Murphy Lee

I’m working on a HUGE project at the moment but I can’t say what it is because I don’t know if the person that it’s for reads my blog or not. So, it’s a secret. But, I was working on it last night and apparently Murph felt the need to supervise.

Please Pray

When we started seriously looking into International adoption we called the only two agencies we knew of that were working in Uganda. We had heard from others that before you decide on an agency call them and ask for some references of other families that are using the same one. They will always give you their contact information and you can call them to see what their experience has been with the agency. So, the one we liked the best was in Texas...we called and talked with the caseworker who was awesome and we asked if she could put us in touch with some other families who were also trying to adopt.
We met the Via family who were adopting a little girl from Uganda. We emailed several times and it was so great to be able to ask her questions about what they were going through.
Well, they have now been in Uganda for 9 weeks...their entire family actually went which is so cool! But yesterday, Tasha and the kids came home without their dad and their new little sister and they don't know when or if she will ever be able to come home. Josh stayed to continue to plead their case with the US Embassy, but without a miracle, 3 year old Alethia will never know what it's like to have a mom and dad. She was surrendered by her birth parents to a babies home when she was 9 months old. The Via family and everyone involved, including their agency have been under the impression that her father had died of AIDS. They just found out this week that is not the case. Both of her parents are alive although unwilling and unable to care for her. However, under the US or Uganda court system (I'm not sure which), she no longer meets the requirement of being an orphan, therefore she is unable to be adopted. The sad thing is that this is a brand new policy, so new that had their judge shown up to court when he was supposed to several weeks ago for their original court date, everything would have been fine and they would already be home by now with their daughter.
I know the entire family is heartbroken, but they know God is bigger than what they're going through right now. They don't understand, but they know He has them right where He wants them. Please though if you're reading this stop for just a second and pray for them, they need prayer. Pray not only for them, but for little Alethia. She has known what it feels like to have a loving family surround her for the last 9 weeks, and there is a chance now that all of that will be taken away and she'll be sent back to the babies home.

Change

Sometimes there are just certain times in life that are more difficult than others and I feel like I’m in one of those right now. It’s like a season, and I feel like I’m in a really tough winter season. I HATE winter, I hate being cold, I don’t like the big baggy clothes I need to wear to stay warm, I hate how dry my skin gets and having to wear lotion on my hands (I hate wearing lotion on my hands, anywhere else is fine, NOT THE HANDS), blah, blah, blah.

But I know winter is always going to come as long as I live in Indiana and I feel like I’m usually pretty well prepared for it. I put away my cute summer clothes and fun sandals and start pulling out the thick socks and bulky scarves and I prepare for the fact that I’m not going to have a tan for the next few months. Even though I don’t like winter AT ALL, I’m prepared for it because I know it’s going to come and by the time April rolls around I’ve kind of forgotten how cold and dreary it was for those 3 or 4 months of winter because I love summer so much.

But I was so not prepared for this season of life that I’m in right now, I’m not saying that it’s bad, it’s just different and more difficult but I don’t think it’s necessarily bad. I think it’s going to be a time to develop new relationships and try even more new things and hopefully break down some walls I’ve put up.

Scott and I have always had a great core group of friends whether it’s at church, at the gym or through different activities we like to do and it’s been good. But things have changed with so many of those friends, many have started having children which has been great. We want to have children, we’ll try biologically AND we’ll try through adoption and if it’s God’s will, one day we’ll have kids also which is super exciting to think about. But right now we’re kind of the ODD couple. We don’t fit in with the newly married couples anymore and we don’t fit in with the couples who now have kids. Of our close core group of friends we’re the only couple that doesn’t have kids yet. So, things are just different and I wasn’t prepared for how different they would be. And honestly I feel like I’ve let the difference define me and at times it’s made me a not very nice person. I’m sure people around me have thought that I wasn’t happy for them which soooooooooooo was not the case, I just let the difference affect me in a negative way. So I’ve decided to embrace the difference and find others that are in the same season we are because I know we’re not the only ones.

Uganda Love

Well, a dear friend is leaving tomorrow to go back to Uganda, I'm super excited for her!! This is going to be an amazing trip for her in so many ways and I can't wait to hear from her when she gets back. KB and I met when I went to Uganda in March, she was my roommate and the one person I really felt most connected with, someone I could talk to about how I was feeling and what I was experiencing. We both kind of went through a mix of emotions on that trip and it was great to have each other to confide in. KB, I hope you have a great time!! Give lots of little ones love for me, tell Stanley and Geoffrey that I can't wait to see them again and most of all tell Pastor Simon and Irene that they are both always in our prayers.

A New Hobby

I kind of have a new hobby and I think I'm obsessed. I'm constantly looking for great deals on old furniture that I can refinish. This is kind of my first piece that's really turned out well enough to post pictures of. I don't have any before pictures which is dumb...why didn't I take any? Anyway, I got this on Craigslist about a year ago for FREE and I finally got around to refinishing it. The color is Valspar Honeymilk and I did some light distressing. The knobs are from Hobby Lobby which I of course got all of them each 50% off and let me just tell you that is the way to go. Hobby Lobby has the best selection of super cool knobs and generally every couple of weeks they go on sale for 50% off. The picture isn't great, but hopefully you can kind of get the idea.
Like I said I'm always on the lookout for great deals on stuff that I can redo, so if you have some old furniture you want to get rid of let me know!!

New Arrival

Soooooo....I LOVE DOGS!!!!! We had a dog when I was growing up, his name was Montgomery and he was a Springer Spaniel and let me just tell you that there isn't a dog in the world that could compare to him, he was seriously the best dog ever and I miss him alot. Ever since he died though when I was in college I have always wanted to get another dog. It really has never been the right time though. Before I got married I always lived in an apartment and just didn't want to subject a dog to living in such a small place and I didn't want the responsibility at the time. When we got married we had more space but we've been living in an apartment for the last 3 years and we're just busy people and didn't feel like we had time for a dog. Well...this past spring we moved to an old farmhouse with lots of land and FINALLY we have a dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The verdict is still out on whether or not he will replace Montgomery, even if he doesn't though he's still a super sweet dog and we haven't regretted our decision about getting him. Even when he steals food off the counter or he tears a hole through the brand new bed that we bought him or when he drinks water and spills it all over the floor and I have to get down on my hands and knees and clean up. He's a great dog and I'm super excited about him...Scott is too, even if he won't admit it!

This is Murph, he's a 7 year old blue Weimaraner and we rescued him from Great Lake Weimaraner Rescue in Grand Haven, MI. We just got him this past weekend and so far he is doing awesome!

Beautiful Uganda

I am the worst blogger in the world I think. Why is it so hard to consistently post something and when I do why is it like 50,000 words? I don't know!! I am making a promise to my 7 faithful followers that I will do a better job.

So anyway, I wanted to first post some pictures from my time in Uganda then finally post some of my thoughts from the trip. I'm still processing everything I saw and experienced and just need a few more days.Yes, that's goat on a stick and they came right up to the window of the van...didn't even have to get it out. It was actually really good!

And this was dinner each night. We bought them live during our 8 hour trip from the capital to where we were staying in the north. We put them in the back of the van with all of our luggage and they made the long trip with us. HILARIOUS!!!

I could go on and on about all of the sweet kids. This was just along the side of the road.

Very common homes. We would see small clusters of these everywhere.


These monkeys are crazy! We were just about to cross the Nile and there were monkeys everywhere!
Lots of foot washing took place.

This is Jacob and Esau, they're twins and they're orphans...wish I could have brought them home with me.

I don't know her name, but she was a sweetheart!

More foot washing!


This is Patrick and his grandfather. Both of his parents died of AIDS and now his elderly grandfather takes care of him.

So many bare feet.

Absolutely loved these women! They were so excited that we had come to play with their children.Check out the shorts.
This is Benjamin, the boy we're going to sponsor!! He's 18 years old and wants to be a doctor. His father recently died and he hasn't seen his mother in several years.There aren't even words. This was a common sight in m
any of the remote villages we visited.One of the patient rooms at a hospital we visited.

Dried fish in the Nebbi market.

Men making sandals out of old tires.
This is how the women carry their babies. It's genius if you ask me!
Another baby with not enough to eat.
The crew after our team left.
At Pastor Simon's house with his family. More to come on him later!
Washing Pastor Simon's feet.
I couldn't think of a better way to end the trip than spending time with the kids at Greenhouse Orphanage. When we walked in, together in unison they all said, "you are most welcome our vistas"...LOVE IT!!

I'M GOING BACK!!!

I’m going to UGANDA…in a few weeks!! You may know that it has been a dream for such a long time to be able to go to Uganda, so I can’t even tell you how excited I am!! This trip kind of came up at the last minute, but everything has worked out wonderfully and I leave on March 9^th!! I’m going with the organization I work for and it’s kind of a vision trip for Samaritan’s Feet. A group from Charlotte, NC contacted us after a trip they had planned to India fell through. They asked us if we could plan a trip for them for the same time they had planned to go to India. We recently hired a new girl to coordinate all of our international trips, she has been to Uganda several times and wanted to plan a trip at some point to take a team there, so this is it! With our hopes of adopting from Uganda, Scott and I both have decided that one or both of us should go to Uganda any chance we might get. Since I work for the organization I get a discount on our international trips, and it makes it very affordable for me to go. So I’m going to Uganda, I keep saying it over and over in my mind because it still doesn’t feel like it’s real!

I received my itinerary yesterday and it’s going to be a long flight, but it’s much more broken up than the last time I went to Africa. Fourteen hours straight on a plane is not something I’m really interested in doing again for a long time! This time though I’ll fly from here to NY, NY to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda. I don’t know for sure yet, but I think we’re staying one night in Entebbe then we’ll head out to Nebbi, Uganda which is where we’ll be for the duration of our trip. It’s a really long way from Entebbe to Nebbi and I don’t know if we’ll be driving or taking a small plane, but I would kind of like to drive even if it takes hours. I’ve seriously dreamed about what Uganda looks like so it would be cool to see if what I’ve seen in my dreams is real? I remember that being one of the coolest parts of being in Nigeria. When we all piled into the van to go somewhere I always made sure I got a seat by the window so that I could look outside and see everyone in their colorful dresses, the women carrying little babies strapped to their backs, vendors selling food and all sorts of crazy stuff. I so badly wanted to be in the mix of what was going on, but we always had to stay in the van. It was always busy though, and I loved it!! I think Uganda is going to be different, much more countryside where we’re going, but I just know it’s going to be so beautiful. It’s the Pearl of Africa after all!

So one of the coolest parts about this trip, well the whole trip will be AMAZING I’m sure, but one aspect of it that I am SOOOOOOO EXCITED about is that instead of staying in the hotel with the rest of the group; myself, Sara Beth (our International Coordinator), and two of her friends that are coming with us get to stay with a family in their home! I can’t even tell you how much I’m looking forward to this part of the trip! The guy (Geoffrey) that is our main contact in Nebbi is going to host the four of us in his home. Now, Nebbi is a pretty rural area and Geoffrey and his family don’t have electricity in their homes and just have an outhouse in the back. But this is going to be such an amazing experience and something I’ve only dreamed about. I know that sounds weird, but I’ve always thought of being able to stay with a family whenever I get the chance to travel to Africa. Anyway, I want to be able to take a gift for each person in Geoffrey’s house, he has a wife and 3 kids. Any ideas?

There’s so much I want to share about what’s running through my mind as I anticipate leaving for this trip, but I don’t know how to express it just yet. Hope to have a full report when I return and lots of great pictures to post. In the meantime I’ll try to post a little more frequently between now and March 9^th.