Can I bury my head in the sand?????

I've got a list, it seems like it's a mile long.  Normally I  love "to do" lists because I get such joy from crossing off tasks that have been completed but, today I just want to bury my head in the sand.  More things are being added to my list by the minute!  The most frustrating thing is this mess with insurance!  Somehow the fact that I would be unemployed and without health insurance didn't quite bother me, until now.  I guess I was just figuring that health care in Uganda is relatively inexpensive and I won't be in the US, so I wouldn't need to purchase insurance here.  Well, thank you Mr. Obama, now I have a headache and want to cry because I have to pay a lot of money for an insurance policy that I can't use or you will fine me!  Granted I don't have all the details yet and yes I'm venting a little but, I'm just being real here.  Not every step of preparation for this grand adventure has been fun, this is one of those instances.  Even so, God is good!  He has provided all the details up to this point.  I'm 100% confident that this is His plan for my life at this time.  So, I'm preaching to the choir here and this post is just to remind myself that God is in control and He's got this!  Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and you minds in Christ Jesus."  So, I'm going to stop worrying, I'm going to pray about this, I'm going to thank God for this too and then I'm going to move on to the next item on the list while I wait for His peace to wash over me and give me the strength to wade through the confusing details and information.  Also, I'm going to look at these precious faces, they make everything better and remind me of what is ahead...

Amanya, my newest love that I sponsor, he makes my heart melt.  I can't wait to get my arms around him again!

Oh, Amanya, that little look says it all!

Anges, my beautiful angel.  She captured my heart on my very first trip to Uganda and brought out the fierce protector in me.  She is my heart!

Nurse Betty and her sweet baby Jethro!  I can't wait to work with Nurse Betty, she is amazing and hopefully Jethro won't cry when he sees me this time!

 

 

 

18 days, 12 hours, 7 minutes and 23 seconds...

 

Here come the beginning of the goodbyes...

(I can already tell that I'm going to be horrible at this blog thing!  Yikes, over a month has passed since I posted anything and as of right now, I'm the only one who knows about this blog! Hahahaha!)

Yesterday was such a bittersweet day for me, it was my last day of work at Sutter Davis Hospital in the Birthing Center.  The place that took a chance on a brand new, right out of nursing school, nurse who cried in her interview!  It has been such an amazing place to start my career as a nurse.  I have had the best coworkers in the world, both on nightshift and dayshift.  I don't know if they will ever know how much I care about them and love them.  I don't know if I really understand how much I'm going to miss them!  When you work 12 hour shifts with people, they become your family!  Especially on night shift, you have to learn to trust these people completely!  They had my back, I had there's and we could get through anything together!  Even if some nights (and lately days) it was all we could do just to get through the chaos of the shift without loosing our minds, seriously hurting ourselves or our patients and walking out the door and never coming back!  Hey, we are the best place to give birth the whole wide world so we are a very busy place! 

I love how we do birth, I love how we take care of our patients and I love our patients.  It will feel really weird to not be working with laboring moms and their babies anymore.  Its all I know and I will really miss it!  Maybe God will bring me back there someday, if He does...awesome!  I miss you guys already!

So, the goodbyes have started.  Its sad and exciting all at the same time.  I have to say goodbye before I can move forward with what God has for me.  So, forgive the tears that are inevitable, I'm an emotional person.  I cry at toilet paper commercials...just that one time but, still it happened! LOL! Just hug me and pray for me.

21 days, 17 hours, 36 minutes and 23 seconds.....

Following His call...

Three years ago, if you had asked me how life was, I would have said, "It's great!  I've got a good paying job that I love, I own my home, I have a cat who likes to snuggle, I have the best family ever, my friends are amazing, and I attend the best church ever!"  I was firmly settled into adulthood and loving it! Today, all those things still remain true but, God has shaken up my life up and its not so settled anymore...LOL!  This shake up really started when I changed churches and got connected with the missions community at Bridgeway Christian Church in Rocklin, CA (my new best church ever!!!).  When I was a teenager, I went on missions trip to Malawi, Africa and fell in love with Africa.  My dream was always to go back to Africa someday in a medical capacity but, timing was never right.  When I got to Bridgeway, I heard a lot about Uganda and long story short, my dream finally came true!  I went to Uganda for the first time in December of 2012 with Bridgeway, then again in July of 2013 and July of 2014.  Needless to say, I fell in love with the people and the place!  Leaving Uganda after the last trip was utterly heartbreaking!  I had no idea when I would be back again.  God began to stir in my heart the idea of going back to Uganda and staying for a longer period of time than 2 weeks.  I prayed and talked and prayed and talked and prayed some more! I really felt like God was asking me to completely unsettle myself and follow His call back to Uganda for a period of 3-6 months!  So...I'm taking a giant leap of faith!  I'm going to Uganda for 8 months!! 

That's what this blog is about, my adventures in Uganda.  The journey to get there, the time spent there and coming home again.  Even if no one but my mom ever reads this, I'm okay with that!  LOL!  This is all for His glory!

62 days...10 hours...44 minutes...and 22 seconds...until I leave for the place that has captured my heart!