More On Wyatt…

Many people have been asking about Wyatt and how all of this started so I thought I would try to write about it here.  I apologize in advance for its length!

Wyatt was diagnosed with epilepsy after having several complex partial seizures 5 months before he turned 6 years old.  We were blessed that the first medication we tried worked for him and with the exception of breakthrough seizures now and then, we thought his epilepsy was well managed.  There were a few concerns I had and brought to his neurologist's attention, such as nighttime and memory issues, but I was assured they were nothing to be concerned about and we continued on our way.  In preparing for our trip to Uganda, our very first step was to meet with his neurologist where we were assured that he was no more at risk of seizure issues there then he was here.  Even with everything that has happened since, we still believe this to be true.  In the months leading up to our trip, Wyatt was having more breakthrough seizures but we were assured that he was going through a growth spurt and that we merely needed to increase his medication to get them back under control.

A few days after arriving in Uganda Wyatt had a small seizure. We were used to this situation. We called his doctor and then upped his meds. Same ol' song and dance. A few weeks later Wyatt had his first "hallucination". Obviously this was different then what we were used to seeing with him but he has had issues with overheating in the past so we thought that maybe it was related to the heat of Uganda and that maybe he wasn't getting enough water.  We spoke with his doctor, took him to the clinic on the ranch (where he tested negative for several tropical illnesses) and started him on a rehydration solution that we gave him several times a day, everyday for the next month.  He continued having these episodes every couple of days but other than that he was typical Wyatt!  He played soccer just about every day with his new Ugandan friends.  He helped the mission teams that visited with every project we had going on including mudding a school, repairing a playground and sharing the gospel.  We had no reason to believe, and his neurologist at home did not believe, that these episodes were related to his seizures or that there was anything worrisome going on with his health other than needing to stay hydrated.  Regardless, we made an appointment for June 15th with a great & very well respected british doctor in Kampala, under the advice of Wyatt's neurologist, just to ensure that his episodes weren't related to some illness that we had missed.

On June 14th we were hanging out in our den after Wyatt had gone to bed when we suddenly heard strange noises coming from his room.  Wes & I entered his room and found Wyatt in the middle of a generalized tonic clonic (GTC or grand mal) seizure that lasted about 20 minutes and required diazepam to bring him out of it.  The next morning we left early for Kampala.  I had a small bag packed for Wyatt & I along with our passports, just in case we ended up staying in Kampala in hospital or getting on a plane for home.  We met with Dr. Stockley and determined that Wyatt was completely healthy & that there were no known illnesses responsible to his condition.  There were only two things that had changed for Wyatt recently: 1)  he came to Uganda and 2) he began taking Doxycycline as a malaria preventative.  The doctor recommended that before we made plans to leave, we should take Wyatt off of the doxy for one week and see if maybe it was causing his episodes.  This coincided with Wyatt's neurologist's recommendations that these episodes were not seizure related and that they must be caused by something environmental.  Although we were both worried for our son, we were at peace with giving him one more week, without doxy and with another increase in his seizure meds, to see if this got rid of his episodes.

One week later, on June 20th Wes had gone to Kampala with the mission team from Mobile and I was at home with the kids. Wyatt wanted to sleep with me so we were watching movies in our bed as we went to sleep.  Around 5:00 am, June 21st, I was woken up by Wyatt having another GTC event.  This time I knew God was telling us it was time to get Wyatt home. After several teary eyed calls to Wes and hours on the phone with Delta & KLM, we got approved to fly home early.

In a total God moment, after being told we needed to get a letter from a doctor in Uganda saying it was medically necessary for Wyatt to go back to the US, Wes was able to see Dr. Stockley who knew exactly how to word his letter to get us home quickly and with as little cost as possible, while also making sure it was understood that Wyatt was medically sound to fly…because Dr. Stockley is the board physician for KLM in Uganda.  Of course!

Once we got back to the US, we went straight from the airport to the neurologist's office where we were told to check in to Children's Hospital the next morning.  After 24 hours of EEG we were told by the epileptologist (a neurologist who specializes in epilepsy) that Wyatt was having an uncountable number of seizures at night and that the episodes we originally called hallucinations were indeed seizures.  While this was not what we wanted to hear, it was definitely a relief to know that there was nothing we had introduced to his environment, including taking him to Uganda, that was causing Wyatt's seizures.  The doctor believes that it is possible that the stress of living in such a new and different environment might have contributed to the number of seizures, but that based on the number of breakthrough seizures Wyatt was having even before we left, that this event was a long time coming.  Over the next 2 days of continuous EEG monitoring Wyatt was given a new seizure medication and his blood levels were monitored carefully. Unfortunately he continued to have multiple seizures, especially at night.  After those 2 days another medication was added, more blood was taken, and we continued to wait to see what the EEG would show.  Again, we were disappointed to hear that he was still having seizures at night and that because now three different medications had failed to control his seizures, his condition was now labeled "intractable epilepsy".

With this new diagnosis our options for Wyatt's treatment have dwindled.  Over the next month or so he will undergo a series of tests to determine if he is a candidate for epilepsy surgery. While the prospect of brain surgery is terrifying to us as parents, we understand it is possibly our only remaining option and possibly the best opportunity for Wyatt to be cured of epilepsy.

The first of these four tests was an MRI.  He completed his MRI on Monday July 1st and it was clear.  This is a good and bad thing.  Good because they didn't find a tumor or any other growth but bad because abnormal brain activity with no known cause is much harder to treat.  On Wednesday July 10th Wyatt will have test #2 , a PET scan, and on July 29th we will check back in to Children's for a 6 day stay of EEGs and hopefully test #3, a SPECT scan.  Test #4 is a neuropsych eval to help determine where there might be gaps to help identify where his seizures are originating.  Right now it is scheduled for Oct 15th, but he is on the cancellation list and we have been assured that this date will be sooner then scheduled.  After these tests are concluded Wyatt's case will be presented to the nuero surgery group conference and they will make a recommendation either for or against surgery.

While we don't know or understand why all of this is happening now, or why God sent us to Uganda for 2 months only to call us home early, or what surgery means for Wyatt's future…we are more confident now than ever before that God is soooo in control!  Even though we are sad that we didn't get to accomplish all that we set out to do in Uganda, we know that whatever it was that God wanted done through us must have been done, or we would still be there.  Right now it is hard for me to think about anything other than my son but I am comforted by the absolute knowledge that there is someone that loves him more than I could ever dream of & that He knows exactly what is best for him and can make it happen.

It would be remiss of me to close this post without praising the awesome people that have lifted us up and carried us through all that we have gone through so far this summer.  First and foremost, our families have been beyond supportive, sending us care packages, sending endless text updates on everything going on at home, making doctor's appointments for us when we got home, researching medications and syndromes, helping us unpack and do laundry, while listening to us, holding us and loving us through it all.  Secondly, our church family has truly shown us what a "church body" really looks like.  They have called, texted, emailed, mailed and face timed through our whole time in Uganda and fed, cleaned, visited, laundered and loved us through our time since we've been home. We have been overwhelmed by how they've loved us. Thirdly (is that a word?) we must thank our friends all over the world that have checked in on us, texted us or sent us a message on Facebook just to let us know they were thinking about us or praying for us.  We truly truly consider ourselves so lucky to know and love everyone of you! Thank you!

Hey guys,

It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform you all that we will be
cutting our trip thirty days short. You may already know by now that
our son Wyatt’s health has been deteriorating since arriving in Uganda
in early May. What started out as spells with some hallucinations
every once in a while has turned into full on grand mal seizures so
strong that only a shot of diazepam will bring him out of it. We
originally believed they were a result of the heat and dehydration but
they recently got worse. We have taken him to the clinic here on the
ranch, have seen a highly respected doctor in Kampala, have consulted
with a therapist and have spoken directly with his doctor at home
numerous times.  None of their suggestions or recommendations has
worked.  At this point in our trip Wyatt is having about twenty
episodes, as we call them, a day. The diazepam seems to be doing very
little now in the way of controlling them and Alicia and I have come
to think that the episodes he has been having are in fact just little
seizures that build up to a much bigger seizure event. It has been
recommended to us by his doctor here in Kampala that we get him home
to see his neurologist as soon as possible. The doctor also suggested
that we keep him heavily sedated until we can get him home. His reason
for this is that if Wyatt were to have an episode in the airport
before leaving, or while in flight, the airline could ground us
wherever we are until he is stable enough to fly.  Please be praying
that doesn’t happen!!

As you can imagine all of this has left us pretty heart broken. No one
in our family is ready to say good-bye. The whole community here that
we have been working with seems to be heartbroken as well. I believe
that they have fallen in love with our family just as much as we have
them, which makes all of this that much harder.  It’s crazy how much
our family fits here. I find myself more confused now than ever
before.  I keep thinking, why only two months? What purpose can us
leaving early possibly serve? And While I know God doesn’t owe me an
explanation I pray with all my heart that he will be gracious enough
to give one. Maybe he’s already given it? Maybe because I’m so close
to it I can’t see it?

I have been struck with an overwhelming since of guilt about the
reason for our early departure. Why are we so blessed to have the
option to leave the country and seek the best medical care in the
world? What makes us so special? I can’t help but wonder what the
Ugandans think about all this. They don’t have the ability to leave.
They have to stay where they are, in their sickness, in their pain, in
their distress. I’m sorry for rambling or if it seems as if I’m
whining. The burden I feel for the people here as well for the health
of my child are each so heavy that I feel as if I might suffocate
under the weight of it all.

Before I end this update I would like to thank you all for your
prayers and for all of the letters of support we have received while
in the field. Everyone here is in total awe of the group of supporters
we have backing us up. We have been posting your letters up on a wall
in our house. Most, if not all, of the people who stop by the house to
visit (which is many every single day) end up standing in front of the
wall reading your letters. Your letters have been an awesome testimony
of the unity that should be seen in the body of Christ. Your letters
have encouraged us as well as all those who have read them, Muzungu
and African alike.

While we end this trip with sadness, we look forward to seeing what
God has in store for our family here at the ranch. Even though God has
chosen to end this trip early, none of us feel that he is closing the
door to us serving here.

Once again thank you all so much for your love and support.


God Bless you all,
The Wilbanks family.

P.S. We just did our Jesus Calling devotional today and we wanted to
share it with you…

Let my love stream through you, washing away fear and distrust.  A
trusting response includes me in your thoughts as you consider
strategies to deal with a situation.  My continual presence is a
promise, guaranteeing that you never have to face anything alone.  My
children teethe on the truth that I am always with them, yet they
stumble around in a stupor, unaware of my loving presence all around
them.  How that grieves me! When you walk through a day in trusting
dependence on me, my aching heart is soothed.  Gently bring your
attention back to me whenever it wanders away. I look for persistence
– rather than perfection – in your walk with me.  Psalm 52:8;
Deuteronomy 31:6; Ephesians 4:30

Down The Red Dirt Road

Showing the Jesus film in a nearby village

It never hits me (the effects of what God is doing in my life that is) until I stop to type an update. This is the main reason I don’t do them very often. Like a child stomping his foot at the correction of a parent, I stomp a mental foot at God, the last attempts of desperate
man to keep his emotions inside the box.

I like my box. I have many of them...cut part of a thumb off, put it in a box. Get hit in the face
with a bolt from a garage door spring, put it in a box. Take my family over 4 thousand miles, away from everything they’ve ever known, only to have the airline change one of our flights, then loose ALL of our luggage, then to have the house that we are supposed to be living in
still be under construction, and the house we do stay in for the first four days flood, TWICE!  That’s fine I can deal with all that stuff going wrong. I fold it up nice and neat and I put it in a box. And, while I may get a little frustrated, I don’t get mad. I box up all the emotions that come with all the different things I’m faced with and put on my blinders and I make it happen. I get busy making it "Do what it Do." As I begin to shut everything else out except for the fire that’s in front of me, God just smiles and then turns up the heat. As soon as I think I’ve got a handle on one problem He drops a sack full of other problems in my lap. Then He continues to rain down problems on my head until I give in and surrender. Surrender my pride, my control, my stubbornness...He crushes me under the weight of my circumstances until I hit my knees and cry out in total submission for the rescue that only He can give.  He recalibrates my thinking and forces me to fix my eyes on Him. To walk one step at a time. To depend solely on Him and His provision. He shows me that the portion He gives me is enough and to be satisfied in Him and Him alone.

As I type and reflect on all that has happened in our first three weeks in the field I can see how all the issues our family has faced since our arrival on the ranch, and before, were all designed by God to break us, stretch us, and strengthen us. As I type my soul rejoices
in the mercy and grace of my Lord. Who are we to warrant such attention from the creator?  Fixing my eyes once again on Christ has allowed me to fall in love once again with the people that He has called me to serve.

On a lighter note a gecko just fell about fifteen feet and landed on my keyboard which almost sent me backwards out of my chair..  And, for good measure a bat, that I assume was friends with the gecko, just dropped a present on my keyboard splattering me in the process☺ Man I
love this place!!


The team from Hunter Street Baptist Church arrived last week and has been doing a great job! They have started the refurbishing of the playground at the primary school on the ranch and they have also provided the funds and some of the labor to repair a well in a remote
village. This well had been down for six months and the villagers had been gathering water from a nearby swamp. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this repaired well to these people.  In appreciation for the teams work, the village members presented them with a mess load of matooke and one very scared rooster. Last night they showed the Jesus film in a nearby village and saw 26 people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. God is so good!!


Alicia is doing great! She has been talking with the headmistress of the primary school on the ranch about teaching dance motions and is also going to start teaching computer classes to some of the ACM staff. She has been working hard on team schedules and coordinating
activities through the various departments and ministries and hopes to begin a bible study with some local friends soon.

The kids are also doing wonderful and are making lots of new friends. The girls will be working at the primary school helping students to learn English and will also be working some in the secondary school where they have already begun making friends. Right now they are jumping in with the team and have helped with the playground restoration, sorting clothing and helping with the children's department. Wyatt is doing very well just being Wyatt. :) He draws a crowd of children around him everywhere we go. He has been a great bridge for the rest of the family to get to know our new community.

I have been invited to teach a basic electricity lab at CLA by a CLA student. I hope to start  that in the coming weeks and am excited to see where God takes it. There is a label here that is placed on kids who wish to learn trade. It’s a label that I’m all to familiar with.
It is one I think all of us "academically challenged" students are given and that is that we are stupid or slow. And because of that label, kids who would be better off learning a trade stay in school way longer than they should only to ether flunk out or drop out later, wasting precious financial resources and destroying their self-esteem in the process. I know to some that statement may seem harsh but it’s the truth and I am speaking from my own experience. 

When I was in school I felt dumb, slow, less than the other students in my classes, always in fear of being called on to read aloud or, even worse, that I would have to spell something on the board in front of everyone. I became the class clown to cover my fear of being found out. It wasn’t until I went to technical school that I excelled as a student. I know now looking back that for me to have continued my education would have been to waste a lot of my time and my family’s money. Every child needs a basic education but not every child needs or should seek a collage education. And that’s OK!! I make a very good living with my technical education, so does the carpenter that works out of ACM’s carpentry school here on the ranch. This man, who would love students and has a curriculum to teach, can't get students to come and learn his trade because of the "stupid" label. This is not just a Ugandan problem I might add.  Anyway, I have no idea where to even begin to change that type of mindset.  Any advice you all might have on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Our family would like to thank you all so very much for all your prayers, texts, and for all the letters and goodies that you have sent. God has used all of it, and continues to use all of it, to strengthen us and embolden us in our toughest moments.


Prayer requests

1. For continued protection of our family for the rest of our trip.
2. For protection for the Hunter Street Baptist team for the rest of their trip.
3. For safe travel for Satsuma First Baptist as they join us on the field
4. For safe travel the Bennett team as they join us on the field
5. That will bless the areas of ministry that our family will begin in the coming weeks
6. That God will open the doors to new areas of services
7. That we will not allow ourselves to be distracted by the schemes of the enemy.
8. For a visitor on the ranch who is praying about extending her stay.
9. Lastly and most importantly, that God’s name will be glorified in all He does through us..

-- 
*Ssalongo Wes*

Update from Alicia!

Wyatt and friends

Home on the ranch

Some highlights from our trip to far...

• Wyatt singing "thank you Jesus" in swahili on the plane with a young woman from DRC (he learned the song in choir at our church!)

• Hearing Dolly Parton over the radio in the mall in Kampala singing "Joleen"

• Susan, our helper in our house, cooking us an amazing rice & beans dinner our first night

• Flooding Wayne's house...twice!

• Sharing a lunch of PB sandwiches with Wyatt's new Ugandan friends, Caleb & Opia

• Susan's chipatis!

• From Katie Mae "I love that here, everywhere you go you see people's footprints"          (she meant because most of the Ugandans walk barefoot, but I think about all of the people who have made a difference in this place & have left their prints all over :)

• Drinking hot tea on our front porch after dinner, admiring our amazing view...an open area of green grass & crooked trees.  (The kids don't see what Wes & I find so amazing about it:)

• The girls laughing every time Susan calls me "mommy"

• Watching the cows get dipped

• Ashley coming up with a bunch of great ideas for revitalizing the primary school playground. (Right now it is pretty unsafe, but that is one of the projects the Hunter St team will be working on week after next)

• Long walks with the kids

• Calling home & running out of minutes...again...

• Homemade bread

• Watching a baby cow be born on mother's day!

• Long talks with Susan about the differences between America & Uganda

• Language & cultural barriers galore!  Making for some pretty funny situations!

• Praying with the blind man we keep running into

• Walking to our friend's house to find Wyatt on the porch surrounded by Ugandan children playing UNO

• Preparing for Wyatt's surprise birthday party feast with all of the mzungus on the ranch!

• So many friends coming down with malaria...Carlos, Caleb, the clinic nurse Florence, and many Ugandan children.

Thank you all for your prayers!  Please keep them coming.  We love &
miss you all!!

Can You Hear Them?

(A poem written by our daughter, Katie Mae)

Listen to their thoughts, can you hear them?

Watch into their dreams, can you understand them?

See into their pain, can you feel them?

Wanting to make a difference takes its toll, but you keep pressing on

keep on going forward, and you keep on looking straight. 

Leaving the ones you love, being left behind, and watching as the rest of the world moves on.

Jumping on the plane, riding, riding, and riding, but you keep on riding and you never stop.

So you take a chance and jump off, and you soar.

Soaring with the moon and the stars, just to land and be with the world.

The world that never stopped moving and never gave you a second thought.

You land with the ones you had to leave behind, hoping it'll be the same, but you've changed.

You've heard their thoughts, watched their dreams, and felt their pain.

What does that mean, "missions work"?

That is the question that was posed to me Monday by our pediatrician's nurse.  We were at the doctor's office getting the kids the last of their needed shots for our trip when she started asking what we would be doing in Uganda.  When I told her it was for a missions trip she asked "So what will you be doing there?  Mostly missions work?" I answered "yes" and then she made me pause, "what does that mean, "missions work"? I hear people say it all of the time but I don't really understand what that is." I must have stammered out something that satisfied her and I have no idea what I said, but her question has stayed with me ever since.  What do I or you or anyone else mean when they say, "missions"?

I think lots of different people have lots of different definitions to what "missions" entails.  

For some it means telling people the plan of salvation.  For some it means living missional.  For some it means being a missionary.  And for others it means reaching out to people of a different faith.  

There's another idea that has plagued me for the two years that we have been working towards Uganda…"you can't just jump on a plane to go do missions overseas and become someone who is missions minded, doing missions begins at home".  For two years I've struggled with wondering if I'm being missional enough at home to warrant going to Uganda to do missions.  I've tried to get involved in various missions organizations and have looked for opportunities to support other missionaries…not so much because I felt led to do so, but because I felt like my going to Uganda wouldn't be justified unless I had some kind of home missions opportunities to put on my imaginary missionary resume.  I was desperately trying to create some good works to validate my call.  

The bad thing is…my body rebels agains good works.  Not that I don't like doing good things, I just don't like the legalistic, earn your way to heaven, kind of thinking that has been the thorn in my side for way too long. The one that God has slowly been chiseling out of me and replacing with grace, grace and more grace.  Anyone who knows me could guess which brother I've always identified with in the prodigal son story.  

I shop at Aldi's Grocery Store about once a week.  It's a super cheap grocery store in our city where you pay a quarter to get a buggy and bag your own groceries with bags you bring from home.  I always say that it's a type of missions field because there are always people from every walk of life, every language and I'm sure, every religion shopping there.  I love it!  I always end up making a connection with someone when I'm there.  One day it was the sweet elderly man who dropped his cane, my son picked it up and the man bought us candied apples we enjoyed all the way home.  Another day it was the woman trying to get her 4 small kids in the car while her buggy rolled away in the parking lot.  We ended up laughing over how hard life is with several kids as I retrieved it for her and helped her get her groceries into her trunk.  It's not handing out tracks or making a gospel presentation, I don't have to force it or plan for it, but it sure feels missional.  

Today it was a young girl at wal-mart that was buying hundred of dollars of stuff, realized she lost her debit card while checking out, found her debit card after several minutes of frantic searching, had her card declined several times, borrowed the cashier's cell phone, and called the bank to get money transferred to cover her purchases.  She never really apologized but you could tell she was embarrassed as she whispered "it's been the worst day".  I told her it was fine, that I was in no hurry and then told her I hoped her day would get better from here as I left.  She gave me a smile and a sincere "thank you" as she collected her things.  It wasn't until I got to the car, 28 days before we leave to go be missionaries, that it hit me…I AM a missionary at home. 

I believe that whenever you follow Jesus' example, whenever you strive to be like Him, you're "doing missions".  Whenever you love on someone the way Christ would have loved on someone, you're "doing mission work".  Whenever you live an open life, willing to share the gospel whenever the opportunity arises (even if it doesn't), you're living a "missional" life.  

My husband and I often tease about how much we don't fit into society's view of what a "missionary" is.  I'm a terrible house keeper.  I love 80s rap music.   I lose my temper with my kids.  I lose my temper with my husband.  I lose my temper with myself.   I love to dance. I don't homeschool (though I haven't ruled it out).  I joined my first bible study a couple months ago.  I'm definitely not crafty (though I REALLY try).  I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Vine.  I love to buy cute short dresses but also love a cute maxi skirt.  I do wear my hair in a bun, but because I'm a dancer, not because of my conservative style.  I've made a billion mistakes and I'll make a billion more before the end of the week. I'm a mess. I've definitely not attained the level of holiness needed in order to be called to do mission work. 

The more and more I review my imaginary missionary resume, the more and more I see how unqualified I am, how unqualified my family is, for what He is calling us to do.  And He keeps reminding me that it's not OUR qualifications that justify our call, it is Christ in us that justifies our call. And it is our willingness to display Christ in us to those around us that makes us all missionaries, whether we're at Wal-Mart or halfway around the world.  


"And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another… "       1 John 3:23 

Burnout

Before the holidays I felt like once we got past them I would be able to start really investing some time in getting ready for this trip.  In my mind I had decided that we would have one more big fundraising push to get the last of the $1,500 or so that we needed to meet our goal & the rest of my time would be spent purchasing supplies, finding suitcases, getting the kids shots, etc.  Just really doing the last minute things we need to do before we leave.

Now two months later, I can be honest with you & say that I haven't done any of those things.  And I haven't really felt like it.  One of my friends called it "Africa Burnout" and I guess that is what it was.  Not that I was burned out on wanting to go or the mission that God has called us to, but that I was burned out on trying to make everything happen the way I wanted it to.  I was tired of trying to think up new ways to fundraise that wouldn't continue to look for support from our core group of supporters (who I'm sure were feeling some "Africa burnout" in their wallets!) but would cast a wider net.  I was tired of trying to think of every little thing we might need while we were there & what I might be forgetting.  I was tired of trying to live in two worlds, one here full of electricity & ample water & grocery stores on every corner and trying to decide what I need for the one there with spotty solar power, precious water that needs to be conserved at every opportunity & a grocery store 1 1/2 hours away.  I know seasoned missionaries are laughing at me right now, this is so what they deal with on a daily basis!  But that is where the Father of Deception found me & started whispering…

 "If you can't deal with it now, how can you ever think you could deal with it when you are there?"

"you'll never make it"

"your fundraising has stalled because no one believes in what you are doing"

"once you get over there you are completely on your own"

"are you sure God wants YOU to do this?"

"You will probably mess it all up"

To say I was discouraged is putting it mildly. But slowly, God kept pulling me back to his promises…

"When you can't walk anymore, you will be carried"

"You are sealed, to live is Christ & to die is gain"

"You are loved"

"I am still good"

"You have been called"

"You are forgiven & set free"

And he has used so many people to minister to us, love on us & lift us up at just the right times!  

So finally, with a little bit of trepidation, last night we looked at our fundraising, added everything up & came to a total.  We were $390 short.  Amazing!!!  With no fundraising done in months & 69 days to go until we leave we only had $390 to go!  Wes & I were both blown away by what God had done through people we love.  

Wes quickly put up a Facebook post to share our excitement with our friends.  Within minutes we had two friends offering to donate towards the balance!  Within seconds we received our newest funds update from African Children's Mission…we now only had $60 to go!!  With what we have received to date plus the promised funds from our friends we have not only met our fundraising goal, we've exceeded it!!!  There were other items that we wanted to add to our budget but didn't because we felt like we were already setting such a high goal. Now we will be able to add those items in as well!  I cannot begin to tell you how excited, humbled, in awe of our creator, in awe of the goodness of our friends & family and thankful we are for this gift.  

The awesomeness of seeing God work in the most amazing ways, the incredible feeling of knowing there are people that believe in what you are doing so much that they would share their hard earned money to make it happen, these things make the burnout soooo worth it.  

We really cannot wait to come home in July & share everything that God did because of the gifts & prayers of faithful people that supported us!  That will be such an amazing day!!

Maybe someday I'll learn to lean on God first & not try to control everything myself.  I do it all the time.  And every time he is faithful to come through, even at the last minute.  I would like to say that I have such great faith that I never doubt, never believe he needs my help, never think "maybe it won't happen" but that would be a lie.  Maybe someday I'll remember to glorify him with every bump in the road so he won't have to go to such lengths to get my attention!  I'm so hard headed! Until then I'll be thankful for his grace & mercy in rescuing me just when I think all is lost, and putting people in my life that are truly his hands and feet…I'm sure I'll need to be reminded again, but right now I'm off to go get the kids their shots! 

"Praise the Lord, all nations!  Praise him, all peoples! His love for us is strong & his faithfulness endures forever.  Praise the Lord!" Psalms 117