"Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD cares for me." (Psalm 27:10)

Meet Angelina.

She is a sweet, giggly little girl who will talk your ear off, even though she speaks very little English. She's six years old but looks more like a three- or four-year-old. Like many of our girls, she can be pretty stubborn sometimes, but she has a contagious and very chubby little smile. 

I was shocked when I found out that less than a year ago, when Angelina came to Holly and William, she looked like this:

Each of our children has a story. Some are sad and unfortunate; others are unbelievable. Some of our kids have families that love them and visit when they can. Others have been abandoned. 

But they are all loved- by God and by their new earthly family. And they are all blessed beyond measure. 

PRAISE GOD. 

He reached down from on high and took hold of me. 
-Psalm 18


This verse describes my life so well. God, the creator of the universe and the Father of all people, reached down from on high and took hold of me. And He continues to take hold of me every day.

Sometimes I forget how absolutely helpless I am without Him, and then, so quickly, everything is put back into perspective. Here, with children banging drums at 5am and arguments to settle and fevers to monitor and diapers to change, I need my God.

I don't need Him like I need a shower (necessary, but it can wait a day or two). I need Him like I need air.

I realized really quickly that without my Father dwelling within in me, without His love filling my heart, without His Word running through my thoughts, I grow tired before the day has even begun. But somehow, when I meet him in the morning and I allow Him to speak to my heart throughout the day, I have more energy than I ever thought possible. I have patience in situations that would normally drive me crazy. I am able to laugh and hug and play soccer with my children when I would normally be in desperate need of a nap.

He reaches down from on high and takes hold of me.

And I pray that He would do the same for every one of the children here.

These kids are blessed- SO blessed- to have parents who pray for them daily and understand the importance of God's Word in their lives. Every night before bed we have a time of worship with the children when we sing songs of praise to the Lord. And every night the children are read a section of scripture and walked through the meaning of God's Word to them. They are told how much the God of the universe loves them and wants to know their hearts.

God is reaching down from on high and taking hold of them.

Thank you so much for your prayers- for me and for the kids here.

We feel them.

        

“For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ… They are focused on earthly things, but our homeland is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.” (PHIL 3:18-21) 

This world is not our home.

Max Lucado writes that “homesickness is one of the burdens God doesn’t mind if we carry” and that “the greatest calamity is not to feel far from home when you are, but to feel right at home when you are not.”

In a home for children with HIV/AIDS, sickness is a part of daily life. Every day I hear, “Mommy, I need a plaster (bandaid),” “Mommy, my stomach is paining me,” “Mommy, my head is paining me,” “Mommy, so-and-so is not well.” There are frequent trips to the clinic for malaria tests and check ups. There are meds to be taken every morning and every night just to ensure that the children’s little bodies can have a chance at fighting off infection.

For the most part, the kids here seem healthy and energetic, running around and getting into trouble like all children do. But there is always something to remind me that these children’s bodies are weak. And what is difficult is that there is often not much we can do to help. We have Tylenol for pain and plasters for cuts-- and Holly and William have been blessed with ARVs for all of the children. But sometimes we are simply unable to ease their pain—at least not as quickly or as completely as we would like.

Lydia, one of our older girls, has been continually sick with one thing after another for months. She is often throwing up, getting chills, and feeling weak.

Aligaya, one of our younger girls, recently broke out in blisters and cold soars all over her lips and inside her mouth- so much so that she can hardly open her mouth at times. We have Listerine to kill the bacteria and pain meds to make her more comfortable, but not much else.

And the truth is that their bodies, like ours, are temporary. They break, they grow weak, they grow old, and they fail us.

But to those who fear Him, God promises to transform our bodies to reflect His glory-- perfect and eternal. He promises us a real home in eternity with Him where there will be no sickness or pain.

While it’s hard for me to see the kids here in pain and to feel so helpless, it brings me so much hope to know that this is not our home. Our imperfect bodies remind us that we have something so much greater waiting for us. These children have something so much greater waiting for them.

In the meantime, they have a God who understands their pain and catches their tears-- so much better than I or the other mommies ever could. 

A rat pooped on my bed. Twice.

We know there are rats in the ceiling, so we try and keep the doors to our rooms shut as much as possible. I left it open for a few minutes while I took a shower and came back to rat poop. On my bed. Where I sleep. Awesome. I’m banking on the fact that rats aren’t smart enough to know how to hide from humans for long periods of time. And I’m really hoping that I don’t find a dead rat in my suitcase, because I wasn't about to dig through it directly following the poop incident. 

A few of the kids came down with what we think is pink eye. Amazingly, it hasn’t spread to all of the 45 children by now.

The other night during our Bible study with the older children, I learned how to beat an African drum… more or less. There was a lot of laughing during my turn :)

I have been reading Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

I like that David says the Lord makes us lie down in green pastures. He forces us to rest. I thought that was an odd thing to say when I read it the other day. Why would God need to make me rest? I would love to go chill in a green pasture for a while, have a picnic. That sounds great to me.

But it makes sense.

I don’t always like to slow down and often I refuse to do so. Sometimes it’s more comfortable to keep moving. A fast-paced life requires little reflection or contemplation. If we just keep moving, we don’t have to ask ourselves the difficult questions or look deeper into our heart.

For me, being in Uganda this time around has been more difficult. I miss home, I miss my people, and part of me would be more comfortable having a typical summer back in the States.

But the longer I am here, the more my heart is beginning to rest. Uganda is my green pasture. The Lord is forcing me lie down and slow down. Because rest is not always a physical rest (I am working harder here than I would have back home). What I needed was a spiritual rest.

He knows what I need better than I do, and He knew that I needed this time to slow down and just be for a while.

He is restoring my soul.

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever. 

Hey friends!

I arrived in Jinja Friday evening. The flight was good- long, but no major problems. It was so great to finally get here and meet the children. There are so many of them and SO many names to learn! I’m doing my best, but I’ve never been great with names, so it’s taking me a while. We have 44 children altogether- more girls than boys. There are five babies and the oldest girl is 16, I believe. They are all wonderful and full of energy, especially the younger girls.

I’m still getting into the routine of things, but a day here starts around 7am, when we give the children their meds. Then the big kids go to school until around 5 or 6 pm. The little ones play during the day, and we do a short school session around 10am, helping them to learn their letters and numbers. The babies sleep from about 12-3pm. At 7pm, we give the children their medicine again and lead them in a time of worship, followed by a bible study. 

On Saturday nights, William leads the older children in something they call Straight Talk. During this time the children have the freedom to ask any questions they may have about anything and everything- HIV/AIDS, the Bible, Martin Luther King Jr.- it's all fair game. On Sundays, we get pancakes for breakfast and then go to church at Calvary chapel, the church I stayed at the last time I was here. Then the kids have movie time and play all day. 

The children refer to the volunteers as “mommies,” so I am Mommy Jordan. Some of them were confused by my name at first and said things like, “Mommy, that is a boy’s name!” My driver who picked me up from the airport experienced similar confusion. The whole way home he kept laughing and saying, “Jordan! I thought you were a man!” I told them all that my parents were confused when they named me :) 

It is so great to be back here, seeing so many familiar faces- and meeting so many new ones. My goal is to have all the names down by the end of the week… we’ll see how that goes. Please pray that God would build my relationships with the children and other volunteers while I’m here and that He would fill me with so much love for them.

Here are some pictures of the little ones! 

Pius :) Falling in love with this boy right here^

Gloria and Moses^

Gloria and Aligaya^

Gloria and Whinny^

Ninjas. ^

Not sure how to rotate this... I'll work on that. Sharon, Locira and Diana. ^

Lydia, Prossy and Gloria^

Love and miss you all!!
Jordan

Hey people!

I leave for the airport around 3am tomorrow morning- SO excited! I can't wait to squeeze each one of those beautiful little girls.

If any of you would like to write to me while I'm there (do it!), the address is PO Box 1648 Jinja, Uganda, East Africa. Send it airmail, otherwise it will arrive in Jinja around February. And please don't call or text me while I'm there- I'm already poor as it is.

LOVE, love, love you guys!