Super Bowl Sunday

Scott and Debie

Debie, Taylor, Kylee, Retha and Jim ( Intense!!)

Justin and I

Yesterday we invited Justin's family over to watch the Super Bowl with us. The game didn't turn out the way we had hoped but we sure had fun watching it. Debie brought the 3-D glasses for all of us to wear to watch the commercials and we all looked like a bunch of dorks sitting around with them on. Mine wouldn't fit my face and they kept falling off, so I had to hold them on. We had a really good time together.

7 Days and Counting

I am having a terrible time trying to keep up with everything! It has been a while since I have posted, so I decided I better try to get it done today because the rest of the week is going to be so busy trying to tie up everything before we leave for Uganda. We leave at 3:00 in the morning next Tuesday. AHHH! My mind is going ninety miles an hour and I can't seem to settle myself down. I know everything will get done and even if it doesn't - so what, who cares?

In our "Called" devotional we are reading as a team before we go, I read Being Intentional today. It really spoke to me, because I have really been concerned about being intentional about being spiritually prepared for our trip. The author wrote " Among your list of good intentions on the mission field may be to: always say and do the right thing, never have a bad hair day, be Jesus-like, be attractive on much less sleep, not get sick, (please!!!) be admired by everyone, do something big and flashy for God, and storm the gates of Hell." Check, check, check and check. I have thought about every one of these things. She also wrote we need to add a few more things to our list, like: get comfortable with my own stupidity, try not to embarrass my country, be happy to take the backseat, offer to stay behind to do grunge work, and be willing to eat that thing with feet and feathers on my plate. (No!!! Do I really have to?) I will try to adapt as needed and handle it with grace. She ended by saying " God's plans are the best-laid plans. And you might fit into those plans in a different way than you intended." I'm fine with that. Jeremiah 29:11 says "I know the plans I have for you" Just a thought: If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, maybe the road to Heaven is paved with making the best of it when all your good intentions seem to get stomped on. The author, Lena Wood, she is a smart woman.

Today I am going to go get my eyes checked and hopefully get some new glasses so I can see better when I'm on my trip. I sure don't want to miss anything!

A Little Treasure from Ella

I get the biggest kick out my little granddaughters. I had to share what Ella just told me. I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water, when Ella brought me two baby wipes. She said "Grammy, Hunter is poopy! This one's por you and this one's por me. Now open Hunter's diaper." I guess she thought I couldn't wipe him good enough and she needed to help. Poor Hunter, he wasn't even poopy.

I'm Leavin on a Jet Plane

I always think of that song every time a get ready to fly somewhere. Thursday morning, Amy and I are going to fly to Houston and go to the Girls Night Out at Champion Forest Baptist Church. The speakers will be Lysa TerKeurst and Rene Swope from Proverbs 31 ministries and Kate Gosslin. I am so excited to go and get away for a little while and I'm really excited to hear the speakers. I did a Jon and Kate marathon yesterday, since I had recorded several episodes and hadn't watched them yet. I honestly don't know how they do it with all those kids and six of them being the same age. I guess God knew who could handle it and who couldn't. I'm a little bummed because Amy and I couldn't get seats together, but I'm sure we will get to set by some interesting people. There's a reason for everything. Then we will be staying with Amy's aunt Friday night and flying home Saturday.

Nothing like cramming everything into one weekend. Sunday, Justin and I are going to have all of Team Uganda 09 over for lunch after church. It will be the first time we will all be together since we planned the trip. I also invited our local Dr. Laura, who is from Uganda, to join us and share a little bit about her home land. We have recorded two shows about Uganda: The Presidential Tour and Bizarre Foods of Uganda, hopefully we will have time to watch them both and have some time for devotions and prayer. Randy is setting up a time Sunday at the Baptist church to share with them at 9:30 and then at 10:30 have a sending service at our church since this will be the only time we will be able to all be together before we leave in 20 days. It's earlier than we had planned, but you have to do it when we could get everyone here. I have to admit, the jitters are starting to set in a little bit, but it is an adventure and we are taking Jesus with us!

My Birth Verse

Today as I was scrolling through my bookmarks, I notice the website about birth verses that I had forgotten about. So I looked up my birth verse which was found in Jeremiah 1:5. It said "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Wow! How appropriate since I am going around the world in a month to do just that. It is an interesting website. To look up your birth verse go to www.birthverse.com. Yesterday at church we had a sending service for Paul and Amanda who are going to plant a church in Kansas City and Wendell Lowen was the speaker. I know he was speaking about Paul and Amanda, but I felt like he was talking directly to me about our trip. He just affirmed what the Lord had already been speaking to my heart in my daily devotions. When you go somewhere to minister to others, it's more about being, rather than doing.

Karen had been reading a workbook from a Beth Moore Study she had done called Stepping Up: A journey through the Psalms of Ascent. She was so excited about what she had read, she brought it to me to read. We had a discussion Saturday about being nervous about different things we will experience on this journey to Uganda, for instance the long flight and our safety once we get there. The daily lesson she had marked for me to read was entitled The Lord Your Keeper. The scripture was taken from Psalm 121:1-8 and The Lord is Your Shelter concentrating on verses 5-6. I see why it meant so much to her. Where does my help come from? The Maker of Heaven and Earth. God is caretaker of us all. He already knows what we will encounter and will hide us beneath the shelter of His Wings.

COUNT DOWN!!

We are on a count down to February 10th when we leave to go to Uganda! One month from today. Pat hosted a brunch this morning to introduce the team and raise awareness about our trip. There were several people there and Pat did an awesome job on the food. She even made an African Peanut soup to wet our appetite for the foods we might be eating while there. It was not quite my favorite taste, kind of sweet. I may end up losing weight after all. I think everyone is getting excited to go and we just enjoyed being together talking about it for a while. The whole team was there with the exception of Diana and Byron.

Back row: Don, Justin, Elton, Leon, Randy. Front row: Lisa, Jodi, Pat, Karen and Betty.
Check out the new blog for our team. I have added it to my blog list at the right.

It's My Birthday!!

Today is my birthday and I have had a wonderful day. I have had lots of phone calls and emails from friends and family. Even a call I wasn't expecting from my cousin Rick, who has always had a special place in my heart. I was so excited to hear from him. He's been more like a brother to me when we were growing up, but I don't see him much anymore, even though we live in the same area. Life just sometimes gets in the way. (Sad, but true). Marshalene and Hunter came by and brought a gift of lotion, bath powder (which I've already used in a long, hot bath) and a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure to be given by my favorite daughter-in-love (as Justin likes to call her). Speaking of Sara, she and Ella stopped by to wish me a happy birthday also. Glenna took me out for lunch and I could hardly eat my food for doing so much laughing! She gave me a journal to take with me to Uganda and a small, pewter, keepsake cross that opens up and has little charms in it that says things about best friends. Justin took me out for supper Saturday evening since there is usually not much open on Monday's and besides I have a music board meeting at church tonight. That's ok, I like alot of others, have gotten back on the band wagon to lose some weight again (UHG!)