I am thankful for good neighbor/housemate/friends. Henry & Bethany live downstairs in our building & have been a lot of fun as housemates.

We’ve had some great meals thanks to them. For awhile we did a weekly meal share where we each made extra of one of our weekly meals & gave it to the other. It was a fun way to try new recipes.

And they’ve been there to take us to the airport (at 6am), and even run upstairs to close our windows when we had left them open & gone to work not realizing a rainstorm was on it’s way. And we like when they call us to say they have some fresh-baked cookies or ice cream to share.

We will miss them when we move!

I totally stole this pic from Bethany’s facebook page.

Today I am thankful for our apartment here in Tulsa. It’s been a really great place to live, and has been a big part of me enjoying city life. (We found out this morning that we only have 30 more days in this place & my heart is a little a lot sad about this!)

Great location, great housemates (past & present) & we have really enjoyed it!

We left Uganda last night…we were sad to leave. There is a lot to reflect on about our time, and lots of stories to tell…we will get to them eventually…but for now here are a few quick memories and thoughts.

I think for me one of the highlights of the trip was getting to see Kibo have a meeting with a village to figure out how to get their water well fixed. A key part of the meeting was that the proposal from Kibo was to split the cost of fixing the well, and working with the village to establish system to maintain a clean water supply. This is really what kebo is about…not so much just digging wells, but equipping people to solve.their own problems.

Another key thing about this meeting was that it was all lead by ugandens. This is a big thing to know about Kibo, they have a lot of projects and all of hem are lead by ugandens.
Another highlight…we got to spend a day at a wilderness preserve looking for lions, hippos, elephants, and other African wildlife. One elephant decided he had had enough of us, so he pushed down a small tree, trumpeted, flapped his ears, and charged toward our van. I don’t think he (she?) would have really Done anything to us, but it was scary away. Oh…we saw a hippo Chase a lady in a parking lot…that was kind of crazy.
We got to stay with Bobo and Barbara’s house. They are good.friends of the Taylor family, and it was an honor to spend an evening with them in their home.
We for to hang out with our NLR friends Nathan and kendra (and, as it turns out the Hermens as well). It was food to see the.ministry they are working on just a few hours from jinja.
I found out Bobby bought a heidelberg letterpress. That could be fun….

I still have a lot.of processing to do to try and understand and respond to everything we did and saw…its going to take a long time.

For now, we are spending.the next few days in Europe visiting some friends.

These 2 news stories are unrelated, but I heard both of them this week & found them pretty interesting (to say the least).  What do you think?

1) Pea Lung?  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129155683

2) Gulf Caravan http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129158245

The first one just has some shock value. But the second one I just really love. A unique idea & a way to not only help practically (investing in the economy in the gulf) but also to invest in people’s spirits. To give them a good sales day probably means more to them than most of us can imagine.

I have not been able to get this song out of my head for the past 2 days. And as I looked through the verses to see which one to post here…I was reminded of something a friend said this morning as we talked about this song. ALL of the verses are just so powerful. So I didn’t pick one. I picked them all.  Read through this…let these words sink in deep.

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

I’m exhausted. Hosting a wedding show is hard work.

Things went fairly well. And I’m grateful for small successes throughout the day. Especially for meeting a new friend & for having a discussion about what the Green Country Event Center actually is & the history of the GCEC & Garnett & where they are now & the vast array of things  going on in that building each day. That was encouraging.

But my feet hurt, and my mind is tired of thinking/planning/hosting.

So I’m taking some time to myself. On the couch. In my comfiest clothes with my feet up.

And I want to also tell you about last night. After a long day of set-up for the wedding show we spent the evening at Joe Momma’s.  Great pizza, our favorite waiter, and some great music. Check it out here. We love the Listener.

And yes, that is a washing machine. And yes, he did have it on stage with him last night. And yes, it was awesome.

I just broke the glass carafe part of my french press.

And I almost cried.

Not because I broke it. But because it means it will be a few days (at least) before I can replace it & make french press coffee again.

*sigh* Maybe that means I’m a little bit addicted.

Maybe.

Perhaps this one is a bit extravagant…

This one is cute though…

Good thing they sell replacement parts.

I forgave someone once.

They had a different countenance that day. The bubbly, full-of-joy person I saw one day didn’t show up that day. That day they were embarrassed, and maybe a little sad.

The last time I saw them, they were joyful and singing in church. That day they were solemn, and confessing that they had done something wrong.

But I believe that the joyful person from the first day was still in there. Today they were just covered up by the pain that sometimes comes with telling the truth.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Because maybe that joyful person in church was covering up the solemn person that sometimes does things that are wrong. And maybe that day the solemn person was covering up the joyful one that is usually there. I don’t really know how they “usually” are. And the truth is that it doesn’t really matter.

Someone once said (in reference to those of us in the Church) that we just clean up really well.

Because sometimes I am the joyful one singing to Jesus on Sunday morning. (All the while, knowing about the not-so-great choices I have made.)

And sometimes I am the solemn one knowing that I don’t always make the best choices. (All the while, knowing the freedom that comes with the light.)

The difference is my bad choices usually stay in the dark. And that day, theirs was brought into the light.

And the really beautiful thing is that there is freedom in that light. Though they may not feel it right away.

Because sometimes it’s like when your eyes have to take some time to adjust to the light after they’ve been in the dark.

Especially if it’s been awhile.

But in the light there is warmth & love. And hopefully that’s what they remember from that day.

Today I am thankful for getting to spend some time with old friends over the past few days. They are a blessing in our lives.

Today I am thankful for unexpected gifts.
We received a gift card in the mail today from someone that has just been thinking & praying for us. It is a blessing, and we are QUITE thankful!!! Thanks, guys!