Learning to Experience

We made it! We've been in Kampala for 3 days now, and this is the first time at the computer. But, time here is so tight, I wouldn't know how to sit and reflect, much less get the computer to be fast enought to let me blog :). Pictures won't be able to come until when I return home, but, here I am, yay!

Saturday and Sunday were spent getting reacquainted (at least for me) with the sights and sounds of Uganda. Oh, the constant smell of exhaust, how I missed you!! We attended church and got to attend a really cool dinner with cultural dancing. So fun.

Today, however, is when the real business began. We started bright and early and headed out the the Bbira village with Watoto. We jumped right in and went to load the truck with bricks (an inagural activity for building that our whole team participated in). My first highlights of the day came in a triple effect when one of the brick workers looked over at me and recognized me instantly from our last trip here. Frank, who is characteristically attached to his Mp3 player, came over to me and gave me a big hug. He and I spent a day and a half 2 years ago pointing all the mortar of the house we built.

After a couple of minutes, he pulled me up on a pile of bricks and told me to look out into the field at the man who was approaching. As soon as I saw him, I knew him...Kassim, our forman from our house! He and I became quick friends 2 years ago, and I was so blessed that he remembered me on sight and called out my name. We hugged and were just so glad to run into each other. Neither of these men are building with us on the classroom, so it was a great blessing to see them so soon.

My third morning blessing came as he pointe just 200 yards away, and told me that the house we had built was right in view! So fun! It turns out, the classroom that we are building this year, will have a view of the house that we built 2 years ago!! Wow!

The day went by so quickly, with building all we could for the day before lunch and tons of time talking to kids in the village, that I realized I was having such a hard time experiencing it all. I felt that I was looking around all the time for someone I knew or a memory of what I experienced 2 years ago, that I was missing the experience of right now!

My team in wonderful, and has been incredibly patient in listening to all my stories of what I did last time I was here, and how we did this or that. However, I have not been taking the time to experience them, and just go through this with them. So, tonight, I am going to bed with prayers, asking God to help me learn to experience this anew. I want to be here today, and excited for what He is doing this week, with this team, this classroom, and the AMAZING children that we are seeing every day. We did not get to spend any realy time with the children in the village where we built in '07, so we are making up for lost time and hugging and talking with them as much as possible!!

So, my prayers will be for humility and quality time here and now, learning to experience all over again!

ps-Super amazing capstone to the night was getting a visit from my friend (and our former Watoto guide), Harry. Such a blessing and balm to my overwhelmed heart and mind!