Love the life God gave you

The other day I was thinking about Jethro. 

I was thinking about how he has no one to play with here at home.

Then, I started thinking about who he does get to play with

and it kind of broke my heart.

The only time Jethro gets to play with children is at an orphanage.

This has been heavy on my heart for a while now.

I know God has called us here and this is where we are supposed to be,

but it is still hard to realize the reality of Jethro's friends.

A couple weeks later, I talked to a friend on the phone 

and they were talking about how hard it is to see Jethro

living without all the things he would have and get to do if we lived in the US.

He would get to go to the park and play with children in an open field,

he would get to go to museums and learn about all kinds of cultures and the past,

he would be able to go to the zoo and learn about animals,

he would be able to go to daycare, if we wanted him to, 

and play with children without us fearing he will be beat by the caretakers.

So, I started praying and asking God to open my heart to all He has for us here.

And, of course, He did.

God has really opened my eyes.

I now see Jethro's situation in a different light.

Jethro at the Zoo with Lawrence,
a child from an orphanage we work at

Seeing the ocean for the first time

At a Balloon Fiesta in NM with Grandma

I now see that Jethro gets to play with children who long for a friend

and Jethro gets to be that person

I now realize that we only live 45 min away from a zoo and a good one at that, 

or 3 hours away from the real thing.

Jethro is already more cultured than most American children

and adults for that matter. 

We now have missionary friends from New Zealand 

who come over and their children play with Jethro.

We also have missionary friends from Uganda, Kenya, Canada and the US that Jethro can play with.

Jethro has been to Africa (of course), Europe and America. 

He has been to Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, California, New Mexico, West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Nevada (yes, we took our son to Las Vegas. He had to experience a Las Vegas Buffet).

Jethro has gotten to see and will get to see more of the world than most people will ever get to see. 

God made me realize, Jethro doesn't need to go to a museum to learn about culture,

to experience culture, 

he is living a very culturally diverse life already.

Getting water to do dishes in Uganda

With Shawn on his first chair lift

On a ferry in North Carolina

Jethro's playground in Uganda

At GG's house picking strawberries

Jethro may not have a "normal" life,

but it is one that will teach him many life lessons and make him a well rounded person.

He will grow up loving people from all walks of life.

He will grow up seeing God move mountains.

He will Grow up to love Jesus with all his heart and

he will get to grow up serving people in Jesus name. 

I truly thank God for helping me to realize that Jethro is not missing out at all.

He is living the life God has blessed him with.

Jethro ready for an adventure in CA

Please dont be like me and only see the things that you or your children are mission out on,

but realize how blessed you are to have the life you have. 

Dads Love

A lady has been asking us to come speak at a girls home for some time now

and so Shawn, Jethro and I went meet the girls and encourage them on Saturday.

It is a home for girls who have been sexually abused.

They are all school age girls, so they are still young. 

When we arrived, the girls surrounded the car, yelling "Hello, your welcome!"

As we went inside, we sat down on the couch as they began to introduce themselves.

They would say what their name was and the grade they were in.

One of the Aunties gave us an introduction about the house.

Jethro then darted outside to play with the soccer ball he had been eyeing since we got there

and most of the girls followed him outside.

They loved playing with him and Jethro was loving all the attention. 

I stayed inside and one of the girls came over and started asking questions about me.

She asked if Jethro was my only child and if we loved Uganda (of course we do)

but it was the next few questions that have been on my mind and I cant seem to forget it.

She asked if I still had parents? 

I said "yes"

Then she continued asking "Are they divorced?"

I said "yes, and they are both remarried."

She then asked the heart wrenching question,

"Does your Dad still love you?"

My heart started to ache right away 

It was so hard for me to hear a question like this.

Why would you ask a question like this?

I thought to myself, DUH, of course he still loves me.

Just because my parents got divorced doesn't mean that my Dad loves me any less. 

But it does here in Uganda. 

So, I answered, "yes, he loves me very much."

She said "you are so blessed. I wish my Dad still loved me"

Then all the girls started calling me outside because they wanted to talk to me too. 

I wanted to stay inside and tell her that she has a Heavenly Father who loves her more than life itself, 

but with all the other girls calling my name and wanting to talk to me too,

I never got the chance.

I wanted to tell her she is special!

That she is the daughter of the Most High King!

That she is a princess!

That she is always loved by her God!

  

I am so happy the girls home is just down the road from our house 

 They are so close to us.

I can now visit them often 

and get to tell Ann all the things I never got to say.

I am blessed to have a worldly Father who loves me and a Heavenly Father who loves me.

Please pray for Ann.

Pray that she can understand a fathers love

and that she is truly loved.