Two prayers

My sister Kelli, who works with refugees in Thailand, recently posted this poignant benediction on her blog, and I thought it worth the repost.  

May God bless us with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that we may live from deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of God's creations
So that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless us with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war, So that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with just enough foolishness
To believe that we can make a difference in the world,
So that we can do what others claim cannot be done:
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and all our neighbors who are poor.

--A Franciscan benediction

The Prayer of St. Francis has also seeped into my mind frequently during these last eye-opening months. I first read the whole prayer in college, but it seems to carry new conviction, insight, and strength with each season of my life! So if you'll indulge me...

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Packages!

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Wednesday was a pretty amazing day here. After a journey of six and a half weeks, three packages arrived on the same day! (Thank you, both sets of grandparents!)    

We were sitting at eMi's pavilion, rejoicing over the loot, and people were like, "Wow! Easter!" And John replied, "More like Christmas!"

She slept in the wolf ears, and they both wanted to take a bath right now for the sake of the duckies.

The long-awaited, now completed Lego Star Wars Sith Infiltrator!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

Ggaba Road, Part bbiri (two)



Mugavu, our favorite local wood for furniture.

Just in case you missed/did not believe our post on buying furniture on Ggaba Road, or just wanted some photos of this mind-boggling place: Behold!

In some of the lower photos, you can pick out the craftsmen laboring over the furniture. It's not always known for high quality, but we have had some beautiful pieces made specially out of local woods--not to mention economically.

Furniture in the front, workshops in the back.

Eucalyptus timbers, used for scaffolding here

Iesu azukide! (He is risen!): Easter 2012

This past Sunday found us scurrying around the house around six A.M. to successfully arrive at a sunrise service with our brothers and sisters from eMi, sealed with a potluck brunch. YUM. It was a lovely way to spend Easter.

It was also probably our dirtiest ever. We stayed past 11 for fellowship and playtime at the sizeable host compound. Outside playtime=serious red dirt. Everywhere. A truly happy easter, if you're under 10!

Deeply grateful this year for Jesus' ultimate victory over suffering and death--making us truly rich. Iesu azukide!

Praying for rain

If you would, please take a minute to pray for rain here. The rainy season is at least a month and a half late, and people are already forecasting hunger. Thank you!

Small wonders: A grateful update

You may remember the friend of our housekeeper, Oliver, whose sister was dying from tuberculosis--particularly after a costly and ineffective treatment from a local doctor. With a few minutes of research, we were able to direct them to a cure recommended by the World Health Organization.

I am thrilled and thankful to let you know that the friend's sister is almost finished with the DOTS treatment...and is almost completely recovered. She has gained weight, is helping around the house, and will live! Not only that, but each of the thrice-weekly treatments were only 300 shillings, which is the cost of the chapatti Oliver brings for my kids each morning: less than ten cents. This friend had been one who financed a surgery Oliver needed years ago, so she feels grateful that she can return his kindness.

Please thank God with us for moving so powerfully here!

The color of crafts

John and I took advantage of his day off yesterday to venture to a local craft market in the neighborhood of Nsambya (which somehow always sounds like "Insomnia" to me). It is a feast for the eyes, especially for an amateur photographer: a few acres full of locally-made handicrafts at affordable prices, often sold directly by the craftsperson. I was drawn to the banana-leaf baskets and jewelry (I miss you, Kelli!), and John probably found every woodworking and painting alcove there.

If you come to visit here, I plan on taking you to this very spot. And if I send a gift, it was likely gotten in one of these little stalls, or the tents and tarps erected in the middle of the square on Fridays. Part of the enjoyment of John and I being there together was pointing out different objects we thought family members would love. Our house is looking a little more African this morning from the lovely handicrafts we picked up.

Part of the experience was the fun of dialoguing with the shopkeepers and craftspeople. We put on our Luganda training wheels and took 'em out for a spin--and enjoyed the laughter and rhythm of language in return. It wasn't uncommon for some of them to openly plead some version of, "Support us! Spend some money here!" 

I stashed my camera in my bag, and occasionally asked to take someone's picture. In my limited exposure (ha!), the average Ugandan has few photos of themselves. Oliver, our housekeeper, says she has one from her childhood. So my delight lay in the metamophosis from their initial skepticism and shyness, to then their exclamations once I turned the digital screen their direction to see their own photograph.

Seeing the craftswomen in action brought appreciation to the stacks and puddles of vibrant, intricately pieced baskets and jewelry. Some of the beading was nothing short of remarkable.















This photo probably takes the cake for my favorite of the day. With an average lifespan of 52, you don't see many older Ugandans. But this woman had a beauty all her own.

But I'll let the photographs do the rest of the talking here. All in all, it was a rewarding, fascinating afternoon.