Recently, my husband surprised me with an overnight date at a very fancy Hotel for my 55th Birthday! The Speke Hotel is located in Munyonyo, Uganda and about an hour’s drive from where we live. The hotel graciously offers a very reasonable weekend rate for locals that includes three wonderful meals with an overnight stay.
Randy knows my favorite thing to do for fun and relaxation is to sit by a pool, read, swim and enjoy the sun. So for one day and night, we left the village where we live and entered the world of luxury.
I am not going to lie, I loved it! It was so relaxing, beautiful, clean and effortless to enjoy. We even met some friends from church who were staying overnight there too.
But, when I got home, hugged my kids and started making plans for the coming week, it really hit home that though this place was almost perfect in every sense of the word, my life here in the village is where I want to be. I love my kids (both at home and at Hope), my Mamas at Hope, our visitors, and the whole village of Kaliti where we are beginning to make an impact. There is no place I would rather be than in the villages with the poor living life together and giving whatever meager portion I have to give to make their lives just a little bit better than it would be if I were not there. That is the best birthday gift I could ever receive and I get to have it for as long as the Lord seems fit to have us here.
My Dear Friend JOY!
I laughed out loud when Joy (one of the Mammas at Hope and a dear friend) bit into the Resses Peanut Butter Cup we gave her to try. When asked what she thought she flashed me her sweet smile and said “It’s good!” After being gone a month in my home state of Oregon and meeting my first grandchild Titus James Vallely, I am now back in Uganda. It is amazing to see how different the two cultures are. I now find myself a woman between two different continents completely across the world from each other. There are people in both places that I love and care for and my life is to love them both; some who are here in Uganda and some who are back in Oregon.
What strikes me most about returning to Uganda is the simplicity of life and the joy taken in the smallest things; like a piece of candy. Although the people here have so little, they truly seem to embrace and find joy in the lives they live. This is an example to me of how I should live my life.
Another thing that occurs to me is how much the people of Uganda have changed me and blessed my life. When you come to a place so filled with need. You stop thinking about yourself. You let go of thinking about what you need and desire, and it becomes so much more important to see how you can bless another person rather than worry about yourself. The people of Uganda have taught me how much better it is to give than receive. As I pour out my life in service to them, I no longer carry the burden of thinking about myself so much. In that, I am set free, really free to live the life I was always created to live!
Recently, my husband surprised me with an overnight date at a very fancy Hotel for my 55th Birthday! The Speke Hotel is located in Munyonyo, Uganda and about an hour’s drive from where we live. The hotel graciously offers a very reasonable weekend rate for locals that includes three wonderful meals with an overnight stay.
But, when I got home, hugged my kids and started making plans for the coming week, it really hit home that though this place was almost perfect in every sense of the word, my life here in the village is where I want to be. I love my kids (both at home and at Hope), my Mamas at Hope, our visitors, and the whole village of Kaliti where we are beginning to make an impact. There is no place I would rather be than in the villages with the poor living life together and giving whatever meager portion I have to give to make their lives just a little bit better than it would be if I were not there. That is the best birthday gift I could ever receive and I get to have it for as long as the Lord seems fit to have us here.
