last thoughts

Well I am home now and getting adjusted to my new life in the states. I say new life because every time I come back from being away, be it a week or 2 months, I pray that the Lord will change me and change my life. I believe that He is doing this. I am immeasurably thankful that the Lord loves me enough to consider it worthy of His time to change me. There are a few thoughts I want to leave before I wrap up this round of blogging til the Lord sends me off on another adventure.
One is a story about a boda ride. I know what you are thinking, I bet she fell off, no not this time. it was one of the last nights in gulu. i was riding a boda home and i saw something, a man was doing something or said something i cant remember exactly, and it made me laugh. and i thought about how i wish i could blog about and take pictures of everything but it just isnt possible and even if i did people wouldnt get it. then i felt the Lord bring to mind that scripture in Luke 2:19 where it says that Mary treasured these things in her heart and pondered them. i felt like the Lord was telling me that some parts of my time away in different places and some things that He shows me are just for me and Him to enjoy, just ways for me to experience His love and the different parts of Him. i was overwhelmed at the idea that the Lord loves me that much that He would bless me so richly not to always share or teach from but just because He loves me. remembering that moment has made me feel less anxious about trying to share everything with everyone and less frustrated when people ask "how was Africa" and expect a one sentence answer.
There are bits and pieces of my time in Uganda that pop up in my head, some funny stories, some sad, and some incredibly random. One of my favorite memories with Catherine was on our way home from our morning workout at Peche stadium. We were walking and I was just a talkin away, as usual, about life and people. I think this time I was talking about Beulah or Evy. I noticed Catherine was walking slowly and was not talking so I look up and she is weeping. I said "o carth you are crying" and she said "you just love them so much" It was so sweet for the Lord to let His love shine through me in that way. It was also affirming that the Lord has put that love in me and I do love those little ones, and their family.
The Lord also allowed me to share tons of scripture with the people I was with. I love to give little notes of encouragement and I feel like this summer the Lord used that to speak truth to people. Especially in hard times like when Nate and Samuel passed away.
By the way the St. Jude orphanage did have the CPR training. 28 teachers, house moms, and older girls were taught first aid and CPR! We are planning to make it an annual training.
I also love living with 20 some people i have never met. It is so fun to meet new people and rediscover things about yourself. It was soo encouraging and affirming to hear people say things about how my faith was evident in the way I lived each day. It is so awesome to hear people recognize the Holy Spirit's presence in you, to point out evidences of grace. I had been thinking about that before I left. Paul talks about that when he talks about perseverance and I think it is such a crucial responsibility of members of the body of Christ.
In the end I know I can not sum up what the Lord has taught me these past two months in a blog post, I recognize I will continue to chew on these things for a while, maybe the rest of my life. But I end the summer completely humbled and increasingly blessed by the experiences I had and people I met. May the Lord continue to use this broken vessel and may the Lord bless all of you who have prayed for and walked this path with me.