“Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14.
Over our time in Nebraska it was a great joy to see our kids playing contentedly with their cousins, learning the names of SO MANY aunts and uncles, and getting to know my parents. When we were still living in America we did not get many opportunities for traveling to see my (Noelle) family, and even then the older girls were too young to remember. It was special for me to see them together with my family, as if they’d been with them all along though they’ve hardly known them. My dearest memories of our time in Nebraska are of our excited kids going on their “dates” with my mom and taking care to go love on their Papa: Noah climbing on his back (dad didn’t seem to mind); Emma leading dad around the house, taking great care to steer him due to his blindness; my dad, as progressed as he is in his Alzheimer’s, holding his cup by only his teeth and showing off to the little kids. And when he opened his normally closed eyes, looked straight at Maddie, and asked what she thought about it. She wasn’t sure what to think. I am thankful for God’s gift to us in the form of my family. I would find it hard to be on the field if they were not so behind us in our mission. Their love does not make me feel guilty for not staying longer (though time with them is always too short), their love frees me to GO! Not every missionary has a family supporting them in their calling, we are extremely blessed to have both families backing us.
Since our return to Colorado Springs we have spent our time doing paperwork and finishing our doctor appointments. Acquiring government documentation can be tough enough, but with the Covid lag, it has truly proven challenging. So far we have finished renewing passports for our older girls and we have obtained the birth certificate, SSN and passport for our baby. However, before we can head back home we are still awaiting the return of Noelle’s and Noah’s passports that were turned in in with Noah’s SSN application. We hope to receive those soon so we can buy our tickets back to Uganda. Although it is possible to return during these uncertain times it will be difficult because we have to have negative Covid tests 72 hours before our arrival back home. The good news is that tickets are cheap right now for whatever reason.
We have truly enjoyed our time catching up with all of you here, but we are so excited to return back to the other work God has for us. Please pray that our return would be smooth and soon.
