Pie.. 3.14159265358979323.....

Today my sister and I made pie!!!!! Delicious, wonderful, French silk pie. It was amazing. We danced around the kitchen to my ipod, more like me dancing and Caroline laughing at her fool of a sister. We also made a mess because my mixing bowl at home is taller.... I guess you had to be there to understand. It was so much fun. It is moments like that that stay with me. It is things like that that I will think of when we get to Uganda and when I miss my family.

Before the pie making commenced we went and ran some errands. We got bed sheets for Uganda that are zebra print and awesome. We also got some carabiners to attach extra things to our backpacks, more bug spray, seasoning spices (we were told the food is very bland in Uganda) and oxiclean.

This afternoon we met up with my grandmother, aunt, and cousin. I helped Grace Elizabeth on her homework in which we counted by tens. Counting by tens is hard work but somebody has to do it.

I have decided that I am going to keep a daily journal while I am in Uganda so that when I am old and gray I can look back on these wonderful memories, many of which I probably will have forgotten by then. I will do my best to blog as often as possible but with everything to do there I am not sure how much blogging time will allow.

Today's prayer requests: I keep thinking of last minute things that we need to get so please pray that God focuses my mind and that I don't forget anything too important, pray for Rebecca and Robert as they prepare to move on Thursday, and pray for our upcoming flights.

Iowa is far away....

Last night Mitchell and I went to First Baptist Church of Smithfield for a going away party for the Ragsdales. Rhonda Ragsdale is a super power house of a lady that organizes the yearly trips to Mexico, of which I have gone on seven. She is such an inspiration of a servants heart. Her husband, Dave, is one of the funniest people I know and has helped me realize that there will never come a day when I stop growing as a Christian.

Paul talks about our Christian life as a race, something that requires endurance and patience not as an on and off switch. I don't instantly become Christ like. I have to put myself into His hands, let Him mold me at the chosen pace (art takes time), and let Him constantly change me.

In more mathematical terms many people think of themselves as 1 dimensional, a solitary point in space without interaction. These people tend to be very sad because we were not designed as individuals, but rather as parts and pieces of a larger body. Others view themselves as 2 dimensional were they interact with those around them but nothing above. These people will often find themselves unfufilled because they don't yet comprehend that God wants a relationship with them. There are also people who live in 3 dimensions, acknowledging themselves, others, and God yet they don't search much deeper than that. There are people who live in 4 dimensions who allow God to interact with them and not just "church-God" but the living all powerful creator of the earth God who wants to completely shake your world into something amazing.

I hope that I am living in the 4d, though I know often I just live 3d. I aspire to one day live 5d, 6d, or more. What that really means I don't yet know, but I trust that as I chase after God, He will reveal Himself to me in amazing ways.

Tonight I ate dinner with the Dunlap's (now technically the Dunlaps and Whitings since Becca got married and changed her name). This week Rebecca and her husband Robert are moving to Iowa. It was great to get to see them one more time before she leaves. Becca and I have known each other since 7th grade.

Prayer Requests: That my nephew Wesley starts to feel better, that I have time to accomplish everything that I need to, and for traveling mercies.

Uptown Girls!

Yesterday was such a wonderful, relaxing day with friends and family. In the morning Mitchell and I played Wii Fit during which I learned my "body age" is 27. Then we went to my Aunt Lisa's house and played with my cousin Grace. Grace gave me her school picture and together we placed it into my planner so that I will have it with me in Uganda. FYI Grace decided it should be in the bottom left corner of the inside cover.

In the evening Mitchell and out friend Matt Berger went to the Cowboys game. While the boys were off being boys, Matt's wife and I walked around downtown Fort Worth. It was such a great evening of friendship! Nicole is the coolest. We were regular uptown girls, walking around the shops and hanging out at Starbucks for an hour just chatting!

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us yesterday. I got a text a few hours after I posted the last post saying that the pipes unfroze at my dad's house and that they didn't bust! What a blessing.

Church this morning was amazing. I love all kinds of praise and worship music but there is just something about an old hymn that gives me peace like no other. As I sat in church I just absorbed the words "Turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face....... The things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace". It is so strange looking back to the way I used to think about life and the world and comparing it to the work that God has done in me. I am not worried that I only will have 1 skirt, 3 dresses, and 1 pair of pants for 3 months. I am not worried about the lack of AC or consistent water. I am not concerned about leaving the comforts of malls and fast food and constant electricity. I am not concerned about the language differences. Just like in the song, when I focus on God everything else pales in comparison.

God is something that I couldn't understand until I just sat at His feet and let Him guide me. It seems contradictory but there is so much freedom at the feet of the Lord.

Please pray for continued peace and focus. I praise God for this week of hopeful relaxation I will be able to enjoy before heading out on our big adventure!

One Week

Today is exactly one week from our departure date. As I type I am exactly one week, to the minute, from our boarding time.

Last week I started to get a little anxious about everything but through God's help and everyone's prayers I am feeling quite a bit more relaxed. We met with Kendall yesterday morning as we left San Antonio and he gave us vitamins to take over to the children. I think that this last week is going to keep me so busy that I won't even realize how quickly the 16th is coming.

Last Sunday Mitchell's parent threw a wonderful going away party for us. We got to see family friends, kids from church, and even some of our friends like the Nicole and the Canales family. It was a complete blast.

My goal is to blog everyday this week to let you know what I am thinking but most of all to send my prayer requests out to you. Even in the days of the new church the body would share it's prayer needs with the rest of the body. Prayer needs for today: Pray that God gives me a clear mind so that I can get everything into order, pray that the pipes at my dad's house thaw so that they can have hot and cold water, pray for the orphanage in Uganda and the preparations that are being made on their end for our arrival.

To read more about the orphanage where we will be and to learn more about the children check out their blog at www.zembakids.blogspot.com

The picture is from our road trip yesterday. Cold, no make-up, and tired!

11 Days

I can hardly believe that Saturday the 16th is almost here! Every time that I try to sit and think about where I am going to be and what I am going to be doing I get a little bit overwhelmed. It is so amazing that God has chosen little ol' me to fly across the world to care for his children.

I try to imagine what it will be like to walk down the streets of Entebbe. I imagine the monkeys that I have been told about and the big birds that are everywhere. I imagine the warmth of the sun on my skin. I imagine myself trying to communicate in the market. I imagine myself holding the children and playing with the children. I imagine the beautiful eyes of the kids as they look at this crazy muzungu walking through the city.

I know that no matter how much dreaming and thinking that I do, God is going to blow my mind. Every plan that I have ever made that I have given over to Him, He has turned my so-so into amazing. I am on the title page of the next chapter of my life and cannot wait to read the beautiful poetry that El Shaddai is going to write on these pages.

Contributions

For those of you who have been wondering how you can make a contribution you can either a: make a check payable to Mitchell and I or b: for a tax deductible contribution you can make a check payable to Harvest Fellowship and leave the subject line blank. Either way you can mail the checks to 15323 Antler Creek SATX 78248.

Thanks to everyone who has been so willing to help Mitchell and I go be the hands and feet.

My Center

It is so crazy how fast time passes! Mitchell and I have been frantically working on moving out of our apartment and into storage. It doesn't seem like that big of a task until I realized that we not only had to pack for Uganda and put everything else in storage, we also needed clothes out for winter and for April when we get back, i.e. we have stuff everywhere!

Robin has been telling me very exciting things about the orphanage and the children there and my friend Whitney sewed me an awesome baby sling to carry the children around the compound in!

The prayers that we have been surrounded by have been absolutely wonderful. Any "logical" person would be slightly frightened or worried about leaving the comforts of home for three months to a place that they have never been, yet I sit on the title page of a new chapter in my life calmly. The placid feelings within me don't seem to match the tumultuous waves that one would think should accompany such an endeavor. Praise be to God who is my center, my shepherd, and my everything.

Please continue to pray that plans go smoothly, we already had to change our flights back home, and that God shows us what to do next.