Gifts

The moon rose, huge and red. The fireflies appeared before us in twinkling, scattered bursts beneath the brightening stars. Soft music began to play as the lemon grass tea set about coming to a boil. We run about catching fireflies in the dusky light. 

What joy is this...

Nate took all the interns for a camping trip out at his land in the village, on the bank of the Nile. What a gift!

Watching the sunset over the Nile.

My life of late has been filled with many gifts of varied forms. Special moments hand crafted by Someone whose thoughts are far above mine (really, this is always, but sometime His hand is especially apparent). A package from my family, filled with some of my favorite things. A gift.

Watching the Ekisa Christmas program. A gift.

Ekisa is a group home for disabled kids where I've been volunteering. It has been so great to get to know the kids. Today one of the little girls asked me if I knew Jesus. I said yes, and she said she did, too. Then we talked about how we are sisters in Christ. It was a special moment. 

        Time spent skyping with loved ones, hearing their voices, seeing their smiles. Homemade eggnog. Giving presents. Baking cookies. All gifts!

This girl is such a sweetheart. 

        Paper Christmas trees and snowflakes, reminders of memories of Christmas at home, ultimately reminding us of God's Great Gift.

"And there, in the stable, amongst the chickens and the donkeys and the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world his wonderful gift. The baby that would change the world was born. His baby Son.

Mary and Joseph wrapped him up to keep him warm. They made a soft bed of straw and used the animal's feeding trough as his cradle. And they gazed in wonder at God's Great Gift, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

Mary and Joseph named him Jesus. "Emmanuel" - which means "God has come to live with us."

Because, of course, he had."

- The Jesus Storybook Bible

There’s a snake in my… BATHROOM?!?!?!?!

Not quite the same as Woody’s, the cowboy from Toy Story, famous line, but This IS Africa!

As I entered the bathroom a 2.5 foot long, bright green snake was awaiting me slithered up against the pane of our bathroom window. After much screaming, and panic (Did I mention that snakes are the ONE animal that I am scared clear out of my socks of!?) I decided the time had come to be practical. So, after deciding this snake must never get in our house again, paranoid that I would one day open my suitcase and find a snake inside-EWW, the logical conclusion was for it to be killed.  I retrieved our only weapon, the 3 inch blade knife Lyd is borrowing from her dad, along with an empty bottle to hold him down and set my face for the worst.

The snake moved to the
 garbage can in our bathroom

 

The snake had transitioned to its original location, the gardener’s bathroom, which is connected to ours through a vent. I walked outside to the gardener’s door and timidly pushed it open, once locating the snake, which was curled up near the vent, I returned back to our bathroom and mustered up the courage to poke it completely through to the other side with the knife so that I could get at him

This job completed I returned back to the gardener’s bathroom, but could not see the snake until I realized he was wrapped along a pipe staring straight at me- ekk! Ok God, give me strength and courage. With my heart pumping I inched closer, then retreated at its hissing, inched again, and retreated. Deciding I was finished with this game I continued to close in, but he saw my plan and began to retreat for safety, up to the tank where the water was stored for the toilet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, here goes nothing – and with a final lunge, slice! Snake blood squirts onto my hand, drips down the wall, and half of the body, the part with the head, falls to the bathroom floor.  He continues to squirm around and I realize, this isn’t finished- ughhh! With empty bottle in hand and knife in the other I attempt to hold the snake down and cut again, but I back out before the work is done- scared of the wriggling critter.

God fill me with your calm!  This time I hold the creature down with purpose and quickly detach the head from the body. Whew, ok, I feel all shaky like I just drank a large caribou mocha on an empty stomach and the espresso just kicked in,

Thanks God for answered prayer. What do I do with it now? Time to call Nate.

 

 

We apologize for not updating our blog in awhile. This is a small piece of excitement from the month of December. Thanks so much for all of your prayers as God continues to work in Uganda!

Katonda akuwe omukisa (God bless you),

Lydia and Ruth