what's next for the stricklands!

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You can check out the latest scoop here.

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.

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.

2 months!

yesterday was our two-monthiversary of living here in kampala!

to commemorate, we took a team picture outside our house:

trevor, nick, jamie holding jude and noah in front of me {why yes our kids were totally not co-operating for the picture, how did you know?}.

we are indeed loving life here, settling into ministry, making new friends and learning to drive in this crazy city {we got a car, by the way!}. 

we are so thankful for your thoughts, emails and prayers so keep them coming and stay tuned for our next email update!

thanksgiving

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving here. 

We even had turkey and pumpkin pie!
There is much to be thankful for here and it was great to go around the table and talk about some of the blessings in our lives we are thankful for.

Often there are things in our lives that don't appear to be "blessings" but God calls us to "rejoice" and "give thanks" over and over in His Word and so, we practice the art of giving thanks. In all our circumstances.

Sometimes, though, the overt blessings like pumpkin pie make us want to click our heels in joy!

 

So thankful for a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner here in Uganda!

Jude scarfs down a piece of pumpkin pie.

alive and well

we are here!
thank you for praying.
we spent a week in Chicago and I(Vanessa) personally was encouraged by spending some time with other moms going on STINT for a year or two.
we survived our long journey from Chicago to London, England; spent 10 hours in Heathrow airport and then another long overnight flight to Entebbe, Uganda.
all our luggage arrived and in one piece.
so thankful!
we arrived at our house and were greeted by other staff and local missionaries and were happy to see that we had beds and a dining room table and chairs (which I am sitting at currently).
our first night was a bit rough - the boys were up off and on between 11pm and 4am but then we all slept solidly until 12:30pm!
we ran a few errands today and got set up with phones and internet (the important things!) and tomorrow we hope to buy some couches as well as a fridge and oven/stove.
it's 10:41pm and our boys are still talking away in their beds.
hopefully we adjust to the time in the next few days.
we are so thankful for your prayers, keep them coming!

the view from our front yard. 

the whys and hows

A friend of ours from our home church in Guelph made this video to share with the Calvary church congregation. It explains the whys and hows of our trip as well as our heart.
Enjoy!


GMT - The Strickland Interview from Andrew Rozalowsky on Vimeo.

Chicago

We're in Chicago at the hotel we'll be staying at for this week's training with all Campus Staff from Canada and the US. 

Thank you for praying.

I commented to Jamie this morning that a lot of people must have been praying for us because I felt peaceful last night and slept well. 

Thank you!

We got all our luggage onto the plane and off the plane and to our hotel and we're all here and safe!

Praise God!

Travel can be crazy enough when you're own, much less when you've got 2 young kids and over 450lbs of belongings!

Pray for us this week that:

- we would be refreshed in the sessions, during the worship and as we fellowship with other staff and hear about the exciting things God has called them to

- we would learn and be able to apply some things that will help us to thrive over these next two years on STINT.

- the boys would sleep well and have a refreshing time here as well.

all our luggage in the Toronto airport!

We love you! Keep partnering with us in prayer! We couldn't be here without you!

on the go

It's been an incredibly busy last few weeks and the next few will only get busier.
We've been house sitting around the GTA and this week Jamie is in Ottawa for a staff conference while I (Vanessa) am in Guelph house sitting for friends while also getting to visit with some Guelph friends one last time.
Our belongings are slowly (very slowly) getting packed up and the items on the (ever growing) "to do" list are getting checked off.
We leave for training in Chicago on August 12th and fly to Uganda (through England) on the 19th.
We covet your prayers right now.
So much to do!
We need His peace and wisdom to know that everything we need will be provided.
Matthew 6:25-27

A time to plan...

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens

Right now I am almost entering "panic mode" wherein I feel as though there is more to do than there is time to do it in.

Minute details such as changing the address on our health cards and drivers licences and air miles accounts and making lists {although I do enjoy making lists} and checking things off said lists...it almost seems like too much.

And then there are bigger details like figuring out flight details and housing stuff and who will buy our furniture and will we have any furniture when we arrive and on and on and on.

My mind is a whir. 

But there is a time to plan. And to make lists. And to check things off the lists.

Could you pray for us as we continue through this time of transition and planning and preparing?
We are trying to spend time with family and friends and soak in this time of community before we go and forge a new community for ourselves.

And yet there is much to be done.

Jamie is finishing up a few courses that he's been taking through Heritage Seminary and I'm hammering out the "family life" details. 

Could you pray we find the right balance of social life and practical needs?

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.

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.

Good-bye, Guelph*

What a fantastic staff team we have here in Guelph.

Even though I (Vanessa) am not on campus and don't get to interact with these fabulous people every day, I know how stellar they are. 

Today we all went on a staff hike by Hilton Falls in Milton and it was the perfect day. The sun was shining and we all got some exercise walking for a few hours.

It is such a joy to trust these people completely with your children. It's completely reassuring to know that they will scoop them up away from danger or help peel a banana for them or fix their baseball cap. 

It's wonderful to just walk in comfortable silence or strike up a deep conversation or just catch up in the middle of God's beautiful creation. 

We will truly miss our Guelph staff team!

Back row: Alana (holding Jude), Jenn, Heidi, Jordi (wearing his daughter, Noelle)

Front row: Vanessa, Jamie, Dan, Noah

*We don't leave Guelph until April 30th but this was likely our last full team get together before we all leave for the summer.

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!

one week

We survived our week without Jamie.

Myself (Vanessa), Noah & Jude got through the week without "Daddy" and had lots of help and visitors from friends and family for which we are very thankful. It didn't help that all three of us got sick by the end of the week (which I am still recovering from!) but we were all pleased to hear that Jamie had switched his flight to come home 2 days earlier! We all met him at the airport on Saturday - just in time for Mother's Day!

Stay tuned for an update from Jamie on his week in South Africa and the encouragement he received from being there.

So thankful for you!