Sweet Moments

** I really just started this with the intentions for my own personal benefit, but thougt these stories would be fun for you to read, so here are a few....

Sweet Moments

There are always sweet moments that bless my heart. I just do a bad job at acknowledging, remembering, appreciating, and documenting them. So this is an attempt to remember the daily blessings, sweet moments, and WOWs (worthy of worship) of what the Living God is doing.

Aug. 5, 2008

#1 Today I was blessed by having the afternoon a bit free since P5 were taking tests. I was resting on a woven mat under a little tree/shrub, listening to music. About half an hour I was there and then I heard this little voice say from a distance, “Auntie Na-tal-lie?” I just kept my eyes closed but about 5 minutes later I hear my name called again. In honesty, it was a bit brave of this little voice to come and “disturb” my sleeping. The Aunties wouldn’t have been happy about that. But I looked up the second time to see Beatrice about a yard away, staring at me. I knew this was a great moment to give and get some love so I called her over. We had a great time laying on the mat, listening to my music together. Then I picked a part of the bush above us that was long and fuzzy, like a caterpillar, knowing that it seems that all Ugandan kids are afraid of caterpillars. I told her that was what it was and although she had seen it was not, she squirmed and squealed as I moved it along her arm. We continued our caterpillar play for awhile and then competed to see who could find the longest one. It was a simple but sweet moment that reminded me how HUGE my love is for these kids. They have captured my heart in a way no one else, other than Jesus, has. God is love and I see that characteristic of Him through these kids.

#2 I was a bit disappointed when I arrived at the gym today to see a big sign on one of the tread-mills and the other one totally dismembered. It has been 4 days since I last ran, so I was really craving a good run. But this inability of technology turned out to be a huge blessing because I went out and ran around Senior Quarters. I had my headphones in but could still hear a few comments and see the eyes of people doing a double-take as they saw Mzungu running. I kept going, enjoying the change of scenery from the mirrors and sweaty men at the gym. At one point I was joined by this cute little girl in a blue dress. She was “walking” her toy, a wheel sort of thing attached to a wire- much like a leash. As I passed her running, she too started running beside me with a huge grin on her face.

Aug. 6, 2008
#1 God is funny in how he can bring things around full circle sometimes. This is a very lame example of that but a fun story. Actually, the memory has nothing really to do with full circle things, it just was an afterthought. The story is that I had finished with my classes and wanted to spend some time being silly with the kids, since it seems that during school I stay very busy teaching and preparing and don’t always get time to just move around and play. So my first stop was with a group of boys passing the football (soccer ball). We passed in a circle for awhile and then it was time to move on for me. I then found some boys making mud houses in the garden. They were showing me and then the orange trees caught my eye. There are many oranges this season. God is blessing us with a harvest. So, the boys wanted to show me where the big ones were. I have picked up that there are a few boys that are quite the little farmers and they go to my garden every morning and check to see how the second round of zuccinnis are growing. I think they might do this with the oranges too because they knew exactly where the biggest ones were. Side note-- oranges here are not orange skinned at all. They are very green and resemble a lime skin (in the states). – Near the last tree there has been a spot of follage that I have noticed is NEVER cut when workers are slashing the grass, so I asked the kids why? Passion fruits were growing there and they were looking for something within the grass when Ambrose squeeled and shouted “a kumese, a kumese!” I would have jumped away in normal circumstances, seeing as I don’t know the Luganda word for snake, but I knew exactly what he had seen. The full circle is that earlier this week I learned the word, “a kumese” when I was calling baby Ester a little mouse. I asked what it was in Luganda and was told, “amese” but “ku” means small. So, God is good and I knew Ambrose had seen a mouse. This got the boys excited and on a mission to find that kumese. We searched and searched, every now and then with a little squeal and ,” It ran under that rock!” Finally it surfaced out of the bushes and into the short grass. What a cute little mouse. It was literally the size of a quarter and just so small and cute. Well, we got a half of a water bottle and scooped it inside. The kids were so excited. “Let’s go show Auntie Nusula. Let’s show Auntie Christine.” Ha. The “a kumese” and the kids made me smile today.

#2 I was running this evening around Senior Quarters, the neighborhood near the gym--- the treadmill at the gym wasn’t working properly and I just had a craving to run—and it is much more entertaining to run outside than on the tread mill. Today I had my eyes out for President Museveni to pass by, seeing as he is in Mbale for the circumcision (rite of passage) ceremonies and I was passing by the presidential estate. I also was just watching for the boda boda (bicycle “taxis”) and picky picky (motorcycle taxis) so they wouldn’t hit me with their sometimes crazy driving. One thing I realized while running is that there are things now that are common to me that are really very out of the ordinary for American culture. For example, as I was running, I had to dodge a few goats that were crossing the road and intentionally moved to the other side fo the road when I was passing some cows because I feared they might pee on me. There are no animals along town lake except man’s best friend. But anyways, what made me laugh is that I passed by a herd of cattle and then I passes their remaining. One caught my eye because someone, surely a young kid, had stuck a straw in the poo and it was sitting upright. Maybe I am immature, but it did make me giggle.