Flashback to June 2011 (Remembering the Miracles-Part I)

In faith......we believed.

05/27/11 - Our Ugandan attorney filed our case in court, to await the assignment of a court date by the court registrar. (ie placing us on a particular judge's calendar) This day is our precious adoptive daughter Nuluu's birthday.  God was encouraging my belief against all odd's, for a court date before the UG Judicial System break in July....

05/31/11- Sometime over Memorial Weekend, our USCIS approval arrived in the mail. We received a verbal approval over the phone the week before and told our UG attorney immediately so she could file our case. 

06/13/11- Felt an unbearable prompting to fast regarding our court date assignment. Feeling downright unworthy and guilty to even lay a request for a timeline kind of prayer before the Lord...I began a fast and intense time of prayer...with a holy passion to believe Him for what truly seemed impossible and down right too much to ask for.

06/15/11- Didn't want to be legalistic... I didn't know how long I was to fast...but some part of me felt like I was to continue until we heard an answer (that was kind of scary, faith rattling... I mean it was commonly a month+ or months before parents got word)

06/16/11 - I really believed I would hear something this Thursday morning. With each passing day, the chances of it happening before July 15th were slipping away. Other families had aleady been assigned days in August/September. Who was I to think we would get one?
UG is 8 hours ahead of us..and so if you didn't have an email in the morning...it usually wasn't happening. I was crushed when on day 3 of my fast there was no word (but declaring all along during this week, I didn't want it on MY time, didn't want it NOW if it wasn't what God has for us. I can only describe it as a force outside myself, (something greater than me) in a way like no other in my life, that would not let me let it go. This force would not let me give up and just reside myself to later.

On this evening, I cried out to God...questioning this hope - this faith, that the Holy Spirit was clearly growing in me, clearly prompting and stoking in me... I was questioning myself and I kept coming back to Abraham. I felt in such turmoil...even digressing in my raw moment with God to ask if He loved me? Was all this in His will? I just loved Him so and wanted this all to be in His timing.

On this evening, I felt I'd said it all. Proclaimed all my faith in God to do the impossible and laid all my hearts thoughts, dreams and requests at Jesus' feet. It was finished and I ate a late dinner.

06/17/11- On this Friday morning, I wasn't up all night praying as the night before. I wasn't checking email, like an insane person. I was asleep, sound asleep, resting in peace. And my husband's voice rang out in the quiet, "Mandi get UP! get UP!" "We have a date!" (those of you who know me, you know I'm not a morning person)

I sat up like a crazed person... I remember shouting "WHAT?! WHAT?! as I realized he was checking email on his phone. My eyes struggled to adjust to the phone screen in the dark as I read through tears, our faces smushed together, the following words:


"I was at the Court yesterday and your matter has been fixed for hearing on the 1st day of July, at 2:30pm; Thank you for your prayers!! Kindly make your travel arrangements in time, and we hope you can be in Uganda at least three days prior to your court date so that we can meet before court."

This is really happening.  God made a way.  God heard my prayers.  He wanted me to believe in FAITH...and for once I did.  I wept over the cry of my heart the night before, and felt like a spoiled child...crushed under the weight of the truth, YES he loves me....oh, how He alone loves me.  I selfishly asked for a sign, and this time, unlike so many other times before, I got confirmation as a mountain moved right before my eyes.  We were going to Uganda to begin the real journey of bringing home our two children.  Little did I know, that in FIVE days...yes you read that right, FIVE DAYS, I would be on a plane with my husband, bound for Entebbe. 

Now picture a CRAZY woman, like a child pinging off the walls on Christmas morning, crying, laughing, permanent smile glued on my face, more crying, spaced out crazy excited Momma...and you see what I looked like for the next 4 days.  

To be continued.....

Memorial Weekend, just 2 weeks before...I made a blind hair appointment with someone out-of-town.  On a whim I got all my hair chopped off.  I said, "I just feel like I'm going to Africa soon, and I'm about to have 5 kids. "

This is what our tribe looked like just 7 days before we got assigned a court date.

My little homeschool tribe asked me to bandage them....the goofy, the wounded.

I love these little munchins.



We're Home from Ug*nda!!

My husband on the road from the children's to the baby home.

Thank you so much for all your prayers.  My husband & I arrived at the airport last night about 7pm and finally made our way through customs, out to the park and ride and eventually onto our three children at 10:30pm last night.  My heart is full and aching from Ug*nda and having to leave, and full from being reunited with my kids.  I do have a huge praise and a prayer request.  The Lord has covered both of us and our entire team in terms of our health while we were in Ug*nda.  We ate the local food prepared by the cooks at the S*nrise Baby Home and had no problems at all.  We were blessed with good health, but on our last plane ride from London, I began having body aches all over.  I thought at first it was just sore muscles from the work we did two days prior in the village working on phase one of amud home.  Later we realized I was running low grade fever.  After last night's sleep I woke up with low grade fever again and body aches.  I think I just have a virus, and am asking you to pray that whatever it is, it leaves me quickly.  My middle son, also had an accident while we were away that resulted in the destruction of his ear drum.  Please pray for God to heal his eardrum and for him not to need a skin graft and reconstructive surgery, as it's been explained.  Our appt. with the surgeon is this coming Wed. 

I apologize that I was not able to blog as predicted.  The first half of our trip it wasn't readily available, and the later days were just so full from sunup to sundown that I was too exhausted.  Over the next few days of resting and processing I hope to walk you through my journey as I journal through my week in Jinja. 

Dinnertime for the children of S*nrise

Moses is ready for AFRICA

Okay, so I couldn't wait for Ug*nda to show you this one. This mural is about (NO, it IS) the most joy enducing project I've ever worked on...the Lord spoke so many things to my heart as I painted on this all into the wee hours of the morning. To give you perspective this is about 12 feet long.

I mentioned before that I had selected this image to draw/paint before it dawned on me that Moses was ADOPTED.


Someone asked if I traced or used a projector, I did not.
Here's the picture I looked at to draw the mural, taped to the front.
Like I said the projector in my head is nothing short of GOD.

Here's our manly crew that worked so hard on Noah's Ark...
precious warriors with hearts for Jesus.

My hubbie was leading this awesome work, while I was packing bags & shipping S*nrise T-shirts in AL.  I'm on the best team in the world, and so thankful for it.  Can't wait to blog as our journey begins on Monday night...1st pitstop Heathrow in London. :)

Getting There....

Please read this post by Kim, my newest friend, well she's more than a friend because we're sisters in Christ whose hearts are entertwined through Uganda and the Sonrise Baby Home.  But it's neat that we didn't "know" each other at all before God arranged for us to go on this trip together.  We went to the same large church for almost 5 years and but our paths only crossed from a distance.  I just spent Wednesday and Thursday at her home, preparing our donation bags for the trip and preparing our first round of T-shirts to SHIP.  They are awesome by the way, SO soft.  Please read her blog about our adventures in Getting There.  She wrote for both of us, because we were/are wiped out.  I am refreshed this morning, but still need prayer as two mommas, and 1 daddy plan to leave our combined 6 children for the God adventure of our lives. 

Jonah Goes to AFRICA!

Here's what I've been up to for the last week.
The murals for the orphan home just weren't happening...surprise, surprise
 seeing how life with 3 kids doesn't stop for a project.
Sooo, when my Mom offered to tag team childcare, swimming for the kids,
 and painting by my side. . .I decided what have I got to lose?  So, we headed to the lake.
These murals were not painting themselves at My house.
With 13 days until we board a plane, it was PAINT ON!!
My sweet Wednesday night kids (1st-5th graders),
 from Living OutLoud at West Rome Baptist,
got Jonah started a few weeks ago...

JONAH BEFORE


And Mom & I took it from there.
JONAH AFTER


These Paintings were Powered by:

This girl could not survive without CHOCOLATE!
And nothing beats Peanut Butter WITH CHOCOLATE, Yummmm!
Close up of Jonah, that's one BIG FISH!!

And last, after Jonah's supernatural success (I've never painted like this before)..
We embarked on Baby Moses...here's the
BEFORE

TO BE CONTINUED....from Jinja, Uganda :)