We made it!

It’s true. I’m writing from a pleasant, warm evening in Kampala, on an increasingly dear friend’s comfortable couch. (We are nine hours ahead of Central Standard Time during Daylight Savings; eight during the rest of the year.) It doesn’t feel like I’m living here yet. (Will that change when I’m writing from my own sofa?) I am peering through the haze of jet lag, and am also looking forward to sleep just because it seems the only appropriate solution to all the foreign that speaks and honks and jumbles around me, quite literally.

God’s fingerprints were all around our flight—perhaps most visibly in a) the man for whom I’d been praying for weeks, i.e. the airline attendant who checked us in, when he waived fees to the tune of $280 over the too-large “personal bags” we’d had to check. I was amazed and so thankful—especially when we found ourselves wondering how we’d have made it walking on with two more carry-ons; b) getting to walk/stumble/sob our way into a DFW security line with only a couple of other people in it; c) every single one of our 18 bags, six carry-ons, six wanna-be personal bags, two carseats, and a partridge in a pear tree made it to Uganda. Thanks, those of you who prayed! The kids behaved very commendably on the flight, which was of course a tremendous relief. I didn’t entirely plan on my youngest getting airsick upon landing in London, nor did I anticipate just how little sleep we would all get. But it may have actually helped my kids’ jet lag anyway.

Today we recovered for most of the morning, and then shopped for appliances (we have to buy our own here) after walking through our house for the first time! eMi had even sent a team to clean it for us. It’s small but sufficient, old and quirky but highly functioning. Right now the outside is two shades of orange, which is, you know, sort of close to the yellow we thought it was going to be.To my delight, there’s a mango tree that may have some great days of climbing for my boys, a papaya tree, a pumpkin patch, and, drumroll please, an avocado tree loaded with fruit! We even had some for dinner that I picked up off the ground. The yard’s gonna have some great fun, there’s a perfect shady spot for schooling outside, and we hope to pick out the interior covers of paint tomorrow. I’d prayed for a yard, fruit trees with one to climb, and a great space for outdoor living—and if you can believe it, God granted all three. I am humbled.

So many emotions right now as we collide with the things we love, the things that will take some getting used to, and just a small handful we will never be used to. Right now, I am praying for sleep tonight. My youngest has a bad cold and a lot of insecurity, resulting in our fifth night of near-sleeplessness now mixed with cultural adjustments during the day…have mercy. Gratefully, we are surrounded by incredibly generous and gracious missionaries who laugh when our kids come close at their dinner table.

God is able--!