Featured Post

Hey Follow Me!

So I've come up with a way for you all to see at least some pictures when I don't have enough data to upload pictures. I've reo...

Monday, November 21, 2016

Ugandlish 2.0

THIS IS MY 100TH BLOG POST GUYSSSSSS!!!

One of the posts I hear about all the time is my Ugandlish post (Ugandlish). This was absolutely one of my favorite posts
s to write, and I've been collect other phrases to help you learn Ugandlish before you come to visit me. Or, you know, when I come home for Christmas and you have no idea what I'm meaning to say. :)

Let me find my phone there = I'm leaving my phone there on purpose, watch my phone
Let me find you there = I'll meet you there
Produce children = Have children
Urinate = Pee
Defecate = Poop
Yes Madam = Greeting, Hello Madam
Extend = Scoot, move
Add = Give me more, especially for food or shopping
Smart = Well dressed
Intelligent = Intelligent, smart
Stubborn = Difficult, especially used when a child is difficult to deal with, but it doesn't literally mean stubborn
Yellows = In the US we would just call them bananas, but here there are several types of bananas. Specifically, they are bagoya, sweet bananas.
You (command) = You is used in front of commands not as emphasis but just as normal speech
Have done, said, etc. = At least in the West, the present perfect is used instead of the simple past.
I have lost my what what? = I have lost my... Uhh... Uhhhhhhh..... What is used as a filler.
Mingle posho/mingling stick = Ugandans use mingle instead of mix, and it makes me laugh every time because I picture posho (maize flour and water) mingling with finger foods and drinks and all dressed up. Haha!
Program = schedule
Way forward = next step
Share out = Share with the class or group
Move there = Go there, used when you are going a short distance, not when moving to another place.
Move out = Go outside the room you're currently in to do something like use the restroom. You never ask to make a short call specifically, you ask to move out.
Shift there = Move there
Isn't it?, Not so? = Tag questions, used like Yeah? or Okay? at the end of sentences
These silly children = Children are strange,
I don't know how I can.... = I don't think I can...
May you please grab me some? = Please will you grab me some?
Disturb = Bother

Monday, November 7, 2016

Memories

A year ago today, I stepped on a plane and left my family, knowing it would be at least a year before I would see them again, if not two or more. I honestly took a huge step of faith in God that this wasn't going to be the biggest mistake of my life, that He would protect me and help me grow in Him. He has pulled through in unexpected ways.

My dad posted a picture of him, my mom, and me (my sister was sick with mono at the time) at the airport just before I left. With it was this prayer. (Fair warning: It very well might make you cry.)


Heavenly Father,

It is now time for my little girl off to depart for what will be the adventure of her life. It’s been an amazing process, this parenthood thing…it seems like it was just yesterday that she was born, and I blinked and she was going to school, then blinked again and she was graduating from high school, and then going away to college, and then graduating from college, …and now she is leaving my protection for the next 27 months.
When she was a baby we dedicated her to You. She has grown up in, and is still in, the midst of Your presence and blessings. She is my child, and blessedly and assuredly Yours. It is now time to fully commend her to You, for her safety and protection, for blessings to continue to be poured out into her life, and for her to bless people from her unselfish and giving heart.
I pray that you place your angels all about my little girl…one in front, one on the left, one to the rear, one to the right, and one on each corner around her, to shield her from anything visible and invisible, obvious and not, that no harm from the evil one may be able to come near her.
I pray for your traveling mercies. Bless her and all who are involved in her travels.
When she reaches her new land:
I pray that you have a family prepared to receive her, that she can bless them as they bless her.
I pray that you have a church prepared for to receive her, so she has a new church family to bond with.
I pray that learning the new language and culture come naturally and easily.
I pray that adjusting to the new culture and position go smoothly, with no bumps in the road, and that all in authority give support and assistance where and when needed.
I pray for “peace that passes all understanding,” that no anxiety remains, that joy is found in all avenues taken, that time passes quickly, and that homesickness will be an afterthought.
I pray for your will to be made known to her plainly as she tries to follow Your plan for her life.
Watch over my little girl who has grown into a beautiful and powerful young woman in You. I so look forward to when you bring her back to us.
It is in Jesus’ mighty name that I pray these things…
Amen, and Amen.


I read this in the airport, waiting for my plane to depart, tears streaming down my face even harder than they had been while going through security. I can't quite articulate how hard it was to leave my family, to see my dad crying on that day because of my departure. My mom cried the whole week before. I can't quite articulate how much I rely on these two people who brought me into this world even though I'm 23, almost 24, and living on a completely different continent. Our weekly phone calls are a serious part of what keeps me sane.

God has done amazing things for me in this past year. Growing hurts, it really does, but I'm so glad I followed Him. The bumps in the road may not have been what I wanted, but they were good for me. He may not have answered all of my requests in the way I thought they would be answered, but they all have come through. They didn't always come through in my time, but His timing is perfect. He is challenging me to become bolder in Him, to know scripture solidly so that I can reach the lost, and of course to trust Him in His perfect timing even though I can't see everything as far out as I want to. He wants me to know Him in the same way He knows me, even if that means not going to church and rather just studying His Word. He's taught me that living in the moment has its place so much more than I ever realized. Now I'm just trying to figure out the balance of that and planning.... :P

I have met amazing people here. I have become more of an adult here (although I refuse to grow old as old as I get). I have learned to really roll with the punches of life, to trust that everything is going to be okay. I've learned that introvert nights are not only okay but necessary. I've learned to preserve through everything because so often things come together just after I would have normally thrown in the towel.

But I still have so much to learn. God is still stretching me, still teaching me things. He always will. As much as I hate growing pains, I love the outcome. I can't wait to see where I am a year from now!!