Happy Fourth!

Although we lacked fireworks, we still had an amazing 4th of July in Gulu, Uganda!

Decor :)

Hamburgers!

Rylee, me, and Eden :)

Zoe's mad face

Rylee doing face paint!

Garrett

Rylee holding Asher

Laura pushing Zoe!
And yes that is a pinata :) And yes it is homemade :D

Asher is such a cutie!

Happy 4th of July :)

How was yours??

Instafriday

I have finally gotten my iphone unlocked in a kinda sorta way! I can use it like an ipod touch, but not a phone! But the key here is that it's USEABLE! And of course the very first app i got was instagram :D I LOVE it!! So so so thankful for a "working" iphone :D :D! Here are some pictures that i've taken on instagram :)

 

Iced coffee from mom and rainy mornings//Walter's beautiful smile//Peeta loves avocados//Beautiful morning//Parks and Rec with the Beck family//Coffee, school, and doodles//Cross stitch lessons with mom//Cutting up old magazines//Hagen chillin' on the swing//Inspiration board//A truck full of beer bottles tipped over//Heavy Weights

Watoto Babies

A few post ago i told you what we were doing in Uganda, which is volunteering at Watoto Babies' Home Gulu. 

I can't help but smile each time i walk into the babies' room to wake them up and get their diapers changed. Their faces always light up when we come in and whisper 'Time to get up, sweet babies!'

I thought it was high time y'all saw some pictures of these wonderful little babies <3

Rose and Jacinta

Dorcas

Melissa staring intently at her toy

James looking rather smashing in his outfit!

Sweet Rose <3

Dorcas was rather bored

Nelson has beautiful eyes!

They are so beautiful!

Daniel <3

Happy Nelson

Melissa, Stewert and Vicky

Patrick

While all the other babies where having a blast, Melissa refused to smile :P

I love this little boy!

Sweet Patrick <3

My mom playing and singing with the babies!

Laura playing with the babies

Annie, Alice and Lonah

Adorable Daniel!

A Kiss of Sunshine

The little kisses of sunshine in the morning are warm and welcoming. They inspire me as I get up in the morning and start the day. The way the light sparkles off the morning dew on the grass. The way it peeks in through the curtains. The way it gleams through the trees. The way it streaks across the skies. How happy they are. These simple kisses. How beautiful.

Words

'Man with the funny mustache' also know as Adolf Hitler
via

Words are silly things they can be used to give others inspiration, encouragement, and love. But they can also be twisted to hurt, push down, and bite others . I believe God gave us the privilege of speech to worship and talk to Him, but as time went by we took that privilege and ruined it, we spat harsh words to others.  We took that privilege and made it into poison.  Words are powerful more powerful then we think.  Many people came to power by words.  For example, the man with the funny mustache began with words.  His reign of power all started with simple words, and i'm sure you know of the  pain his words caused.  He used his words and planted them in others minds, making them think thoughts that were not their own. Telling lies and twisting the truth.
The power of words can be a dark thing.

Mother Teresa <3
via

But words can also be used for good! Missionaries all around the world use words to share the good news. We know how to live because of the words that were written in the bible. Mother Teresa used her words to whisper into little children's ears as they cried. "I love you," she'd whisper, and even though the baby couldn't understand, they could her the kindness in her voice and know that she cared.  Words can be used to encourage like a father saying "Good catch, son!" as they play catch. But they can also be used to push others down. Some may call others ugly, fat, weird, boney, loud, annoying, nosey, stupid, and other cruel things.

But that is not what God wants us to use this wonderful privilege He has given us. Inspire others with your words. Encourage others. Pick others up, don't push them down. But most importantly talk to and worship our wonderful Creator! Think of those that have abused you with words and stop right now and pray for them and yourself. Pray that God would change their heart and to help you forgive them. If you want you can write them down and pray for them every so often. Instead of getting mad at them by spitting hurtful words right back, or even thinking about mean things towards them (even though no one else can hear God does and that's all that matters) don't be like them be like Christ and pray that God would heal the wounds that their slashing tongue has given you and to help you forgive them. Also pray that He would help you to control your own mouth and use your words to help others. Now i'm not saying i'm a perfect person and i have tamed my mouth and only speak good words! Oh no i don't! I have a bad habit of speaking then thinking and regretting, NOT thinking BEFORE speaking! I pray thought God would help me to honor this privilege that He has given me, and use it for good!

Something that might help you forgive those who have hurt you is to make a list of all the people who have said nasty things to you, then scratch that list out with a pen and write in big bold letters GRACE! This may be hard, for some of those people may have hurt you very much, but remember to show the grace that our dear Savior has shown us. And honestly we all have broken others with hateful words, like friends, siblings, parents. 

It may hurt, but we need to show the same love that Jesus showed for us.

Words are powerful things. Use them wisely.

And remember think before you speak.

A Hard Lesson to Learn

My fingers brush across the keys. Words twirl in my mind. I glance out the window, dark clouds are rolling in. Oh how thankful I am by that sight! Hopefully they will take away they hot weather that has been haunting this little town of Gulu. Just today the temperature was at 131°F in the sun. I'm also thankful for the fan that turns around the room sending its wonderful breeze into the hot house. Sweat trickles on my head. Memories seem to be haunting my brain. Memories of loved ones...ones that i trusted and now have hurt me. Oh God, please help me forgive...Forgiveness..how foolish i was to think that one could forgive once and forget. No, pain haunts you. It is like a snake, you forgive the snake for the bite, but the wound still stings, you must give it time to heal, and sometimes it takes years. Yes you forgave, but the wound still pounds with pain, reminding you of the culprit and how much they hurt you, which brings back the tears and pain. You must keep forgiving. Over and over again! It is a hard lesson that i have learned, but it is a lesson that must be learned. I laugh at my stupidness, thinking that this person has hurt me one too many times. "They don't deserve to be forgiven!" I tell myself..but alas, neither do I. I mess up everyday. And yet my Savior forgave me. And He still forgives me. So why shouldn't i forgive someone again and again? Am i really that selfish? Am i really too selfish to refuse to give others the gift that my dear Jesus lovingly gave me? Sometimes i am. But Jesus still forgives. And i am blessed to be so loved by a King <3

Make allowance for each others faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  Colossians 3:13

What we are doing in Uganda!

You might be wondering 'What are you doing in Uganda?' well my dear followers i shall tell you :)

We didn't do much in Kampala, except for wait for God to tell us where to go. And now that we live in Gulu (i can not write words to describe how much we love Gulu!) my dad has been involved with going to the hospital with some of the Ugandan members of the church we go to here (Antioch Church Gulu) and praying and talking with the patients. Many times a patient has been healed and told one of the church members before they left for the village "Come and tell my village this good news that you have told me!"  So my dad and one of the Ugandan men go together to the patient's village and tells them the good news! 

Since moving to Uganda,  my family and I have wanted to work with orphans. But in Kampala we never had a car. Even if we DID own a car, my mom would NOT even dare to drive in Kampala! It is too insane!! 

So right before we moved to Gulu we purchased a CAR!!! It's amazing how free you feel when you can actually get out of the house without relying on a rented car!

So my mom (the stalker she is ;) started looking EVERYWHERE in Gulu for baby homes. We found a few but the one that stuck out most was Watoto Babies Home. So my mom and I went to coffee with Sarah (who goes around checking on all the Watotos in Uganda) and she told us that the little kids wouldn't be able to come, and my mom was only allowed to take us older kids one at a time! Haha no. So we prayed and prayed "God you called us to Uganda, what are you calling us to do? If Watoto is where you want us please change their hearts!" My mom decided that we should schedule a tour of the Watoto babies home in Gulu and then she would talk to the manager and just tell her that we grew up with babies so everyone knows how to handle them. When we got there the manger was not there :( So we took the tour and then they said "Ok now you can interact with the babies!" I went my separate way and went to play with the toddlers while the rest of my family went to help with the LITTLE babies. It was what God had called us to do! We all fell in love the moment we touched the children! I can't help but smile at the moment that i held one of the toddlers hand and the wonderful feeling that shot up my arm, this is what i was called to do while in Uganda! The women working at Watoto told us 'Thank you thank you! Please come back and help!' but we told them the sad news that we could not.

My mom knew that we all need to be working together as a family! So we continued our search. But prayed that God would change the hearts of the people at Watoto and allow our family to volunteer. So we made a plan, my mom was going to go and talk to the house manager of Watoto Gulu and tell her how well everything went and how the women working at Watoto wanted us to come back. Sadly though we set the plan to the side for a couple of weeks as we got very busy.

Then we had a dear friend Jessie over and mom and dad went on a date! There date started off by going to Watoto. We sat at home awaiting the news. The phone called, i happily answered it and my mom said 'She said yes!!!!!' I'm pretty sure that ALL of Gulu heard us scream! Apparently my mom met with the lady in charge of volunteers and my mom went along with the plan that we had so carefully prayed about and thought through :P The woman agreed and asked 'So how old are your children?' my mom knew that once she heard our ages that she would say no, so she quickly said that ages '15, 13, 12, 10, 8, and 6' and with the same breath said 'But they all grew up with babies so they know how to handle them!' The woman nodded and said that we could come Monday and Wednesday 3pm-5pm!! PRAISE JESUS! We are in love! We finally love Uganda! This is where God wants us!!!

We have friends and we have a ministry!! God is amazing!

I will try to post pictures later in the month of the precious babies that we are working with :)

For my mom's perspective on the whole adventure of finding our calling check out her blog SUUBI FAMILY