I think the last couple of months in the midst of a lot of changes, I had forgotten why I was here. I have times where I am homesick and daydream about what it would be like to live in the U.S. again (although it's a daydream- and if anything like the last time), I'd be ready to be back home here in Uganda within a few weeks.
I think having kids changed a lot of things. I started focusing on them, our needs, our wants, what they were having to give up so that we can be here, etc. Sometimes I'd feel discouraged, angry, annoyed. Other times I'd just refuse to think about it. And every once in a while (just being honest), I'd take it to God in prayer.
One of the things I've always prayed is for God to break my heart with the things that breaks His. He gave me a little reminder of that earlier this week. It's been a while since I've visited the children at home. So, on Monday, I decided that it was time to get back to visiting. I went with a couple of staff members to visit several of the children at home.
Let's just say, it was a reality check. Filthy. Despairing. Stinking. It was a reminder of how hard these kids live life. They never really get to be kids. Most know how to light a fire to cook on charcoal by the time they are five years old. Most by that age, also bathe themselves as well as wash their own clothes. Their are no snacks waiting for them when they arrive home from school. They live with no water or electricity. Their homes are just next to flowing raw sewage. Toys are a luxury few own. There are no dance or piano lessons. School is the best thing in their life. For most, the food they receive at school is their only food for the day.
As I was stepping over rivers of sewerage (yes, you read that right) and trying not to gag, all I could think about was how blessed I am, how blessed my kids are. So what if they don't ever get to take dance or piano lessons. They get to live each day watching Christ at work in a way they never would if we were to live in the states. They get to live in a clean environment. They live in a house that we don't have to fear it falling down or flooding when it rains (ok, it floods when it rains but just a couple of inches...... which is bearable considering that most of the families we work with can't lay down and sleep when it rains because they risk drowning)
So, reality check........ Why am I here? For these kids. What we do is just a drop in the bucket, but it does give them some hope for a better tomorrow, even if that tomorrow seems years away to me! So, I'll hug my babies tighter and be thankful that they know they are loved. And I'll keep on pushing forward with Vision of Destiny, giving each child in our program hope for tomorrow and letting them know that even though life is hard they are LOVED by their FATHER GOD.
