This is hard for me to believe, but we have been in Uganda for one month now. We have had such a good experience here thus far and have settled in quite nicely. I wanted to take a minute to share some observations that I have noticed over the month.

First, kids are resilient! I knew this going in and that gave me some comfort about uprooting them from their home, school, friends, and family. However, I have stood amazed at how resilient they really have been thus far. They have easily adjusted to life here and fit right in. They have told us how much they are enjoying it here! They have made friends with other missionary kids quite easily. We were here less than a week and they had already had friends over and had gone to a friends for a sleepover.

Television was very important to the girls back in the U.S. and we wondered how they would adjust because we don’t have tv here. We have some DVD movies we can watch, but they only watch a few movies a week in the evenings. They have enjoyed playing games, playing with legos, crafting, Paytyn is learning to play the flute, doing sidewalk chalk outside, enjoying the outdoors, working puzzles and simply being kids. It is much like the childhood I remember and the fact that their lives are not revolving around electronic entertainment is so refreshing to me. Vicki has been so good with them here and has them setup with chores like washing dishes. She spends the morning doing a Bible study with them and doing supplementary school work. The school they will be going to next month is about a half a year ahead in their curriculum, so she is trying to prepare them as much as possible before they start.

The next observation is that driving here is strangely easy! Uganda was an English colony, so they drive on the left side of the road. I really wondered how difficult that would be, but I think that it is natural because of the driver’s side being on the right side of the car. It is natural to be closest to the center of the road when you are the driver, so it just comes pretty easily. One thing about driving that doesn’t come natural is remembering that the blinker is on the right side of the steering wheel instead of the left. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve turned the windshield wipers on when I intended to use the blinker!

One thing about driving here is that aggressive driving is a must. A friend of mine, Caleb, calls driving here a massive game of chicken with no rules. We were told that everyone learns in driving school to drive in the middle of the road until you meet someone approaching you and then move to your side of the road. This is because the roads here are so bad. Some of the worst dirt roads in Archer County would be among the best roads here. They are COVERED in potholes and the thing you do most while driving is attempt to dodge the potholes. Basic driving rules like stopping at intersections or yielding are really not followed here. Basically, whoever is biggest goes first! It’s also important to remain vigilant when driving because the boda bodas (motorcycle taxis that are everywhere here) will attempt to pass you from either direction. It is imperative to look in all your mirrors all the time to know if bodas are around you so that you don’t take them out when turning.

Another observation that I have learned is that I can get half as much done here in twice the amount of time that I’m used to back home. This is because of a combination of a different pace of life, the importance of relationship building here, and somewhat frustrating processes. I was told about lowering my expectations of what I can get done in a day by several people before we got here, but have really begun to understand exactly how true this advice was. I’ve had to learn to respect the process and just go with the flow and be patient to let things just happen. If anyone knows me very well, they know that this is VERY difficult for me to do. I’m not a patient person and am a “doer” and not much of a “waiter”. God has really softened my heart in this matter in the last month, although I have a LONG way to go in this matter. I found this applicable quote, “Most of the things we need to be most fully alive never come in busyness. They grow in rest.”

I’m also learning how to ask the “right” questions here. It seems like Ugandans will answer the questions you ask by either answering just the question you ask or telling you what you want to hear. I had a situation where I was looking for potting soil to start seeds for my vegetable garden. I started a compost pile, but it will be some time before it is ready for use. I literally spent several days asking people, going to various farm and garden stores, and trying in vain to find information on the internet on where to get compost or potting soil. I finally found some at a little nursery on the side of one of the roads here. I had asked the guy that helped me plant the seeds if the previous tenants here had planted a garden. He told me that they had and I asked how they did their seedlings and he told me that he got the soil from the same nursery that I got mine. This was despite the fact that I had asked several times where to get potting soil or compost. I had not asked the “right” question, so I learned that you have to be very specific in the way you form your questions .

Another observation is that I am loving the food here! We eat such fresh, clean food here that isn’t stuffed full of preservatives. We eat so many more fresh fruits and so much less sugar here. We have especially enjoyed the fresh pineapples, mangos, and bananas. The pineapples are AMAZING, you can even eat the core! We go to the market a few times a week to get fresh fruits and vegetables. We drink mostly water or fresh milk here, but the few soft drinks we do have are made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I feel healthier and have already lost some weight since I’ve been here.

Another observation is that there is a strange mix of a feeling of having no alone time here mixed with a feeling of loneliness. There are people constantly around and in our home and people asking questions or needing money for one thing or another around the house that it seems difficult to just have any alone time. At the same time, I feel lonely here, which seems like the two wouldn’t go together. I think the reason I feel this way is because I had (have) some really, really good friends in the U.S. that I could share my feelings, get advice, or cut up with. I haven’t really found that here yet and that has left me feeling lonely even though there are people around me constantly.

The final observation is that I feel closer in my walk with God than ever before. I have been more consistent with my quiet time and Bible studies than I have ever been. I think this is because of a combination of two things. One is that I’m not as busy here as I was back home and have learned to slow down and enjoy His presence. The other is that I need Him more than ever. I’ve always needed Him, but there was a feeling of self reliance that I was guilty of having. The needs here are so great that you can really see God at work and really understand that apart from Him, I can do nothing. I’ve seen God answer prayers literally hours after making them.

The more I learn here, the more I realize how much I don’t know. I’m excited about what God has in store for us and has already pulled back the curtain on what our ministry will look like here. I will have more to share about this in future posts as things develop, but I’m very excited about the things that are already happening. We appreciate your prayers and support and ask you to keep the prayers coming because they are working!

The post Observations One Month In appeared first on Heart For Uganda.