Uganda Bound!

I'm so thankful for how good God is, for how full of patience He is, and for how faithful He is. 

I will never get tired of recounting all the ways God has shown me His faithfulness, and I know He will never cease to amaze me by His faithfulness.

When I came back home from doing the IGNITE program through Potter's Field Ministries, my heart longed to return to the mission field. I had such a hard time adjusting and being back home, but the Lord was telling me to wait. He was in fact making me wait, and if I'm honest, sometimes I waited not so patiently. Sometimes I really struggled with what He seemed to be doing in my life, or more truthfully, I struggled with what He wasn't doing in my life. 

I was at a hard place in life, caught in what seemed to be the "in between", not knowing what was next except for getting a job and waiting on the Lord with the desire in my heart to be a missionary.

While I wanted so desperately to return to the mission field and full time ministry, the Lord was calling me to something different. He was calling me to something that was not what I wanted, but something which He, in His perfect wisdom, knew I needed.

I became part of a drug study, which many of you knew about and prayed for me during that time. It was for a new medication to treat my Cystic Fibrosis, and it was actually taking place in California. I struggled with the length of the study because it was about two years.  At the time, two years seemed like an eternity. I struggled with being "held back" from the mission field. I struggled with being kept in the states because of a study I didn't want to do. My parents were really excited about the study and the possible results, but to me it seemed like an interruption in my life that I didn't want to welcome. 

Looking back, I know that my parents were excited about this study because they only want the best for me. I know they want me to be as healthy as I possibly can be, and the advances in medicine are exciting. 

For me, I had felt so willing to go wherever the Lord would lead, and to do whatever He called me to do, but I hadn't pictured His will for me being me going to and from California for doctor's visits. It seemed like a waste of two years. If I had only known then what I know now, I would have realized that those two years were certainly not a waste! In fact, I believe those two years were crucial, and it was the Lord preparing both my heart and my body for the plans He has for me. I'm so thankful for this. 

That new medication has made such a difference in my health. My lung function stays up, and I haven't been in the hospital since before I started the study. Before beginning the study, and even during it, I had such a fear of flying. I hated the fact that I had to fly to my doctor's appointments, and there was a point during it that I actually told my mom that I couldn't do it. I was so afraid to fly, even with my mom beside me. I remember saying that maybe the Lord was using those trips to prepare me to fly somewhere far away, since that was my desire. Little did I know that He really was! 

I am so thankful to say that, even though I initially didn't want to go to California for the study, some of my sweetest memories were made on those trips. I had the best days there with my mom. We would get up early, fly to California, go to my doctor's appointment, and then spend the rest of the afternoon shopping, relaxing, talking, laughing, and simply hanging out before we flew home that evening. Funny how the trips I didn't even want to take are the very ones I now find myself really missing. 

Much time has passed since finishing the study, but I remain so grateful for all that God did in my life during that time. I've now been to Africa three times, with the last time being for three months. God did indeed give me the desire of my heart. Though there were days of waiting and preparation that seemed painful, though there were days it seemed like God had forgotten me, He has proven Himself so very faithful to me. Never once has He forsaken me, and I now see how He was working a beautiful plan even through those days of waiting. 

I loved being in Africa, and being able to recently spend three months there teaching and loving the kids of Uganda was an incredible blessing. I loved being a part of the ministry there, I loved being able to spend time with the kids almost every day, and my heart has been missing it since I've returned home. It is safe to say that I left a huge piece of my heart in Africa with those kids. 

I'm so excited and thankful to be able to say that God is once again giving me the desire of my heart and is making a way for me to return to Africa, and this time long term! I never thought this would be a possibility because of my need for health insurance and the costs of medications, but I've learned that God likes to do the impossible. Nothing is too hard for Him. The plan is for me to be in Uganda February-November each year. I'll be teaching and helping at UKP Academy like I did last time. I will come home for two months while the kids are on break, and then will again return
to Uganda for another ten months. I honestly don't know for how long I will keep on doing this, but I will go for however long the Lord leads me there. 

I am so thankful, and my heart is so full. Truly God is good and He does delight in blessing His children. Even when He says no or wait, still He is good and is working a greater plan. I'm so thankful for the years of preparation and how God has shown me His faithfulness time and time again through many different seasons. I know that there will be challenges and days of difficulty ahead, but I know Jesus will be faithful every step of this journey. 

I ask that you would please be in prayer for me as I get ready to leave. February is still a ways off, but I know time goes quickly. Please pray for me regarding all the preparations, and also please pray for me as there are inevitable spiritual attacks. Please pray that I would grow in trust and have a deep peace through it all. Please also pray for the provision that is necessary to make this possible. I know God is faithful, but sometimes I am just like that man who cried out in Mark 9:24, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

If the Lord places it upon your heart to support me through prayer during my time in Uganda, please let me know and I will add you to receive my prayer updates. I would be so encouraged and blessed by this. Prayer is so vital to every missionary. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to sharing all that God does in the coming months and years. He is faithful, and I want to spend my life telling of His great faithfulness. 

"Trust in the LORD, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His 

faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the LORD,

And He shall give you the desires of your

 heart."

~Psalm 37:3-4

"He says no in order that He may, in some way we cannot imagine, say yes. All His ways with us are merciful. His meaning is always love."

~Elisabeth Elliot