Today is Christmas Day….Crazy! Sometimes I am surprised that I have made it
this far. I am sitting at the picnic
table in our compound watching the comings and goings of the day. Most of the boys are home, some of them are
watching a football game, some are listening/dancing to music, and some are in
the kitchen putting the final touches on our Christmas meal. While the boys get worried when I sit
alone…it is good for me to take a step back to see where we came from, and
where we are today.
As many of you probably saw on facebook, this past week has
been full of Christmas happenings. From
decorating our house, to baking Christmas cookies, to watching Christmas
movies, to playing Christmas games last night and opening Christmas
presents. While it doesn’t really feel
like how Christmas should feel in my mind (no snow or cold weather, although lots of rain!), it has been fun to be able to be
here with the boys to celebrate Jesus birth.
I am so proud of all of them and love when I can look back from year to
year and see how much they have grown and matured (don’t get me wrong, they
still have far to go – like we all do, but they are definitely growing
up).
Sitting here is helping me to
gain perspective over the last couple of months. I won’t pretend that they have been easy,
because they have definitely been some of the most challenging months I’ve ever
gone through, but God has been faithful and I know that He will continue to see
us through.
I realize that it has been forever
since I have blogged, so for those of you who haven’t stayed up to date on what
is going on, let me try to fill you in.
For starters we have had some staff changes, and Alex is no longer
working for us. We are so proud of
Ronnie for stepping up and taking over much of his responsibilities. George is also here on the weekends and holidays
and is a huge help to the smooth running of The Sanctuary, not only with the
boys, but being the handy man around the house.
All of these changes mean that I have taken over a much bigger role than
I had originally anticipated when coming to Uganda. During this time of transition I am happy to
step up and do the best that I can do. I
have been stretched beyond anything I ever
thought I was capable of handling, but I continue to tell myself that
God is the one who placed me here, and even if I have no idea what I’m doing,
He does.
Another one of the changes we are
in the process of going through is that the original capital which we used to buy the home that the
boys are currently living in now needs to be repaid, and we are unable to
commit to covering the requested payments. This is due to the fact that there
is over $40 000 owing for the purchase of the house. We decided that the best
method to address this matter is to sell the house and to obtain an alternate
home for the boys. This whole situation
has been difficult on the boys, as to them the house we are in is their first
‘real home,’ it is the place that they find their security. BUT, we have put much effort into helping
them understand that it is GOD, and WE the people who are The Sanctuary, not
the actual house itself. Our security
needs to come from God, and not from people or places. At first it was difficult for them to accept/understand, but slowly they are coming to terms with it.
So, as you can see, The Sanctuary has been going through many
transitions. The things that I
have ended up doing while I am here are nothing like I thought I would be
doing, BUT everything that God knew I would be doing.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to pray for me and
support me and all the boys with encouraging phone calls, messages and even
packages. God has used you to be the
thing that has helped to keep me going.
Love you all and check our my blog more often, the blogs are
coming back! I'm off to enjoy some Christmas dinner and soda, and than off for an afternoon filled with fun with the boys! (swimming!!! :))
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!
