This Girl's Heartbeat

It's been forever since I've blogged so I thought with my trip approaching I would start again. I will be returning to Uganda this December and let me tell you, IT CAN NOT COME SOON ENOUGH!! I find myself daydreaming about Africa all the time. I go there at least once a week in my dreams and let me tell you, they are so vivid I almost feel like I can get out of bed and dust that red dirt off of my pjs. I tend to be in La La land on the days following those dreams. I'm homesick! It's the most strange and wonderful feeling. I compare it to this: That feeling you get when you haven't seen your special someone, your best friend, or someone really close to you for a VERY long time. It's like your heart breaks to be in their presence. Even just to sit together, to not even talk. That's how bad I want to be there. I know that this trip will be so different. Seeing things in a different way. The first trip was so new and overwhelming. I was just floode...

God has been opening so many doors for Refuge lately. Since we've returned from Africa, Mandy and I can hardly keep up with the blessings He's pouring out on the ministry. One of our main focus for Hope Refuge is to build the buildings. It costs between $12,000-$14,000 to build one building and that includes cement floors; right now they are sitting on dirt floors in some of their buildings. We were sitting around a merry go round in Mandy's back yard one Saturday when the brick project, or what we are calling the Tafaali project, came to mind. (Tafaali means brick in Lugandan) For a donation of $100, people will receive a brick that represents their donation. It only takes 140 bricks to build one building! Seems easy right! But we had no bricks. Since that day, we have had over 500 bricks donated to us with more on the way! When there's a need, He supplies it. we are already planning our projects for the next mission trip and are counting down the days and months...

Ever wonder why god takes you to places or situations which you try to avoid to grow you and teach you. He does this to me often and I don't like it. But I know it's good for me. It's like going to the dentist. I'm not of fan of the dentist but I know it's good for me. It's during these times that he stretches you and puts you in a place where all you can do is rely on him. Sometimes it takes some drastic measures for him to get our attention and sometimes it's a quiet nudge. But every time he shows me something about himself or about myself and I can feel him holding me and saying "it's ok Lacey, I've got you. I will never leave you nor forsake you." And I learn...I learn to lean on him, I learn to trust, and I reconnect to a source that sustains me and loves me so much. And I am reminded that I am His. Sent from my iPad

So I guess I've decided to keep going with this blog. Surprisingly, I'm finding that I like writing on this thing. My thoughts are mainly for me but maybe someone might feel the same about things and it helps to know you're not alone sometimes :) (At least for me it does) Ill try to keep it shorter than my blog from Africa though lol. So the big T. Wonder what that is? Transition. Spiritual transition. For me this word makes me want to cringe and be excited at the same time. My life has been in this faze for over a year now and it feels as though the emotions of it all are increasing daily. It's a mixture of excitement, wonder, and frustration all at once. Now I know frustration isn't what   god gives us but I've been feeling it. It's like I'm standing at the edge of the cliff wanting to jump, not sure what Im jumping into, but ready and not afraid, yet someone is holding my shirt and saying not yet. There's two things pulling me; knowing that t...

I've been home now for almost seven days and I've experienced so many emotions in such a short time. I miss me friends from Uganda and I miss the country in a way I didn't miss it when I left. Before I left, and a few times while I was there, I prayed and asked god to help me with my emotions. I am very soft hearted and I knew what I was about to experience would be an intense emotional experience and I didn't want to make a fool out of myself. I didn't want to embarrass myself but most importantly I didn't want to disrespect my African friends. It would be hard for me to explain to them the reasons behind my feelings. So I asked god to protect my heart and keep me in check. At times, although being there was amazing, I felt a little disconnected from things. Like I was walking in someone else's shoes. When I left, I was worried that the trip hadn't impacted me as much as I thought it would. I thought I was abnormal. I prayed and asked god if this was h...

Random observations about Uganda 1. The people here are absolutely gorgeous. The women are some of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life and the men are so handsome. Their skin is like porcelain. And their smiles are gorgeous.  Everyone could be a model  2. They work hard. The manual labor is intense. Everything is done by hand. The staff at both of our hotels mop with a towel with their hands. They bend over the entire time. First they mop with a soapy towel and then they dry the floor with another.  3.  The food is really good.  We eat a lot of fruit and everything has no preservatives so its all natural. There are bananas everywhere and they taste like candy. I wish I could bring some home with me. The hotel cooks some kind of rice and gravy that has a lot of the same favors from back home. There's this bread called chipota that's like a fried flat bread that's really good.  the beef I ate at the bishops house the other day was very gamey....

Wednesday I'm sitting on the plane in Nairobi, Kenya right now. This plane is huge. 10 seats wide and there is a second story to the plane. We will be traveling for a total of 30 hours I believe. By the time I post this ill be in Amsterdam. We have a four hour layover there. I would give anything to have a longer one so I can visit Anne Franks house but it doesn't look like its going to happen. Leaving the bishop and his children was hard   Its crazy how much they feel like family. Matthew came find me through all of the people in the crowd and gave me a big huge. I love that kid. I had a dream last night that we took him home with us. I wish I could.   Leaving Ugandan soil caused such mixed emotions. Happy to be going home but sad to be leaving this land. It's people have won my heart. It's hard to think we are leaving a land to go to a place that is so different. America is a blessed nation in so many ways. My eyes have been opened to that these past 10 days. But Amer...