Wonderful, Beautiful, Crazy LOVE

"I have never been so happy to be in an airport in my entire life!" I told my paps as we walked through the airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We had just gotten off of a 12 1/2 hour flight, and I probably slept for no more than a few hours total of that entire flight. I was seriously a mess! But we were almost there- almost to Uganda! After a few hours in Ethiopia, including a delay because our plane was late, we made our final 2 hour flight to Entebbe, Uganda. The moment I stepped off that plane, I felt so re-energized. I was ready to go! Unfortunately, that didn't quite matter once we got inside the airport. We stood in line for about an hour, just to get our visa! Talk about frustrating. But all of our luggage made it, so that was a wonderful feeling! Finally, after a long drive from Entebbe to Jinja, we made it to Johan's house right before dark- Perfect timing!

Monday morning I woke up with that feeling; the same feeling I get every time I'm here... joy and excitement. I went to the school with Michael to meet the children, and was so amazed at what God has done there in the past year. They now have 3 nursery classes, 5 primary grades, 5 new class rooms, a new office, outhouse, and cooking area, and a fence that surrounds most of the compound. They also have sidewalks, stairs, grass, and roofs- on ALL of the buildings!! Incredible, right?! If any of you read my posts from last year, you probably remember what it was like before. I love being reminded that God is able to provide all that is needed... and then some!!

Tuesday was my first day teaching, and it was awesome! Wild, but I expected it to be. I was supposed to have two P.E. classes that morning, but the school yard was pretty muddy because of last nights rain storm... it POURED!!! But hey, the school didn't flood, and this in itself made me laugh with joy. Anyways, I lead a few music classes to fill the time where those kids would normally be in P.E. They loved it! They remember the tootie-ta, Hold Me... they even remember the motions to Jesus Loves Me that we taught them!! It was exciting. In one of my classes I actually just played the chords to one of my favorite Christian songs and let them dance around... joyful morning in the fullest!! What I didn't know, is that shortly after, I'd be going into the lions den.

Sarah, one of the nursery teachers, came to me and asked for me to teach her students while she went into Jinja to go to the hospital. I agreed of course, even though she seemed to be perfectly healthy and well. After she left, I began to go over their lesson, which was mostly letters and numbers. They were doing so well for a while, so I decided to reward them with some of the candy I brought... word to the wise, do not, under any circumstances, give 4 and 5 year olds candy when you are still expecting them to finish a lesson!! I look at that decision now and wonder what in the world I was thinking... Insanity broke out. Some kept getting up every few minutes and running around, no matter how many times I sat them back down. Some were hitting each other, others were sitting on the desks, and all of them were yelling. Eventually another teacher helped me, but lets just say that I had never been so thankful for recess.

The rest of the day went pretty well. I spent some time with the younger children; or really, I guess I should say that I spent some time having them grab my arms and legs and make me nearly fall to the muddy ground a number of times. At some point a teacher asked them to let me relax, and I was able to play with them without being pulled down to my doom. Ha-ha, I'm kidding. I mean, it was stressful, and there were moments when I felt like I might develop claustrophobia, but I really did enjoy spending time with those kiddos- I always do, no matter how crazy it is!

A lot of school supplies was donated for me to bring to the students, as well as some money to buy supplies for them here, and I want to let all of you know how much it has been appreciated! Monday we went into town before dinner and bought 200 notebooks at an insanely amazing price! They are small, but the good part is that we're able to get more. I saved the big notebooks that were given for the 5th graders, since they do the most work, and I actually ran out! We went into town after school Tuesday and got some more, so all of the students in that class have now received a good sized notebook. Anyways, where I'm meaning to go with all of this, is that the teachers and students really appreciate all of the supplies that they were given. It may not seem like much to us, but it is a lot to them. It's about as big a deal as getting the uniforms last year!! It's just something they can't do on their own, and they really are so thankful for all of you who sent things to help them. 

All day Tuesday, I had the lyrics stuck in my head from one of my favorite songs: Love Like Crazy, by 1 Girl Nation. I know I seem to talk about music a lot, but just bare with me, cause I promise i'm going somewhere with this! No matter what I did that day, the words just kept replaying in my mind. "It's a desert out there, people running scared, looking everywhere for hope," and "we are meant to burn bright, be a light, illuminate the night sky." But most of all, "We're gonna let it shine, we wanna live like Christ." In every moment I experienced that day, I heard these words. I know now that this was a lesson for me; that in the good moments, and the bad or stressful moments, I have to Love Like Crazy. I mean, these kids have given it a whole new meaning to me! They have loved me from the first moment they saw me... even those who had never met me! I feel so blessed to be here with them, and I refuse to let even one day go to waste! I know God has a plan, and I am so very thankful to be a part of it.

BRB... gonna go LOVE LIKE CRAZY :)