at last.

Thousands of miles

4 days

& 31 checked bags later

we arrived safely in UGANDA

I am in love

Africa has stolen my heart yet again…

My days have been so jam packed that I have started making lists in my journal because I can barely find time to sit down and gather all my thoughts enough to share my thoughts with myself little lone the rest of the world. I am praying a lot about one day being able to share the details that are making this experience so special, I pray that God gives me the ability to be able to connect these two places (America and Africa) in ways that I have never been able to before.

It has three years since I first stepped on African soil, being back again has reminded me that though I was gone Africa never left my heart. Since the moment I got here I have felt home again. The sounds of he busy streets, the constant chatter in a language unfamiliar to me, the smell of burning trash, the oneness and presence of God. I am experiencing Africa in the most beautiful ways possible.

How do I even express the joy that I am sharing with all of the people I come in contact with? The laughter, the singing, caring for basic wounds, telling stories about life, the endless amount of love, and labor that doesn’t even feel like work, everything I am doing here has a purpose, and in that I know that I am exactly where I was intended to be.

I spend the majority of my days doing life with a group of Mzungu (white person) women and alongside other Ugandan women. Something is happening here that’s beauty is too unexplainable to begin to try to put into words. These women are teaching me so much about myself, I have never felt more beautiful in moments, in conversations and in prayer with them, than I have in my entire life. I thank God everyday for calling me to be with them here and have the opportunity to be apart of the opening of their eyes, but more especially their hearts.

I realize the same women that have been placed in my life will be leaving in a few short weeks. And that I may never have another chance to be totally soaked in the love of so much precious beauty again because of that I am living one day at a time and enjoying one moment at a time. They may never know just how truly special these moments have been to me but knowing what I know now about God’s love I trust they will all go on after this to do things, so much bigger than they could ever dream up. I know that no matter where they go after this is over that they will always carrying in their hearts, the simplicity of life and seed of beauty that will be with them forever.

*the internet is too slow for photos, sorry L

Missing you all too too much(as they would say here),

T

p.s. I have no G string for my guitar—if anyone could hook up a set that would be amazing

Kattenburgerstraat

Oh CLD family how I love you.

After Elli figured out how to get us into the country we safely arrived in.... AMSTERDAM!

OFF TO UGANDA---- miss you all and love you. ttyl. -T

Layover

It was only a few hours ago I was saying bye to my mama.

19 hours into my layover in Amsterdam and I have managed to stay relatively preoccupied and somewhat sane. Besides the fact that during writing this blog I spilt coffee all over myself. I am going to probably guess no one really cares. I am intrigued by the fact that every time I turn around the airport looks like a entirely different place, I guess the airport is a pretty transient place after all.

Being alone is not exactly a new thing to me but it does remind me how incredibly special the personal journey I am embarking on actually is.

Again, I am being reminded of the things I am going through to transition into my new life. For example being around a bunch of people that could very easily be talking about me and I would have no idea and a cup of coffee at Mcdonalds that cost me like $5. Whatttt?

After a night of sleeping on the floor I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to the same sun as everyone else in the world. However, the view for me was much different and special than usual. I am beginning to appreciate the little things...

I can't wait to see the rest of my team in 4 hours and then blog about that.

Jeremy Schmitz and I are no longer friends.

my poor parents

It took Terry and I almost 24 hours to get here and about five minutes for me to fill my parents living room with everything I own.

Since I have no idea how to go about packing for the next 8 months, I decided to sit and blog and hope that I will figure it out before tomorrow morning when I need to be on a plane to Uganda.

---Thank God I have the most amazing parents in the world, to assist in the efforts.