Snapshot

It's been quite some time since I last wrote on my blog. Here is a snapshot of what has been happening in the past few months. 

I returned to Uganda the end August for a short three weeks. During that time I attended our church's annual youth conference.  The conference was in another village so Luka and his friends stayed in the tent one night and Lydia, Dad, and I slept in our van. There was a terrible dust storm leading up to a heavy rain the second night so Luka joined us in the van. 

My family spent six weeks in Michigan this fall. Our time was very busy, but we made lots of good memories! 

Flight number 1 out of 4. My second time traveling alone and almost everything went wrong. But I made to Uganda safely 24 hours later than expected. Thankful for God's safety! 

Sweet Makai was counting down the sleeps until I got home. He was so excited for me to come home that he came running up to the van shouting "GRACE!" He even baked me a cake! 

He always makes people smile! 

Waiting for the truck to drive everyone to the youth conference. 

Lots of prayer over the truck! 

Somehow I always get dragged into situations I don't intend to. Me and one of my best friends went to her grandma's house. On the walk back, we ended up on a boda (motorcycle taxi). It was very squeezed and a little nerve-racking. Some people may have laughed at us when we pulled up. 

We had the youth conference in a village next to the lake. So we enjoyed fresh fish for some of the meals. 

Serving many, many plates of fish! 

We were the only Mzungus (white people) for miles around so we had lots of little followers. And as always, a few kids ran away in fear. Compared to some villages, however, these kids were pretty respectful and kind. 

This beautiful sunset turned into a dust storm and a heavy rain as soon as it got dark. I have never experienced such dust, strong winds, and heavy rain. At times, the lightning was so bright it looked like it was day. 

We had an amazing visit to Michigan in the fall. We saw lots of cousins, friends, and supporters. It was so good to be back! 

We loved the fall colors! 

My dad and I took a spontaneous trip to Iowa to visit Dordt University. I was so excited to see how God answered prayers from the past 2+ years! I will be attending Dordt starting next fall for an Associates Degree as a Paraeducator focusing in Special Education and Early Childhood Developement. 

Luka got to be a part of Unity Christian's freshmen football team. He played in the last four games. It was so fun to watch him play both offense and defense! 

 We also spent a couple days at Lake MI.

We were even blessed with a couple days of snow! Makai was playing outside when it started to snow and asked Lydia where snow came from. After Lydia explained that God sends the snow, Makai said "I prayed for snow and God gave it to me!"

Ahhh! I love snow!!!

We are now back in Uganda for the next several months. During that time, I will be working on scholarships, participating in ministry events, living life with my friends in the village, and hosting a couple visitors. This is my last year in Uganda and I am excited to make the most of it!