One Beautiful Life

Back to Africa...

It has been so hard to get back to Africa... to Uganda... to Adacar... to the kids and the stories.  Coming home from the trip to a host child and then getting a second host child and then trying to get life back to some sort of normal has been very difficult.  I am so sorry for the lag in posts and my break.  But I have my head above water again and am ready to share some more.

Three people sponsored Adacar kids today.  Three of my friends.  Three people who read this blog and were moved and touched by God to become a part of one of these children's lives.  I remain so humbled.  And I remain so lucky and blessed.  I am so very lucky and blessed to be able to share this. 

It never fails... never.  I start thinking no one is reading this blog and that I am wasting my time.  Not many comments are left and the enemy uses that to tell me to stop wasting my time here.  I start thinking that people are upset that my blog has changed from the fun decorating and fluff stuff to deep and real and that no one wants to hear it anymore.  And just when I am thick in thinking that... God walks in and tells me something so very different.  Last week... three people came up to me on one day and started talking about how they had just caught up on my blog, sat in tears as they read it, drug their husbands in to read it, and that they wanted to sponsor a child.  They thanked me over and over for taking the time to share this.  It was if they had been right in my head with my struggles and were speaking truth right over it.  Another friend came up and said she had never read it until just recently and was going back through my older posts and how much she loved it.  And another was so moved, she and her husband are planning a fundraiser in the state where they live to raise money for Adacar.  Wow.  All I can say is Wow... and thank you.

It is so easy to be distracted with the fluff stuff.  I still need it for a mental retreat.  I still browse through my decorating blogs to get some fun ideas and still freshen around here as often as I can.  I love to create and I love to nest and I love to make our house our home.  But it is not where my priority lies.  And it is not what I mainly talk about.  And I don't make any apologies for that anymore.  I can never go back to THAT being what matters and where my attention lies.  There is too much need in the world and too much of HIM to share to be caught up in the fluff.  But I do promise to slip in a redo photo here and there and a fun project every now and then! :0)

This precious child stood out to me from the first day I arrived.  I wasn't sure why until a few days later when I realized it was the sponsor child of my Mom 2 Mom leader at the time.  Her name is Annette.  And she is nothing short of precious.  And she was knitting with sticks.  If you look ever so closely... you will see a tiny notch in the end of her little stick.  They use yarn from old sweaters that have been unwoven.  They also use plastic... and knit with hypodermic needles.  You read that right.  That is how they craft.

I am amazed at how resourceful and talented they are.  Amazed.

Annette knitted for me and was proud to show me her talent.  I was humbled.

Annette sat next to me on a table and let me rub her arm in soft strokes.  After about 15 minutes... she sweetly started rubbing mine.  It was so deeply precious.  It was trust.  It was friendship.  It was a gift.  Affection is not something that is high on the priority list over there.  Surviving is.  I will treasure that moment always... and the soft weight of her little finger gliding up and down my arm.

One day, members of our team started painting finger nails.  Boys and girls lined up and waited patiently for their turn to have painted nails!  It was so sweet.  They were mesmerized.

Many times, they just painted right over the dirt! :0)  They didn't care.  And neither did we.

Painted nails.  The highlight of that day.  Such a simple treat.

Oh... how we take so much for granted.  But oh... how we no longer have to. 

Continue to pray for Adacar.  Continue to pray for these children.  Continue to pray for them to see God's love and to follow Him through their faith in Christ.  Pray for the relationships being built through sponsorships.  Pray for each child to know God's love.