The Waiting is the Hardest Part

A little Tom Petty for your enjoyment! :)  Seriously though…why is the waiting the hardest part?  Shouldn't the challenge itself be the hardest part?

Joseph, Marco, Isreal, Faith, Inno, Alicia, Benja & Enyana

Throughout this process, our family has been acutely aware that God is continually teaching us and refining us for the trials and challenges that lay ahead.  Sometimes (read: all the time) we want to rush this process and just BE OVER THERE ALREADY!!  

Being reminded that, "God's timing is perfect" is so true but still frustrating sometimes.  I, especially, am such a control freak.  I just want to go through the steps it takes to get us there, get on the plane and be in Uganda now!  Obviously that isn't God's plan. Boo :(

As we wait it's easy to just let go of our dream of Uganda and get sucked back into life here.  It's easy to stress about the line at the grocery store or even the election…what's hard is keeping our eyes on our future, working towards that goal and not letting the things of today distract us.  So often people have told us "you're here in this room, but you can tell your hearts aren't really HERE".  

We miss Uganda.  We miss our friends.  We are anxious for answers that can only come from Him.  

We've bought our tickets, our flights are booked, some of our luggage is already there.  We're just waiting on Him to provide a way to make it all a reality.  

Sometimes I worry about what we are missing here by leaving our hearts there.  Sometimes I worry that I'm romanticizing what it will be like with three kids in Africa, so far away from my constant sources of support here in the US.  Sometimes I worry about the risk of the kids getting hurt, or sick so far from western medicine.

But then I think about what it will be like to watch Wyatt try to keep up with the kids at Ekitangaala playing soccer while trying to tell them about Jesus…or Ashley reading to a bunch of sweet babies rapt with attention under a giant jackfruit tree…or Katie Mae becoming best friends with a Ugandan teenager…or our whole family sitting on our porch under the most stars you've ever seen in your whole life…or watching Wes teaching a young Ugandan man lessons his daddy should have taught him…and I think, I guess I can wait just a little longer.  177 days longer, but who's counting? 

Isaiah 8:17-18a "The LORD has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him.  Here I am with the children the LORD has given me."