Back to Uganda

I have just returned to Uganda – for those of you I haven't talked to in a long time, I'll be here this time for a year.

I was surprised when I landed. Surprised at how familiar everything looked, sounded…smelled. From the plane, the landscape greeted me with a colorful smile. The earth is deep red, the thick bush, green. The sky – more enormous here than I've ever noticed…blue. The yellow sun magnifies it all. It sounds simple yes, but it's as though when God painted the earth He dropped a bit more paint in this part of the world, and the color is so rich you can't help but stare as you take it all in. As you step off the plane, the air grabs you with its warm stickiness, like an old friend embracing you with a hug.

I starred out the window of my car silently, taken aback at how much peace was in my heart. I really didn't expect it to feel so much like home…home for now at least. As I've mentioned before, I am learning that no place on earth may ever feel 100% like home. However, I know that I am exactly where God wants me now. I don't know long it will be Uganda, but I'm ok with not knowing. Kidogo, kidogo…little by little.

I don't think I've ever made a New Year's Resolution. But I did this year. My resolution – to floss. Don't laugh, I'm serious. But it's a little deeper than my dental hygiene. It denotes attention to detail and purity. On the surface I want to do all the things we Americans want at the beginning of each new year. But more than that, below my shallowness, I hope to take in more of life happening around me. I want to be as aware of each person in my life, more sensitive and compassionate to my neighbors. I want to notice strangers, and look into their eyes. I know I'll never understand it all. And the old cliché rings true…the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. It turns out though, not understanding might not be as heartbreaking as I once thought. I hope to embrace the challenge of pressing forward, even though I don't understand why things happen, or how some issues could actually be resolved. Even if sometimes it means that I'm walking blindly – holding on to nothing that I know or comprehend. But I hope to keep walking nonetheless.

As I contemplate where I am, compare it to where I was a year ago, and wonder what this year beholds…I pray you are Touched in a new way this year.
May you be full of…brokenness that leads you to joy,
May you be full of…forgiveness that leads you to healing,
May you be full of…humility that leads you to love,
May you be full of…love that leads you to faith,
May you be full of…truth that leads you to laugh because you are free.

And may you never be comfortable because your heart is always being stirred to something increasingly wonderful.

Happy New Year.