Feeling Thankful!

Today has been pretty stressful. We were finishing packing our containers, buying our last few supplies and waiting for negative COVID test results in order to fly back to Uganda. About one hour before we needed to start driving to the airport we received six negative test results. The problem is, there are seven of us. And we aren’t about to leave one of our kids behind. For some reason we just never got the test results for one of our kids. So we got in the van that was pulling the trailer with all of our baggage and asked for prayers. I kept checking and the test results just never came. 

As we were driving to the Atlanta airport, I asked a friend to send me the info she had found for us about a rapid testing center near the airport in case our results didn’t come through in time. The problem was that they only process one test at a time and it takes 30 minutes each. That really adds up if you are running 7 tests. But thankfully we only needed one! We arrived at the testing center 3 hours before our flight was supposed to take off. That is usually when we try to get to the airport for International flights. We had a little trouble finding the place because the tests were being done as a drive through in a parking lot across the street from where they process the tests. Then we had to wait in a line of cars. Then there was confusion since they do both 24 hour tests and 30 minute tests. When we finally got the test run and paid for it was about 2 and a half hours before take-off. And we needed to have the results arrive before check-in. 

As we arrived at the airport our kids were AMAZING! They helped get all 21 containers out of the trailer, to the counter and checked, took care of Evie, and did it all cheerfully! It was very stressful getting there, but as I saw my children all being so helpful and capable, I was encouraged. The women who were at the counter checking our baggage were also very helpful, kind and efficient. At some point while we were getting all of that done, the email arrived from the rapid test center confirming the seventh negative COVID test! 

Our kids navigated security, helped us find our gate, bought snacks for the younger kids and even helped me with my carry-on. As we reached the gate, showed our negative tests and got ready to board, I breathed a sigh of relief. We are now waiting for take off. Thank you all for your prayers! We are so grateful! Now I need to sit back and enjoy the flight! 

Heading Back

This summer in the US has been a blessing in many ways. It has given us time to make some great memories as a family. It has given us time to reconnect with our family and friends on this side of the ocean. And it has given us some time to process some of the more challenging aspects of living abroad. 

But now it is time to head back to Uganda and get back to work. School is supposed to begin next week. Since all schools in Uganda are closed due to COVID, we will again need to begin the school year with distance learning. We are working on ways to best support our students while still following the guidelines given by the government. I had hoped this juggling was behind us, but it will likely be some time before things are fully open in Uganda again. 

As we prepare to fly out this week, we have goodbyes to say, supplies to buy, containers to pack and COVID tests to get for travel. I was a little shocked when I realized how much it is going to cost our family of 7 to get the tests required to fly back. Shopping is also stressful for me due to the many decisions to make and feeling the stress of spending money. I worried about spending money before moving to Uganda, but now it is hard for me to buy something without thinking how the cost of this item compares to the cost of school fees for a child in Uganda. God has always provided more than our needs; I shouldn’t worry. But I do. 

All of this can be overwhelming in the best of circumstances. But right now I am feeling weary. My heart is heavy with many struggles. I’m trying to keep going and praying that God will give me the strength I need for each moment. But I also want to ask for your prayers for my family and me. I’m thankful that many of you love and support our family through good times and hard times. Right now feels like the latter. My biggest prayer is that my whole family will know more of the love and comfort of Christ through this challenging season. I am thankful that Jesus has said, 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew‬ ‭11:28-30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I pray that we will all know the comfort and rest He offers in the midst of challenging seasons. Thanks for your prayers! 

Flexibility

This morning I woke with some back pains. It happens as you get older, especially if you are stubborn like me and try to keep doing all the things you used to be able to do. I have learned that stretching often helps reduce some of the pain. The stretching itself may be slightly painful at the time, but it helps in the long run. As I sit here stretching while I write, I think about the flexibility we have learned and are learning. 

Living overseas can be a crash course in flexibility. Learning new things can be hard and even painful at times. The COVID pandemic has also shown us our need for increased flexibility. We learned to do school online, to have meetings via zoom, and to come up with creative solutions in many challenging situations. Even our family road trip helped us grow in flexibility. We learned to live together in an RV for a month, learned to find campgrounds and parking lots to overnight, and learned to overlook a lot of little offenses. All of these “opportunities for growth” in flexibility have certainly had their share of pain associated with them. Sometimes the pain is slight and sometimes it is a bit overwhelming. 

We have another opportunity to grow in this flexibility as it has become apparent that our family needs to stay here in the US for another couple of weeks. I am in the process of trying to change our flights yet again. The plan now is for us to land in Uganda a couple days before we start back to school. We are still trying to figure out if we will be able to meet with our students in person. Uganda has just come out of another COVID lockdown, and schools are not supposed to open until a “sufficient percentage of students ages 12-18 have been vaccinated.” It isn’t clear what that percentage is and the vaccines are not even available for students in Uganda at this time. So, it looks like it will be another school year requiring a high level of flexibility and creativity. 

We are still working on changing flights, figuring out where we will stay, how to cover our responsibilities in Uganda and beginning to think about how we can prepare for the school year. There is a lot of juggling and stretching going on. Please pray that as we are stretched, we will cling to the consistent, faithful loving-care of our Heavenly Father. While everything feels confusing and out of sorts, He is our constant. I pray that you also will find comfort in Him in the midst of whatever challenges you are facing today. 

Over a Month in an RV!

We were on our path back east toward another college visit for Elijah, when we realized that we would be passing through La Crosse , Wisconsin. That is where some friends live, who we first met when they were adopting kids from GSF. They have brought teams from their church to visit us since then, and it looked likely that we would be able to be in their town on Sunday. We were blessed to worship together with friends and then our families spent the afternoon together. Their family is even bigger than ours, so the younger kids swam at the pool while the older teenagers played Throw, Throw the Burrito and the Moms sat and talked. It was such a great day of rest, fellowship and worship! The time with their family and church was a true gift from the Lord. Here is a photo of us all together. 

After having a wonderful Sunday morning and afternoon together, we headed out to find a place to sleep that night on the way to Elijah’s next college stop. We found this great campground in southeast Wisconsin that had so many fun things to offer. The next day as David to Elijah to visit the school, the other kids an I played frisbee golf, relaxed and swam. Some of us even took naps! It great to not have to pack up and move. It had been awhile since we spent two consecutive nights in the same place. All the set up and take down of tents, beds, etc. takes some time. We are getting pretty efficient, though. 

During our time at the pool I met a woman who works with an NGO in Kenya and I enjoyed learning about their work there. Meeting a likeminded sister is so encouraging. Today we are on our way south toward Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. When we missed the cave opportunity in Nevada since I had not made advanced reservations, I went ahead and scheduled this one. I also made some progress on getting set up for Elijah’s dual enrollment courses during the day off of traveling. 

I was also able to extend our time in the US by a week. We were scheduled to arrive in Uganda 2 days after the current lockdown. It often takes a few days to sort out the new policies and procedures, so we thought it might be wise to wait a bit before returning in the midst of that. At first it looked like it was going to cost $1,050 to change our flights, but I was able to get them changed with no additional cost. I am so thankful for the helpful KLM agent who solved that problem for us! I have spent several hours of the drive today working on the changing details of our return trip, but overall, things are going well. 

We are all about ready to be in one place for a while and have a little more space to spread out. We only have three more nights on the road before we reach Georgia and stay there for a couple of weeks. For this past month we have spent most of our time all together in this RV. It has been GREAT, but I think most of us are ready for a change of pace. The Airbnb house we found in Athens, Georgia has five bedrooms, which the kids are thrilled about! Our more introverted family members are particularly ready for that! At home in Uganda all the boys share a room and the girls share another. For the past year or so that has meant 4 boys in one room and 3 girls in the other. We love one another, but it is also sometimes nice to have a little more space. And having a bedroom to yourself is a real treat! We are so thankful for this time together, but we are also thankful for the upcoming opportunity to rest in one place and have some more space. 

Thank you for your prayers for our family as we travel. David has been such an amazing driver and God has brought us safely back into the eastern time zone. We will cross back over into central time for a day or two on our trip south, but it definitely feels like we are on the final leg of this epic journey. Thanks for reading along! 

Unexpected blessings

After changing our route and choosing a more northern path back east we headed up toward Yellowstone National Park. There have been many blessings along the way. The first night on our way through Nevada and Idaho, we stopped overnight at a Walmart parking lot. We obviously do not have electric or water hookups when we do that and there isn’t a place for tents, but we have a generator and the stop really was not bad. That night David took the older kids to a movie while Evie and I had a quiet evening in the RV playing games and reading books. Once she was asleep, I was able to work on plans for the next couple of days. The next morning I woke early and was able to walk across the parking lot to a coffee shop, where I was able to do some more planning while enjoying a delicious coffee. So while a Walmart stop wasn’t my favorite, there were blessings to the time in a town. 

The next stop along our journey was Yellowstone and it certainly did not disappoint! First we stopped at Old Faithful. It was so cool to watch it erupt! Also, it was frigid that morning! 

The geysers and thermal pools are amazing. I always thought the pictures seemed fake, but being there and seeing the colors of the pools in real life was amazing! My photo does not do it justice. 

The second day in Yellowstone we explored another part of the park and saw so many bison! One was even running next to our RV! 

Since we hadn’t had much signal, I was having trouble mapping out our route beyond Yellowstone, but I knew that we were heading to Billings for our next stop. Since Google maps wasn’t working, I planned our route using a road atlas. I didn’t pay attention to the elevation listed on the mountains around the roads or the fact that the road is only open late May through mid October. On the map it looked logical to drive through the northern part of the park, going out at the northeastern side and drive Bear Tooth Pass toward Billings. Little did I know what an adventure that would be. 

As we drove along, the road kept going up. We started seeing snow on the nearby mountains. Then we were going up one of those mountains and seeing snow along the side of the road. As we reached the peak at 10,947 feet, David looked for a place for us to pull over so the kids could play in the snow. 

Yes, Evie is putting a banana nose on her first snowman, since we didn’t have any carrots on hand. It was a fun opportunity for our kids to experience snow, even in the middle of July! David managed to navigate the many switchbacks driving a long RV pulling a minivan on a trailer behind. It was stressful at times, but he managed it well. 

In Billings we were able to reunite with a good friend from our community group from almost 17 years ago! 

He moved away right around the time Elijah was born, but we have been able to be in touch. We met his wife for the first time in person even though they have been married 15 years. Our children enjoyed playing together and we caught up. It was a blessing and amazing encouragement to visit with their family. 

The next day we drove to Devil’s Tower and saw this fascinating igneous intrusion. From the photo it is hard to tell how massive it is, but it certainly is impressive! 

That night the only place we could find to park was “dry camping” in a field next to an RV campground. The kids were still able to swim and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. 

The next day we headed out to see Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands National Park. We walked to view Mt. Rushmore and were impressed by the portraits carved in the mountainside.  

Our family was a little tired of touring parks, so we just drove through the Badlands and enjoyed the views primarily  from the RV. We reached the next campground in time to let the kids swim and do laundry before it got too late. 

We all slept well and a bit long after many long days. Today is Saturday, some friends from our community group 10 years ago drove an hour to meet us along the way for a late lunch and visit. It was a gift to see good friends after so many years! I’m thankful that this trip has enabled us to reconnect a bit! 

Tonight we don’t know exactly where we will stop. We will probably sleep in another parking lot tonight, but in each of these unexpected turns in our journey, I have seen many blessings along the way. A week ago, we thought we would be traveling another route back east, but a conversation with a construction worker in a laundromat and a closed park showed us that it might be better to go another route. God has blessed us with several gifts along the way. We have been enjoyed seeing friends, beautiful scenery, amazing national landmarks, and even snow! Even though I don’t know where we will park tonight, I trust that God knows and has a good plan! 

Loved in the Midst of Failure

Today, I have felt pretty discouraged about how my lack of planning has had a negative impact on my family. This has worked itself out in several situations over the past couple days. Our plan was to go to Great Basin National Park this morning and see some cool caves and some of the oldest living organisms on earth, the Bristlecone pine trees. Instead our family drove an hour out of our way to the park and then realized that neither of those were possible. So we got ice cream cones instead and then drove an hour back to the RV.
It was really good ice cream and my whole family was gracious even though we were all a bit disappointed. I guess everyone else is out visiting national parks too this summer. Because of COVID, families of fourth and fifth graders can all visit national parks for free. Usually it is just fourth grade, I believe, but this year fifth graders were added since last year was a wash due to COVID. Anyway, all the cave tours were booked and the number of tours offered is still reduced due to COVID. The bristlecone pines were also at an altitude and hike length that wasn’t going to be great for our family. 

After getting back to our RV, I began looking for a place for us to park tonight. We had planned a different route, but due to several factors including one park that is currently turning away visitors due to overcrowding, we decided this morning to change our plans. As I looked around online and made several phone calls, I realized that no RV parks along our  new route have availability tonight. At least none that we can reach in time for check-in. So our plan for tonight is to sleep in a Walmart parking lot. At least we will be able to buy some groceries and drinking water. My younger kids who have been sitting in vehicles for basically two days straight, wanted a place to play or swim. But that didn’t work out this time. I am disappointed that after hours of searching, I am still not able to find a better place. But I am thankful that we have a place to sleep and food to eat. 

I had also been feeling like a failure as a mom because I realized that some of my lack of planning has limited Elijah’s options for online courses for his senior year. We were all disappointed to also find out that some scholarships for dual enrollment courses may not be available since we have not yet applied. I’m praying that we will still be able to get the courses he needs. I do believe that God will use even my failures for good, but it doesn’t feel great in the moment. 

As all of these mistakes, oversights and failures to plan were swirling around in my mind and my body began to respond with my typical anxiety symptoms, I remembered the sermon we listened to on the way to the Great Basin ice cream store. It was a sermon by Ray Cortese from Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church. He talked about our loving Heavenly Father and how he views his children. When God thinks about me, he doesn’t see all of my failures and shortcomings. He sees the perfection of Jesus given to me by grace through faith. He takes great delight in me. (Zeph. 3:17) Today I am comforted by his love in the midst of my failures. And I will choose to believe that He is working for our good even when I mess it all up. 

*As a side note, I want to thank several people in my life who have noticed how I struggle to accept that I am loved in the midst of my failures. First, I should thank my mom and dad. They have shown me grace and unconditional love time and time again. I also remember the counselor I met with in 8th and 9th grade due to my struggles with anxiety and depression. I remember her trying to help me understand that I am going to fail at times and that the world will not end. I think her name was Jeri? She gave me an assignment to intentionally fail at something to show me that I did not have to be perfect. My high school math teacher and basketball coach, Scott Dillion, spoke to me about these truths often. Funny how I turned out the be a math teacher teaching the same good news to my students. The pastor who discipled us and did our premarital counseling while we were in college, Cal Burroughs, helped both David and me understand the good news of the gospel in a much deeper way. And I cannot forget Dr. Graham who frustrated me so much trying to help me understand the gospel implications on teaching and my personal struggles. Thank you all! And there are many other friends, pastors, and teachers who have reminded me of these gospel truths along the way. I’m obviously pretty thick-skulled since I still struggle believing these same truths after so many years and all of these amazing people and more speaking these truths into my life. But I am so much better off for it. I am learning to rest in God’s love for me and not feel like it is up to me to help everyone and be perfect. I am loved by God and declared righteous in Jesus, what more could I want? Nothing, 

Heading East

We wrapped up our time in California in Yosemite National Park. It was beautiful, but the middle of the day got very hot. We had fun cooling off in lakes, rivers and creeks. The water was frigid, but refreshing. It was a beautiful place to explore and enjoy. Standing near the base of giant mountains like Half Dome and El Capitan makes you realize how small you are. 

Today we are driving east through Nevada’s desert, where there is seemingly nothing for miles on end. We drove for hours without seeing people or towns anywhere. It reminds me of how vast this land is. In the midst of understanding how small and insignificant I am in many ways, I have also been amazed at God’s gracious and loving care for me, even in small things. 

Today, as we were driving out of Yosemite, I was praying that I would get to see a bear. I know that sounds like a silly prayer request. I thought about how I recently had a conversation with Evie when she told me she about something she was asking God for. I told her that God can do all things, but He knows what is best for us. Sometimes it is best to give us what we are asking for, and sometimes it is best that He does not give it to us. Either way, He answers our prayers in wisdom and love. I was telling her this because her prayer request is highly unlikely and I didn’t want a “no” on this request to make her think that her prayers didn’t work. After thinking about that conversation, I was wondering if my prayer request about swing a bear was just silly and selfish. Still I kept looking as we were driving out of the park. Then I looked down the hill and I saw it. An adorable brown bear cub climbing on a look and looking up at me! I shouted and my family all tried to look out the window. Except David, of course. Some saw the bear; others did not. I just started clapping and thanking God for that little gift. Here I am so happy after seeing beautiful views and a bear cub! 

Another answer to prayer is that David is feeling much better and has mostly recovered from his illness. Thank you all for praying for him! 

Later in the day, we got an email about a significant anonymous donation. I was astounded at God’s kindness in provision. Life in America is expensive, particularly in California. And this unexpected gift was such a blessing and an encouragement! If you are the generous, anonymous  donor, thank you! This was just another reminder about how our gracious Heavenly Father cares about the details of our lives. 

While I am small and insignificant in this vast land, God cares for me. And He cares for you too. Just ask him and see. You may not get a sports car, but our loving Father will give you what is best. He cares about providing for our needs and He cares about bring joy though blessings big and small, even as small as getting to see a bear cub!