a sick child, a van stuck in the mud and a life lesson

Today was a travel day and it was long, very long. The day started weird simply because we were off schedule. We all stayed in the same house and woke up at 5:00 to start the drive. Before we loaded up we all stood in a circle in a neighborhood, before the sun came up thanking Jesus for his new mercies for the day. As we loaded into the vans some kids were back to sleep before the vans pulled out of the driveway. We watched the sunrise from the vans and then we stopped for sausage biscuits at McDonalds. Every meal we ate today was in the van, so that was an adventure within itself.

As we got further into the ride, some kids started getting sick. Car sickness is a real thing around here. Not sure if sweet, Rebecca would get sick in the van or not we heard Brenda shout "auntie"-- only to turn around and see our sweet babe getting sick on a sweater. We paged the other vans and within a minute we were all pulled over to the side of the interstate helping sweet Rebecca. As we loaded back into the vans, we noticed that the blue van in front of ours was stuck, it'd gone too far into the ditch.
This only meant one thing: we were stuck. on the interstate. with 18 kids.

Marissa and Lindsay were the drivers of the blue van and decided to unload the kids from their van, Misty (black van) came to check on things and soon after the entire choir was on the side of the blue van pushing the back while Marissa tried to drive us out of the hole, only digging us deeper it seemed. A couple of things you should know about Marissa, she missed her calling as a driver in Fast and Furious and she is strong, like loads the entire trailer by herself- strong. She is ranked number 2 in the state of Texas for powerlifting. We realized this in the middle of her trying to drive us out of the hole that we needed her to push. She switched seats with Darya, while I basically stood by taking pictures of the entire thing and tell at the driver to stop when the kids in the back said stop. The kids were desperate to get the van out, at one point digging became their answer. Marissa was in control of it all, telling the kids what to do and how to do it. Charles brought a wooden shelf out of the trailer for us to try and drive over, only for us to burn out a couple of times. You could see everyone giving up. I saw a house up the road a little bit and said that I was going to ask for help. I am not afraid to ask for help, ever. So I started the hike (mini walk) to the house and Darya joined. This is the moment that I knew this was my life, that I wouldn't be anywhere in the world.

There was a small creek we thought we would have to jump over to even get to the fence, just hoping that its short enough to jump over or that the house owner is outside. However, there was no creek to jump over and there was someone outside. I don't know if you have ever stood on the side of the interstate, but it is loud. Very loud and the fence was higher than we though, this only meant one thing-- We were about to have to scream. We decided that at the count of 3, we would scream, "hey"-

1...2...3...
"HEY"

nothing. He could hear us.
-wait for the trucks to pass-

1....2...3..
"HEY"

A man noticed us and walked across the field with his two fiends following behind him. We explained that we were stuck and we needed something to put under the tire if he had it, he didn't say much. He nodded then walked away, we stood there not sure what to do but laugh at the far off image of the boys gathering sticks to place under the tires and Brenda washing her hands in the small creek the rain had caused. The man showed back up with a chain over his should, they jumped the fence and followed us to the vans. He knew what he was doing. He placed the hooks where they needed to go and with Darya in the red van and Marissa in the blue van, it finally came out. We were out of the hole. The kids shouted like we had won the lottery. We had a mini celebration then jumped back into the vans to continue the rest of the 8 hour journey.

We stopped for lunch, eating PB&J and chicken nuggets on the road. This is when Darya and I switched driving seats. She took a nap and I laughed as I listened to her playlist of worship music, simply because my life truly is a mess. The vans I spend most of my time in our messy, the kids are messy, my clothes are messy, my hair is mess, my purse and backpack are messy, my journal has jotted notes of each day causing it to look very messy. My life is a mess, but it is such a beautiful one. I learn new things every daily, today I think I learned something new every hour.

Thankful for the men who came to save the day and thankful that this is truly a time of learning to be flexible and as an old friend would say, 'ride the wave we call life'

a story about a soccer ball

When you ask the kids what their favorite sport is they say football, this is what they call soccer in Uganda. I've never really played soccer, sure I've kicked the ball around with kids, but I've never played a real game. On my first trip to Africa our team took soccer balls over. We've done it on every trip. The first trip I remember watching my friends in the field play, I remember on my second trip just kicking it back and forth with some kids and my third trip I kind of played, but more or less taught some kids volley ball hits, granted I've never really played that either, but it seems easier than soccer. This last trip I bought a painting from the market that was done in charcoal. It's a drawing of a soccer field, during a game. It's my favorite things I've gotten from overseas. It hangs on my wall and all around it are pictures from my life. 

I've never wanted to be a soccer mom, ever.  It's not been a dream of mine to take the kids to soccer practice every Monday night or to open the doors to the minivan and have a soccer ball roll out. And here I am- every single time I open the door to the van a soccer ball rolls out and I have to chase it down. The only difference is a kid always gets out after me to kick it for a bit before it has to go back in the van, unless we are at a gas station. There is a soccer ball in each van and I smile every time it rolls it way up to the front seat or every time I see it being tossed in the air in backseat. 

I've decided that I am not a soccer mom, but I'm a soccer auntie. When I see a soccer ball it reminds me of the children I've met over the years. I've tried to count how many kids I've met overseas before but it's way to hard to remember every little hand I've held and every little babe I've kicked the soccer ball with, but I do know that each of them make a difference in my life. Collectively they remind me of who I am, of what I am doing and just how much a soccer ball will continue to be in my life. I can only imagine what a soccer ball will mean to me when tour is over. 

who you meet on the road

As I sit downstairs in a blue over sized chair and drink hot tea out of a Clemson mug. I remember how many people I have met in the past month. I would think that since I was in the South things wouldn't be much different, that it would be a lot like home, however things are much different. Every house I go in has its own character, its own traditions, and their own family rules. The only thing that reminds me that we are in the South is the sweet tea offered at dinner and of course the SEC talk when I mention being from Alabama. Roll Tide.


Here are just a few stories about the host I have met along my journey.

I met one family who lived in a big house, a house big enough to house 30 people who they didn't know. They fed us and took us out to do 'fun' things. They only had two children in this large home, but they had a big house to host. They were incredible host. They never seemed stressed or seemed worried. They even housed some of our family members who came from far away to visit. While talking to Lorena, our host mom, one night we asked her where all she had been in the world. As she told us that she had visited all sorts of countries, she said that she taught in Romania for a year and loved every second. We promised each other that we would visit there together someday. She and her husband have such open hearts to people and their callings, they love hosting.

In another town I met a lady who is 80 years old, her husband died 12 years ago and she's lived with her dog ever since. She takes care of herself. Her son is in his 50 and he and his wife joined us for dinner. As we sat around the table for dinner we talked about overseas missions and what it looks like as a whole. My sweet host talked about the Indian reservations and told such heart wrenching stories. She also talked about how their church was cutting jeans to make shoes for Uganda. It was Sole Hope, where my team will be staying when we go. Her son cried while we worshipped with them. I knew that it would be a moment that the family would never forget.

In another town I met three girls who seemed to be about my age. During lunch on the first day I sat with my kiddos at a table and Charles called me over to his table to chat with the girls. They were going to Uganda in June and would be there for the month. They will be visiting none other than Sole Hope while they visit Uganda. We shared our stories about how Africa became a part of our lives. We became friends quick. They left shortly after the concert to go back home, to Liberty University, we talked about living together for college. We know that we will see each other in Uganda. Our goodbye words consisted of us saying "See you in Africa."

I met another lady who showed up at the church barefoot and excited to meet the children. I wanted her to be the host, simply for the fact that we had a common interest- being barefoot. I am currently sitting in her house. She has two children and she lost her husband 9 years ago to cancer. Her story is powerful. She never wanted to do overseas missions and now she knows that when her kids finish college that they will all be in different countries. She told stories of not wanting to go overseas, but knowing that she had to be obedient to the call, so she went and it changed her life.

I met another person whose heart blew me away. I heard about this family from every person in the church, they continued to talk about the Benjamin House. They talked about Bucky and his family. I knew what Bucky looked like, I'd met him the day before. Yesterday, I looked out of a window in our classroom and saw him in a hallway watching a little girl crawl around on the floor. He seemed at peace while he grinned at her. I wanted to know his story first hand, but I was too chicken to ask in that moment. I couldn't bring myself to interrupt, so I decided that if I was supposed to hear their story I would be given the perfect moment to ask. In the next service, he came and stood right across from my table just leaned against the wall, looking at this phone. I boldly walked up and said "Tell me your story" -- He told me about his beautiful wife. He said that when they got married that they promised each other that they wouldn't have children because their sibling were nightmares when they were growing up. They lived their life and loved it. Then one night Jesus spoke to both of them about adoption. Within a year they had their first son from Guatemala, he was a baby when they brought him home. Four adoptions later, they have one child from the Ukraine, one from Louisiana, one from China who has special needs, and one from Guatemala. He told me that when the choir came through in 2010, he knew he was supposed to visit Uganda and during his visit the Lord told him that he would move there. As of March 2016, this family will uproot their life and relocate to Uganda, forever. They will start a home called Benjamin House, this will be a ministry that helps facilitate kids who have families, but their families can't afford them. Their goal is to help kids get back into families and to help the families, not just drop them off in hopes that the child is cared for. I knew I would scare him when I told him my dream is to build schools, but he looked at me with no fear and said-- "I will be in Uganda in July, I am looking at a piece of land and praying over it, join us"-- I nearly fainted. He said you can move there with us.
https://www.benjaminhouse.net

Throughout every person I have met on this tour, I listen to their faithfulness to Jesus and to their calling. With every person I meet I wonder if I will have stories to tell someday if I ever choose to host a choir from another country. I never know what my life will look like, I never know who I will be in 10 years from now-- but listening and learning to new people daily brings a lot more opportunities and I am so thankful for each.

a week off -- Spring Break

Most of you have seen the movie Cheaper By the Dozen, its my guilty pleasure. I turn that movie on when I need a good cry because the big family is my dream. This past week felt exactly just like that. The washer and dryer never quit running, the dirty dishes never ended and you had to find the perfect window for a warm shower.  The house was NEVER quiet. There was never a second when there wasn't 30 people in the house. The driveways were never clean, due to chalk. There were three guitars in the house and there wasn't one second when they weren't being played. The piano was banged on until we decided to put an 'out of order' sign over it- simply for some noise reduction.

Our host, Steve and Lorena took us on multiple adventures. We got to see Celebration Station, a place with go-carts, arcade games and put-put. You would have thought the children were at Disney World. The kids got to swim at the Y, of course the 'Ugandan Swim Team' loved that. They all are learning to swim. Through all of the adventure of our vacation week, my favorite thing by far was letting the kids watch Frozen. Mind you, these kids never get to watch television, so they have not seen this movie. Their responses were everything I could have asked for and more. After 'Let It Go," Brenda said 'Amen." Most of the kids, even boys, jumped on the couch making sure Christof ran fast enough to get to Anna. They have been singing 'Let It Go' since. The girls also got to attend a ballet class, they learned a few things. One little girls told me she wanted to go back home and teach ballet in Uganda.

I can tell you a million stories about the week.
But here are a few highlights:

the aunties went out shopping with our Lorena, our host mom and her best friend, Stephanie.
one of the chaperones went on a coffee date with someone she had met at the church.
I woke up to a child pulling the sheets off of me and sining 'Rise and Shine'
I shared a child's bed with Darya, chaperone about my age.
all of the aunties and uncles went to see Fast and the Furious 7 (Uncle Jho stayed with the kids)
the american chaperones took multiple runs to Cook-Out to get milkshakes
the aunties danced in a show with the kids (I videoed)
the chaperones snuck downstairs to have cereal at midnight.
we packed up to leave and Keith got a crochet needle stuck in her foot and had to have it removed.

And then there was the big one: when we got halfway to our next destination, (running behind due to the crochet needle incident) and hit bad traffic, so we turned around and headed back to our vacation spot for one more night. This only meant we had to blow up the mattress all over again, we had 4 towels to share throughout the entire house and some beds didn't have sheets, but last night was the best night there.

I have said for years that it is all about family, all about community. And last night as I sat in a room full of people I didn't know a month ago and some I didn't know a week ago. We sat on the couches and watched 'Return to Me,' we had ice cream and commented on the movie the entire time. At one point I looked around and knew that this was family. I knew that these people would be people I would never forget.


During this past week Jho, a Ugandan uncle, decided to tell a few of us what he sees when he looks at us. He told us each completely different things. He told me that when he looks at me, he sees my dreams. He can tell that when he looks at me that I am thinking about the future. That I was here, but I wasn't here fully. It kinda, without him knowing, broke my heart a little. I am a thinker. I think a lot. I process things differently. I write to process. However, this week I didn't write much because I want to change the way I process. I want to fully embrace each moment. I want to remember my dreams, but not have them written all over my face. I don't want to think about how I am going to remember the moment or how I am going to make the moment sound magical in my blog-- instead I am just going to embrace it.

.

This blog, is one of my favorite things-- I love it. I enjoy every time I write and I write a lot, even when I don't post them. With that being said, I am still going to write about everything on this tour. You guys just may not get every single moment. Some of them are too precious to share and I can't keep pulling my phone out to write a memo in my notepad every time something special happens. Sure, I want to do these things. I want to blog after every conversation I have with a child and I want to try and figure out how this tour is going to benefit my future. But, I need to realize that I only have two months left. The first month flew by.

here is to living in the moment.