The big move.

I've been in Uganda for 5 1/2 weeks. We spent one week at the babies home and then 4 1/2 weeks at the Bridge Africa guest house. Time for the next chapter. Moved to the Baptist Mission of Uganda today. The straw that broke the camel's back is that the guest house didn't have water for 3 days. So I packed up....
It was actually sad to leave a place that I had developed such a routine in. Oh well, I have the next 3 weeks to develop a new routine before I head home. The saddest part was saying goodbye to this fan. It is capable of blowing your face off...it's awesome.

The gardner at the BMU planned a very special welcome for me. He built me a giant bonfire to say "hello". Ok, so he was just tidying up the property but look at the size of this fire. This would be a no-no in the city back home. Perfectly fine in Kampala. People are burning stuff all the time.

Check out the shirt that I put on Gideon today. He's my little buddy right now. Where I go, he goes. Good to spend this time with him. Also ready for him to have some mommy-time as well...just as much, I would like some daddy time with the other boys.

Blog Fatigue

Today was a good day! Got out and about...no sitting around the house today! We're all exhausted. Don't really know what to blog about today: I bought some groceries, I ate some food, I washed some clothes...mundane stuff.

BTW, just found out that Thursday has been declared a Ugandan public holiday for the inauguration of the president. One of the families is scheduled to have a court date on Thursday. Praying it won't affect their date or ours.

Having to make some decisions today about staying at my current guest house or moving to a new one...pros and cons for both. Will decide tomorrow. Here's where I'm thinking about moving to:Just drank a Coca Cola Light in a bottle..very good. (also ate a twix)

Come home from our day out to no power in the house...came back on just before putting G down for bed. Hope he sleeps better than he did last night.

Got to meet some more IMB missionaries today.

Ok, so always something to blog about!

Special Occassion Double Dose

It's not often that you get to celebrate two big days in one! Today is May 8, the day that Abram James Droddy entered the world. I am so thankful for this little guy. He's our only Louisiana-born kid..and I still remember that day so clearly. I remember the 8-day stay in the NICU and how tough that was. I remember how people always used to ask if he ever cried. He was such a sweet, pleasant baby (they don't ask that anymore, btw!).
Now, he has so much personality, especially as he tries to keep up with his big brothers. And CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW BIG THIS KID HAS GOTTEN IN 5 WEEKS-I mean, granted, it's been 5 weeks but c'mon, this guy is HUGE!

He's still not too big for some daddy hugs and I can't wait to give them. Hopefully soon. Until then, I'll keep calling and skyping and downloading pics that Mary sends. Look how huggable this guy is!

Can't forget Mothers's Day! I'm so thankful for my Mary. She is a wonderful wife and excellent mother. She is totally outnumbered in our house-o-boys but she holds her own. What a godly example she is to these fellas. Glad she and I get to herd these guys through life together. Thanks to our friends for helping the boys honor their mother while I'm away.

Day Trip--Bethany.

Today, G and I went on a little adventure. There is a mission team from Alabama who arrived a couple of days ago (they brought me some formula and baby food--so thankful). As part of their trip, they were taking a trip to Bethany Children's Village, a ministry of Africa Renewal Ministry (the parent org of Loving Hearts Babies Home). They invited us to tag along. To get there, you can take a 2-hr taxi ride by land OR you can take a 30 min boat ride. Guess which choice we opted for? It was exciting to get out on Lake Victoria (second largest freshwater lake in the world, i found out today). Here's a fishing village on the shore that we passed on our journey. This is the only rural village I've seen so far since I've only really been in the city.
Bethany Children's Village is a pretty amazing ministry. They minister to orphaned and homeless children. There are 185 children living at the village in 11 different houses (the children are mostly between the ages of 10 and 19). Each house has a name given to it by the children who live there. This is Praise House. The man in the picture is Jimmy. He runs the day-to-day operations of the children's homes. He lives in one of the houses with his wife and 3 children, as well as 19 other children! I pray God's blessings on this man!!

This is Dennis. He runs the entire children's village and gave us our tour. First, he explained the overall vision of the village--very, very cool. They are trying to raise up next generation Christian leaders who will make an impact on Africa. Bethany has a church, a school, the children's homes, a clinic, and a farm (their goal is to be self-sustaining financially).

Not enough room to tell about all the things we saw. Was glad to visit! Here's the view from our boat coming back into the dock at Gaba.

Here's me looking crusty, sweaty, and dirty--I was all three of these things!

God is Faithful.

Our guest house sits near the bottom of a hill, Bunga Hill to be exact. The Babies Home is at the top of the hill. We have made the walk from the bottom of the hill to the top SEVERAL times. I actually enjoy the path the walk takes us on. You wind behond our house and then you encounter this hill right before the pavement turns to a dirt road:

It's hard to capture in the picture but this is a hard hill to climb BUT it's very scenic. It's actually a nice walk. There are all kinds of trees and flowers along the road that we don't have back home. This tree is my favorite: Again, hard to capture how BIG this tree is but it's huge! No matter how many times I walk this hill, I always stop to look at this tree and the banana grove around it. (I finally remembered to bring my camera).

Just wanted to post this because I walked up to Loving Hearts today. I'm trying to remind myself that the adoption journey that we are on is tough. Trying to remember to keep trudging forward and enjoy the journey (no matter how long it is).

Also trying to avoid all the goats along the path--seriously, various kinds of livestock are everywhere here!
Well, new court date...May 17. New flight scheduled....May 27. Today marks 5 weeks in Uganda! Help us, God, to keep climbing forward!