One of many to come...

I have returned from Uganda and am pleased to report the Lord has been gracious in all things involved in the trip. He answered so many prayers and I can't even begin to tell you how faithful He is. The trip was filled with moments marked by His fingerprints and in the next several blogs I will share some of those moments. Here is the first.

We arrived on a Sunday and spent the next three days serving at the baby's home and getting to know one another and the children. We spent a lot of time with the kids, just loving on them and learning their stories and praying for their futures.

One of the other team members and I were chosen to paint a mural in the backyard of the baby's home. We were told to paint a few panels on the wall and what was supposed to be a simple mural ended up filling up the whole backyard. We painted for two days and to be honest, I was feeling a little discouraged that I wasn't able to spend more time with the kids those two days. Then one afternoon one of the little guys with whom I had really connected walked out into the backyard and grabbed on to my leg. I had a paint brush in one hand and a can of paint in the other. I acknowledged he was there by patting his head and smiling at him and then I turned back to the wall to paint before I realized, "What am I doing? I am choosing to paint over this child." So I put down the brush and wiped my hands off and picked him up. He hugged me tight and we walked over to the stairs to sit down. He sat hugging me for the next hour on those stairs.

You see, this child is not adoptable like some of the others are. He and his sister were dropped off at the baby's home by his father and he told them he might come back later to pick them up. This little boy is 3 and doesn't speak much and is kind of withdrawn. He seems to have a lot of emotional paint, even at age three. It took him quite some time to smile and laugh with some of us. So the fact that he was letting me love on him for so long was a miracle. I sat there with him and just prayed over him, claiming God's promises for his life.

The Lord really spoke to me during this time as well. He was reminding me that too often we have a paint brush in one hand and something else in the other and we are working hard to get things done. We don't just throw the paint brush down and embrace Him when He comes to us, but instead we try to spend time with Him while multi-tasking. I was so convicted. Here I was doing the "work of God" by painting and serving and I almost missed this opportunity to love on this child because I was so busy working. But Jesus says, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." (John 6:29) So I sat and believed...believed that Jesus is enough for me and for this child. Believed that Jesus has come to seek and save the lost. Believed that this child has a chance. He has a future. And nothing is impossible with God.

And so today, sitting in my room back in the States, I still believe that Jesus is enough for this child and that he has a chance. So I will pray for him and ask for God to move mountains for him. Please pray with me. And please fully embrace the Spirit when He comes.

Uganda in 1...2...3...

I leave for Uganda on Saturday and I am preparing this week. As I pray over the trip, my team, and the children and people we will be meeting and ministering to, I can't help but be excited and overwhelmed with all that is to come. I know many short-term trips can be draining because they are go, go, go, but I fully intend to take this trip moment by moment and strive to see Jesus in it all. This will only be possible with the power of the Spirit. So in preparing for my trip this week, I will be praying for the following and asking the Spirit to come and show me Jesus--His humble birth and perfect life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His coming return to earth for His Bride:

I want to know Jesus and become like him as I change diapers and wash dirty faces.
I want to know Him as I bend my knee and humble myself to pray for someone in need.
I want to know Him and love Him as I give of myself and am emptied of all the truth and grace the Lord has placed within me that day, so that I may be filled up once again the next.
I want to know Jesus in the faces of the orphans and widows as I tell them of the Hope that is within me.

Please join me in prayer as I seek to know Him more through this trip. Pray I would be willing to do whatever He calls me to. Pray that He would cut away the deadened sin areas in my heart as He works on me using the people of Uganda. Pray for energy for me and my team, as I am sure lack of sleep and jet-lag will be major influences on us. And just in case I haven't made it clear (since I have said a lot of "I's" in this post), this trip is not about me; it is about God and His glory...so please pray that people would come to see the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus as we go to Uganda and serve with humble hands and feet in His Name. May He be made much of!

I will be posting maybe once, depending on the internet situation there. If I don't post then, I will definitely have a series of posts when I return home. Thank you in advance for your prayers, love and support!