an update on the busy-busy

We're on the homestretch now with less than two months until we leave our home and our life in Uganda.
And our remaining time isn't going to drag by, either.

Currently we have Eric {a friend and coworker with Power to Change in Canada) and Jayme {former staff with Power to Change and now freelance videographer} here doing some filming for a promotional video for our South East Africa partnership. It's been nonstop since they arrived on Monday as Jamie's been doing a lot of interviews and being "followed" for a lot of "day in the life of" type footage. But we enjoy having people in our home and this week has flown by.
Tomorrow Jamie, Eric & Jayme will all journey up country to get some more footage of rural areas and, of course, the wildlife! They will be back on Tuesday afternoon.
Please pray for safety on the roads for them.
Please pray for safety and peace and patience for Vanessa as she remains in Kampala with the boys.

On Sunday the 28th of April we have the staff team for our short-term project arriving. Shortly after, the students will arrive and will stay in country until June 11th. We will be busy with ministry and packing up our lives during this time.
We are looking forward to having the team here and especially Vanessa as there will be another staff family coming - Archie, Cindy and their three boys will join us and live with us on our compound. What a lively, loud and hopefully joy-filled time we're expecting!

Please pray for safety for the staff and students as they travel starting next week. Please especially remember Archie & Cindy and their kids as they travel here on the 28th. Traveling with a family is no small task and we'd ask that you'd pray for grace and patience and kids who sleep well on the plane!
Please pray for the final logistics of housing, schedules and other details as they are worked out on our end of things.
Please pray for God to be stirring in the hearts of the Canadians coming and the Ugandans we will be interacting with.
Please pray for Vanessa as she does the bulk of organizing and preparing our home in Uganda to be packed up or left behind{for the next team of STINTers}.

Finally, if you didn't catch it on our Facebook group, please check out this blog post written by one of the STINTers, Bimisayo, who is one of four Canadians who will taking our place and continuing the work here in Uganda this August.

Thank you for your partnership. It's because of you that we are able to be out on university campuses and on summer projects and here in Uganda, making an impact on people like Bimisayo. Be encouraged! God is doing great things!

happy 9 months to us!

We've been here in Uganda for 9 months as of today!

Also {from Vanessa} thank you so much for your prayers while Jamie was away in Rwanda. I definitely felt God's presence through increased patience and joy and the burden was lifted largely with the staff and students here keeping us company and helping out with the boys.

Thank you for your prayers. He is our ever-faithful God and He is so good.

A post from Jamie re: Rwanda is on the way so stay tuned!

the "scoop" on our family's expansion

That's right! We are expanding our family.

in 2D - approximately 11 weeks old

in 3D - approximately 11 weeks old

On Boxing Day we found out that I was pregnant and it has been exciting to see the progression of this pregnancy so far.
It has been fun to be pregnant with slightly older children who can comprehend more what it means that "Mama has a baby in her belly" and ask hilariously honest questions.
We are expecting this little one to arrive in September and we will be staying in Uganda for the birth.
I have been seeing a midwife here at one of the hospitals who is from the UK and has been great so far although she will be returning to the UK around the time that I am due. I will likely be delivering the baby at the hospital with one of the doctors she works closely with.
Next week we will have another ultrasound to make sure the baby is developing properly {this is a routine scan} and hopefully be able to find out if this little one is a boy or a girl. We are so thrilled for this baby and are so thankful for another straight-forward and relatively easy pregnancy for Vanessa.

packing and moving

I(Vanessa) have always loved change.
It's the transitions that are tricky for me.
I don't especially like packing (unpacking I can totally handle), nor do I like co-ordinating all those little details or sorting through endless stuff.
But it's all part of moving and change.
(Unless you can afford movers.)

So we've been packing, packing, packing this week and we move to Toronto on Saturday.
Every time we move (this will be the 6th time in 7 years) I am amazing and overwhelmed at all the help we receive from those around us and we've already had so many offers already.
So we're thankful.
Thankful to you who pray for us and send us emails to see how we're doing and to you who are physically here, helping us with some practical things.
We truly are blessed.
Even in the transitions.

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!

thoughts from the home...

What an incredibly busy semester.

Both Jamie and I feel like we have never worked harder and never been busier than we have been in these last few months.

But they've been really good.

I think as a mother {and as anyone, really} I've had good days where I accomplish a lot, am patient, loving and creative as I interact with the boys and care for both my family as a whole as well as specifically my husband, Jamie. And then there are days where I feel like from the moment I get out of bed I am dragging myself through the motions of the day. I am tired, impatient and have a short fuse.

But God is shaping me. It's a slow, painful process; one in which I feel is taking far too long. But it's happening. He's giving me love. He's giving me a heart that is soft and seeking to serve. He's giving me a desire for His Word.

I am thankful for His Grace.

Please pray for me and my realm of influence. I want to make the most of my time here in Canada {did you hear? We are moving to Uganda!} and I want to continue to take steps of faith so that my faith continues to grow and also to continue to model to my boys how awesome it is to trust in God and see what He does and how we get to be a part of it all!

Please pray for Noah. He has a strong will. He has a tender heart. He is truly such a blessing and I have never known such joy {and sometimes such frustration} as I have raising him so far. Please pray for him to have a hungry heart for God and for His truths. He is so drawn to television and the world and I want him to grab hold of how awesome God is. How He is SO much more amazing than any media or video or Disney movie.

Please pray for Jude. He is a jumble of craziness and I love that kid! He too, has a strong will and {as a close friend put} is VERY passionate and seems to know exactly what he wants. He is very "hands-on" and is into everything.

Pray for me that I would have wisdom on how to navigate the waters of siblings and to teach Jude to respect Noah but also to teach Noah to have a tender, compassionate heart for his brother. These two silly boys love each other very much, but I want to continue to lift them up individually and together in prayer as they grow and one day become men.

What a blessing to have you partnering with us as a family as we seek to take the gospel to Guelph, Canada and the world!

I, as a mother & wife, am so thankful for YOU for your prayers for me, for Jamie and for our boys. We are so grateful for your partnership with us.