Missing Christmas?

When I would tell everyone when I was leaving for Uganda, the response would almost always be along the lines of “so you’re missing Christmas with your family?” Yes, it was kind of sad, especially with my sister about to be engaged (she didn’t know it and I did!), but I was just going to give it over to the Lord and be ok with missing Christmas. So then I got here, and realized a completely overlooked fact: it’s impossible to miss Christmas!
Yesterday Sadie took me out to Good Shepherd’s Fold Orphanage, where we got to visit the houses, play with the children and have dinner with a missionary family there. After that, we got to help organize and escort a busload of the children in to a Christmas nativity play and Christmas carol/lights show. It was at Riverside Academy, a primary school in Jinja, and it was amazing!
I don’t have any pictures, otherwise I’d post some, but it was too dark for that. Everyone sat down on the grass and watched the outdoor production of the Christmas Story by the light of flashlights and torches. Many of the children had never seen such a production, and laughed , leaned forward or held their breaths as the story unfolded. They all softly sang Joy to the World at the end, and that’s when I looked around, hardly able to take in the beauty that I was surrounded by.
There I was under the distant stars, with Venus, the Morning Star flashing and shining brighter than all the rest. The sloping garden fell away from me, to reveal the Nile River; a gray, sheeny body framed by the darker silhouettes of palm trees. I thought of Revelation 22:16, where Jesus tells us “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star”, and there, listening to the familiar words of the Christmas song, sung in the unfamiliar Ugandan accent . . . it was Christmas.
After the play, we all moved down the garden paths, where the surrounding trees were wrapped and draped with Christmas lights that blinked and alternated to the Christmas songs being played. The children loved it so much, and everyone was smiling, laughing and singing along. Sadie was ringed by several girls, pulling her into a dance full of twirls and giggles.
All that time I thought about how silly I was, thinking that it was even possible to miss Christmas. Jesus entered the world in that beautiful, humble way, for all people everywhere! I was so much closer to the actual place of His birth, and sharing the celebration with these beautiful, wonderful children, and praising Christ for all that He has done! So here I am, with what will be one of my greatest Christmas memories ever, made on the year that I “missed Christmas”.
So whatever you’re doing, and absolutely wherever you are, Merry Christmas to you!

Hey from Uganda!

Hey from Uganda!!!!
Well, here I am, working on my forth day in Jinja, Uganda! Pretty cool, huh? The various flights went really well; I think the hardest part was being too tired to leave the London airport for my 8-hour layover, so I found two seats with the dividing arm rest missing, and slept. Customs went off without a hitch, and all of my luggage arrived safely too (praise God).
I was super-zombie for the rest of the day, but Sadie and the Fulks kept me busy and awake, with a shopping trip to Kampala on our way home. I held my eyes open all the way until 8:00, when Sadie bid me good night and went to lock the door. It was kind of loud and clangy, so she came back to apologize . . . I never responded, nor did I hear the door.
I love the house that Sadie and I are staying in! It’s so comfortable and homey, although there’s still so much to get used to. Having geckos shoot out when you go to close the curtains, and closing a window to keep the room cool!!! And then there are the chickens and goats roaming the compound (I’m looking at a family of chickens pecking around under a banana tree right now)! I love it!!!!
I’m using this Christmas time to settle in, become semi-familiar with my surroundings, and to prepare myself for the upcoming school semester (I have a whole stack of school books to go over). I’m so happy to be back with the Fulks children, and I hope and pray that I’ll be able to teach them well, as well as be able to help out John and Rebecca.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
In my quiet time this morning, I was reading Galations, and I came across 1:24 (already underlined in my Bible) “and they glorified God because of me.” Wow! What an amazing thing to be able to say! That’s my theme/goal verse for now. I want people around me to be directed towards praising the Savior! I pray that I will be able to live and help others in such a way that they would be more able to give God the glory!

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door..."

. . . "if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
(Fellowship of the Ring)

Well, this is just a quick post (announcer voice) coming to you from the Anchorage airport. All of my bags have been checked all the way through to Entebbe, and I can start to enjoy the travel mode. The goodbyes were hard, as always, and I was just comforting myself with the thought of how much more fun it will be to come back and have all kinds of reunions and stories, then Dad mentioned that by then I'll have to say goodbye to all of the people in Uganda. So at the moment I'm caught up in the overwhelming nature of the 'goodbye cycle'. But I'm so gratefull to all of you for praying for Sadie and I, and for being a part of this trip!!!

I can't wait to come out of customs in Uganda, and see all the wonderful Fulks faces there to greet me (and hopefully Sadie's face as well, if she can get away).

Well, people are starting to stir around me, and boarding is in the air. I'll sign off for now, and the next time I post anything, it will be from Sadie's and my house in Uganda!!!! (can you guys believe it's really happening???? I'm having trouble with it, and I'm at the airport!)

Signing off in love, prayers, and thank-yous to all of you who have helped so much in sending me off.

Blessings!!!!
Megan