The Unknown

The Braces ARE Off!!!

I kinda wanted something clever to write at the start of this post; as you can see, my 'clever line or three' didn't quite work. My brain is a little overwhelmed at the minute and hasn't totally caught up with all the change and all that is coming up. So this post is a style of therapy for my poor brain and a catch up for you, my honoured reader.

I'm no longer on the Netherlands' eastern boarder, but at YWAM Heidebeek's accommodation, Licht in Duster (better known as LiD). I'm trying not to get all sentimental on you here, as I kinda feel a bit sentimental right now (that might be due to the lack of sleep I've had over the last few days).

The School of Intercessory Prayer (otherwise known as the SOIP), that I've been ranting about for ages (in my blogs and on Polariod Blipfoto) starts tomorrow! So I must warn you that from now on there's going to be a change in my post content. No longer can I post about my excitement about the school starting, how many days I have to wait and whatever else I've been rambling on about. From now on, I'll be aiming to write about what IS actually happening on the SOIP. I'm so excited about this season and all that God has in store for me.

Another point of highlight from the last few days, something that some of you might interesting is in regards to my braces, I had to make a quick visit to England (which explains, in part, why I'm tired now) for an appointment with my orthodontist about the possibility of having my braces out. I had no idea if they were going to be taken out or not, hence my reluctance to post here. It's safe to say that I'm totally braces free!!! New smile, new me (kind of). I'm stuck with retainers at night, but that's not nearly as bad as having braces!

When All Of The Lights...

There's nothing quite like watching the sun sink behind the rim of the earth. The colors and the patterns caused by the clouds is breath taking, but sometimes we either don't see the sun disappear because we can't see through the rain, but because we can't see the sun doesn't mean that the sun isn't there, doesn't make the sun any beautiful. I've spent my life watching the world around me, marveling at how much we all need God so desperately. I've often wondering if we'd ever survive without God's intervention in our lives. So often I've wondered why I've thought I make it on my own without any help, but to be honest, I've not liked where I've ended up. Let's just say, it was dark and scary, a place of depression and loneliness, a place that I never hope to see again, but have seen often enough, even at a distance. Its a place I hope that I'll never return to; nor is it a place that I pray no one else has to suffer alone, like I did.

As I write this, I look towards to the next step in my life story, with great excitement; it's a step that's only a matter of a week and half away, and I'm thrilled about heading back to Youth With A Mission YWAM Heidebeek (where I did my Discipleship Training School DTS all those years ago). However, it's also an opportunity to look back on my journey up until this point. Yes, I've lived and seen things, experienced things, that the "normal" young adult wouldn't have to live through. I guess it comes with being the daughter of missionaries in Africa. I've seen so much there, but it's not a life I'd exchange for any other, no matter how tough it's been at times. I mean, I got to live in a country full of beautiful, welcoming people, who taught me so much about life. So many families had been effected by the Lord's Resistance Army LRA, or by the civil war that rocked Uganda after independence in the early 1960's. There were times when, after I was born, my parents would have to run into the corridor and lay down on the floor, with me, because there was gunfire outside the house. Thankfully, it is no longer like that. Uganda, as a nation, has made a total one hundred and eighty degree turn from those early days of instability (author's note: if you ever have the money and the time, Uganda should definitely be worth a visit). I know I'll never move back to Uganda as a missionary, or otherwise. , but I'll still call Uganda the place I grew up in. My future still isn't certain, but I know God is already there and has great things planned for me!

Newsflash

I can't believe it! Fifteen days to go, fifteen days until I return to YWAM Heidebeek to start my third school with them, the School of Intercessory Prayer SOIP. I can't quite believe that its been three years since I did my Discipleship Training School DTS there in September 2012. Its been an extremely long journey since I actually chose to follow my parents into the mission field. Sometimes the stigma and the expectation is hard to deal with. Its hard to explain but sometimes the expectation that I was going to going into missions, like my parents, has followed me. My parents wanted the best for me, but I'm not sure they expected me to go to YWAM, and to stay in YWAM. I went because I thought, I felt, it was the right thing to do. The going hasn't been easy. There's been many obstacles I've had to face and overcome. It wasn't easy but I made it through and I'm still alive and fighting. My journey isn't done, I haven't finished with life because I know that God has so much more for me that I could ever expect! The adventures that are coming through my way are exciting! I'm so looking forwards to the next step!

Just A Random Post

Raya

There's been a lot of swirling around in my head over the last few weeks. Yeah, my life is quiet right now; its very almost the completely mirror opposite to what my life was like in London. I love it here; the peace, the quietness and the odd the jobs that Joyce gives me to do each day. I love it here. I've been able to gather my thoughts about a lot of different things. It's also given me a chance to have some really deep conversations with my sister, Hannah, who works in Paris as a chef.

One thing that I've realized how grateful I am about is my relationship with my sister. We're two years apart and have shared so many different memories despite the fact that we're like salt and pepper in so many areas. As little girls we used to fit like a pair of cats, but as we got older it subconsciously dawned on both of us that, actually, God had given us each other as a friend. When I chose to leave boarding school, aged 18, Hannah stayed on to finish her last year of school (a year that I should have done but didn't), our relationship took off. We still shared a room in Kampala, yet the distance and the lack of contact due to business of both sides, caused us to gravitate to each other when we were together. We've spent a lot of time talking about different things that have been passing through our minds right now.

There have been a change since my last post. The couple who were renting the apartment that my room is adjoining to, left this morning, really early. They've moved into their own place. They got married about two and a half years ago and this was their first place together. Raya (pictured) is their dog, she's a really funny German Shepherd as she'd make a bit of a racket when anyone would come up the stairs (either by winning, barking or both). So now that they've moved out of the apartment, it's a lot more quiet.

Two weeks and three days (or there about) to go before the School of Intercessory Prayer SOIP starts. But then again, I'm not really counting down. I'm enjoying my time here in the Dutch border region a bit too much!

Nomad

So many times in my life I've felt like a nomad; the hours spent packing what I owned into suitcases and heading off to another airport, to catch another plane to another destination. I know i'm so fortunate to have such crazy opportunities to travel the world like I have. I guess my life's been a story of God's goodness in my life; I've honestly lost count of all the times He's surprised me. I love the traveling, I love planes and airports, seeing new places; but there are hardships that come with such a nomadic lifestyle. 

I've felt that my skin colour betrayed me so many times. I grew up calling myself a Ugandan. I'd been born there and I'd called Uganda my home, but people never believed me because I looked as different as it could possibly get. Throughout my childhood and my teens, I always knew I'd be going back to Uganda. Right up until I boarded that Brussels Airways in September 2012. I was leaving Uganda on a new adventure, one that I knew held so much potential and I was so excited. However, there was a "problem". I knew that once I left Uganda I probably wasn't going to go back for longer than a holiday. The reason was simple. My family had moved countries. I thought it wouldn't happen to my folks; yet it had. They'd chosen to put the family first, and were moving to the middle of the South African bush so that my brother could go to a good school without putting my brother through the drama of boarding school.

When my DTS finished (after an amazing experience), I traveled down to South Africa for what I thought would be less than three months. I couldn't have been more wrong. South Africa was an eleven month period where I had to trust God every moment of my time there to bring me closer to Him. It was a daily struggle to be in a place I knew was a place of transition.

My time in England was incredible, and in so many ways. God fulfilled a promise he'd given me when I was 18. He'd told me I'd go back to Is.rael during my first trip there. Last year He told me I'd be going with a team and less than six months later that happened. It answered the questions I had about why I'd go back for the second time.

Now I'm on the cusp of another adventure. God has spoken, God has provided, God has opened the doors and His blessings have poured out of heaven in ways I never thought possible. I'm now going through a season of rest. Yes, I helping friends out daily with their ponies and with what ever else they need help with. These jobs give me the chance to think and to process what everything means. It's also given me the vital opportunity to go back to my roots in God; to thank Him on a daily basis for the wonders He's preformed in my life and for His trustworthiness in my life.

Even though life is uncertain and the life I lead is full of uncertainties, one thing will always remain certain. God will never forget me. He will never leave me. He is my home. I don't need the certainty of knowing where I'll end up in six months time. I have six months to trust that God will open that door. I have six months to praise Him from the corridors. That's the simply the pure joy of it. God. Is. In. Control. Period.