It's a warm evening here in Jinja, Uganda.  The bugs are warming up for an anticipated stellar performance tonight.  Prayerfully, their performance will win out against any man-made DISCO that could threaten the harmony of the night.   I will take chirping bugs any time over a DISCO that waxes and wanes throughout the night.  Earplugs have been received like a Long lost friend.  

It is hard to believe that it has been TWO weeks since Josiah, Roxy, and I took off from Fort Wayne, Indiana and journeyed halfway around the world to the pearl of Africa... to our new home in Uganda. 

There have been so many things familiar... there has been the quick transition to driving on the other side of the road, having fun speaking Luganda with the locals, picking fresh fruit from the market, and once again prioritizing ensuring that the red dirt is no longer tucked between the toes.   A drop of bleach into the rinse water and quickly being reminded that things move at quite a different pace here are all familiar realities.    Case and point with the internet that was installed, but not turned on.  ( :  

And just as there have been lots of sweet familarities and reunions with friends so has there been the bumps of transition.  

Our "new" car welcomed us with the smell of rotten, aged rat urine.  If you aren't sure what that smells like... that's a good thing.  With that, clear evidence that our car is not in as good of condition as had been believed and/or hoped.  

          Missing people back home in America has been a reality for both Josiah and I.  There isn't any way around it.  Deep relationships are not easily forgotten or dismissed.  Many dear peeps ARE missed.  That's the reality.  And just because our physical bodies have found the warmth of the sun doesn't mean our hearts have made the full transition. 

                             A bit of an unexpected bump in the transition is that Josiah and I are on different pages in our comfort with the culture.  And both realities are valid and real.  Not one is wrong or right. It is what it is. And navigating that is hard.  No way around that one either.  I've lacked patience and grace in the transition.  I've been as human as it gets with a side of exhaustion.   

And God. 

         He is faithful.  

Yesterday,  a man was looking at my car with keen interest.  As we approached, he asked if I was selling my car.   I was already wondering if I would try selling my car and start over.  Knowing that I will often be driving alone,  I knew that having a solid car is hugely important.  And this man's interest and question was a very clear reminder that even though there are parts of this that feel hard and lonely, I am NOT walking alone. 

Even in the hard of the transition, Josiah and I have had a few really pivotal, key connections.  In both of our vulnerabilities, God is working and doing His thing. 

I sat with an adoptive momma yesterday of two daughters and as we were talking, I found myself thinking how amazing it would be to gather adoptive momma's here in Uganda together to have time to process, share, encourage, and be with each other.   Stirring at the possibilities. 

God brought a friend with us to Uganda to help Josiah and I settle.  Hadassah Sue has been with us from the second day we were on the ground.  It has been such a gift having her here.   We have played games, swept, organized, shopped, and reminisced.  

And so we walk.  And when the weakness of my heart finds me, I will stand up and keep walking.  

I can both inhale and exhale.  I can both savor the sweetness of normalcies here and keep walking the hurdles of transition. 

For this of you who know me deeply, I am committed to living this life as authentically and real as I can and that means sharing the bumps of joy and the dips of hardness and all the bits in between.  

It is So good to be here AND it is has been a bit hard AND I also have no doubt that God opened the doors wide and clear for us to come... 

And so I walk leading my son along with me.. trusting that God is walking alongside us both.