Goodbyes

The last few days in Uganda were hard.  Goodbyes aren’t easy.  And who knew that such a mix of emotions was even possible? Not me.

My last day at the school was special. They threw me a party with the money they didn’t have. Oh, the sacrifice I have seen in the last 6 months.  While I played with the little ones for the last time, they prepared a feast.  Each student got a meal of cassava, matoke, and meat (a huge treat).  We all gathered in the church to eat together and then had speeches.  The first speech came from a girl named Flavia, who spoke on behalf of all the students.   She started crying, which made me choke up.  Then Sylvia gave a speech on behalf of the teachers. She started crying and, which made me cry.  Then they asked me to give a speech.  Haha great.  So I worked my way through a farewell speech while trying my best to hold back the tears.  Then we ran out of time and had to let the students go home, so I loved on every child for one last time before they went home.  And then they were gone.  I was somehow relieved after that, because I thought the hardest part was over.  I just hate saying goodbye.  What a sweet day, though.  They really know how to make a girl feel special.

I stayed overnight on Friday so I could be there all day Saturday.  I slept in one of the teachers rooms, who was out of town for the weekend.  Nakato, a 4 year old orphan, followed me around all day until decided that she wanted to sleep with me.  So, she came into my room and contently sat while I was journaling and then before getting into bed, cleaned up the things I had on the floor.  She then curled up at the end of the bed and fell asleep.  When I got into bed, I looked at her gently sleeping and was reminded that she is a child of God. Her life is in God’s hands, she is diligently cared after by her Creator.  I have grown to love her so much and was worried about what her future held.  I want her to be successful, to have everything she needs, to have an education.  So I prayed over her before I fell asleep and gave it all over to the Lord. He is the ultimate Protector and Provider.    On Saturday, I got to spend some time with friends, and on Sunday, I had to say goodbye to everyone at church.  The worship team came up when people were saying bye, and proceeded to pick up my entire body and throw me up and down…in front of the entire congregation.  Think of it as crowd surfing but being bounced up and down. Amidst the sadness they made me laugh and laugh and laugh.  Going home Sunday night was the hardest, because I had to say the final goodbyes. Goodbyes are hard, but God is good and I believe that He’s got it all under control.  So I said, “See you later” to all the sweet friends the Lord has given me in the past 6 months.

So, here I am, back in the 757.  Home sweet home.  I have certainly come a long way from Uganda.  Things are so incredibly different.  We are blessed beyond measure, and that’s all I can say.  While I miss people, smiles, little dirty feet, the Lord has given me a peace about being back home.  And I’m thankful for that peace.  I am where God wants me and I am trusting that He will guide the next steps in my life.  Let the new adventures begin! 

If you are reading this and wanting to meet up or talk about anything, I would love to! Feel free to message me/ call me.

                                 The group of children at the door on my last day. 

                                 The whole school (I'm somewhere squished in the middle)