striving to see beauty

I wish I could capture the smell of the rain as it hits this dry, red earth.

I wish I could take a picture of the way it feels when the cool wind blows against my skin.

I wish you could hear the songs of the birds in the towering trees and the lone rooster crowing in the distance as the thunder rolls across the skies.

The rains bring life here. Those who complain about the hot season here, often complain about the "cold", rainy season. But me? I absolutely love the rainy season.
In this place we've chosen to live that is so different from the culture and climate from which we've grown up in, it's so important for us to strive to see the beauty in the every day. To look for the things that are delightful; the things that I never want to forget and will one day miss about living in Kampala.

Philippians 4:4, 11b

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice!

...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

Lenten resources

For most of my life I didn't know what Lent was or what it meant for me, a Christian. 
It's only been a few years ago now that I've acknowledged it and most times participated in it and so to start off the first day of Lent, I thought this prayer by Thomas Merton would be appropriate to meditate on:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always,
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

 Some other Lent resources and ideas for you and your family: 

Ann Voskamp's Easter Tree

A meditation from Ann Voskamp on forgiveness.

Fast from all other drinks except for water and donate the money you saved to 40 Days of Water.

Some creative Lent activities for kids.

A Bible study for teens on Lent.

and here are 40 more ideas for Lent.

our house

...in the middle of the street.

At least I think that's how the song goes.

This is the story of a couple who went to Africa to find a house for their family to live in for 2 years.

We had two days to look at houses, find the house and make the necessary arrangements and payments to secure said house.
We got into Kampala late Wednesday night and by the time we got to our guest house and settled in, it was well past 1 in the morning. Strange noises and high(er) temperatures did not keep us from sleeping in our exhausted state.
I reached over the night table to look at the clock (Jamie's watch) and saw that it was almost 11am. We had slept in and somehow missed our ride to see the houses! We both jumped out of bed and scrambled to make ourselves presentable (there goes my shower) so we could leave our room and figure out the next steps.
Luckily for me (us), Jamie double checked his watch and realized that I had looked at it upside down and that it was only 8:15am.
Our ride was due at 8:45am (which in Africa time could have been anywhere from 9am-10am) so we still had time to finish getting ready and have some breakfast.
Our ride (a Ugandan staff named Fred) arrive just before 9am (not bad!) and we were on our way back into the city (Kampala).
We saw two beautiful houses that were just a bit too expensive for our budget and we went onto the third house which had been raved about to us by numerous people. We got there and the gate was locked and no one was answering our knocks. Fred only had the phone number of the owner and not to the son of the owner who is currently living there. No answer.
Sadly we left with the hopes that we'd be able to return the next day.

Finally we made contact and set up a time to see the house. But it would not be until 7pm when the son would be home from work.
Because the traffic is so bad in Kampala it took us until 8:45pm to get there and by that time it was completely dark outside. About 5 minutes away from the house, the son calls us and says that the power has just gone out.
The power is still out when we arrive.
We pull into the driveway and drive down to the house.
Still no power.
After the initial chit chat we are ushered inside and take the tour of the house by flashlight.
Even in the dark I am sold. It has 3 bedrooms with lots of room and a gorgeous view of the city because we are up on one of the many hills of Kampala.
We set up arrangements for payment and discuss a few other details and walk away pleased and very thankful.

We are so thankful for your prayers. This could have been very frustrating and stressful, but the entire time we just smiled, accepted the culture (and the traffic jams) and had faith that God would provide the house that would perfectly suit our needs. And He did.

full on

We are in full-on packing/sorting/organizing/preparing mode right now!
We are having a garage sale this Saturday and are hoping and praying for both good weather and a good turn out!
We'll be moving to Toronto at the end of April and this weekend was the only one available for us to do it, so it's now or never!
Vanessa is busy at home sorting, pricing, organizing and general garage-sale preparing while Jamie is finishing up on campus. It's the Guelph C4C banquet tonight and next week will be his last week on campus.
Pray for the students who are currently support raising for summer projects and for those who will be staying in Canada and working to continue to meet with other believers, spend time with Jesus and be a light no matter where God has placed them this summer.

We are in the process of planning our set up trip to Uganda in June to meet up with the Uganda project as well as find a house for us to live in and meet with the local ministry leaders.

It's a lot of transitioning and change (and to be honest, it's quite tiring at times) but we're trusting God to sustain us and provide for us.
Thanks for coming along on this wild ride with us!

humbled

Today Jamie and I got an email from one of our supporters.

One of YOU.


I was moved to tears and humbled as I read of this family's sacrifice to give their money back to God even though finances were tight and they were facing many hardships themselves.

We are all living a life of faith. We are all called to trust God to provide for our finances.

Just a few weeks ago I found myself thinking about how we would most likely be living a life of financial dependence on God for the rest of our lives because of our calling to full-time ministry {and feeling somewhat despairing about it, wishing we weren't coming up short each month of our goal, and wishing for a job with a dependable income and a Christmas bonus at the end of the year}.

What a sinful mindset! We are all called to live a life of financial dependence on God! For us in full-time ministry, relying on others to partner along side us with finances it's more tangible and "out there" but really, no matter how we get paid each month, we can still choose to trust God with our finances and depend on HIM to provide for us.
Are we praying and talking to God about our finances? That heater that needs to be repaired? The car that just broke down? The kids need new winter boots? How often do we take these requests before the Lord and ask HIM to provide? He is just waiting to blow our minds with his provision.

So thank you, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Thank you for committing your finances to the Lord and I pray we all learn to trust in HIM, the giver of all good and perfect things to provide for all our needs.
Thank you for bearing our burden with us, for lifting us up as a family to the Lord.
Thank you for praying for the students we love and minister to and thank you for praying for our upcoming move to Uganda.

I am humbled. And thankful. And so amazed that God would choose us to live this life and serve in this way.
Thank you for joining us in our call to help reach the world through university students.