Next stop... Uganda!

I know I've been quiet on the blog front, for nearly a year!  In this year, so much has happened... so much so, that in enumerating things, I'm afraid I'll miss something!  I had the honor of serving on a Kairos prison ministry weekend in October, and once again am grateful and amazed at God's extraordinary love and grace.  I was able to return to the prison in April for the closing of another weekend, and was thrilled to see so many of my Kairos sisters there, many of whom had served on the weekend.  They were continuing to strengthen and deepen their walk with Jesus


In January I was ordained to the diaconate, and what a glorious, joyful, and humbling day that was.  In our snow-less winter, we even had the briefest snow flurry in the morning, which I felt was a gift from God just for me.  :)


The late winter and spring have been a flurry of activity in preparing to return to Uganda - leaving Booz Allen after ten and a half years, joining the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders (SAMS), support raising, selling my condo (in six days - I never saw that one coming!), getting rid of stuff, more stuff, and even more stuff, moving, serving at All Saints', and generally preparing to move.


The Lord has so graciously provided all that I need - transportation, a place to live, food to eat, money to live on.  This continues into the move, as well.  Being a novice at international moves, I procrastinated in finding a company to ship my books and things that won't fit in my suitcases.  I found a great company, and learned I needed a local customs broker to navigate the customs labyrinth; friends recommended one, and he'll even deliver the boxes to me.  Friends also suggested using a runner to get my work permit.  After all I went through to get my pupil's pass my first semester, I'll gladly pay the $75 fee!


One of the last pieces to fall into place is housing.  One of my classmates is serving at UCU in the chaplaincy, and it took him some good time (as the Africans say) to get his housing squared away; I was concerned that I may fall into the same predicament.  I called this morning, and was told that I'd be living in Josephine Tucker, the dorm I lived in my last semester.


This confused me for a bit - why would they put me in the dorms?  Then I remembered that there's an apartment to the right of the dorm.  The USP interns had lived there last year.  

I don't know whether this is a temporary or permanent solution - I'll determine that once I arrive.  I'm just grateful to know where to go when I get to campus at 1:00 AM.  I'm also grateful that it's closer to the buildings on campus that I will frequent, and that it's fairly quiet up on the hill, and that there's a chance the bedroom is on the back and therefore gets the morning sun...  I do feel sorry for Paul, the driver who will pick me from the airport, as he will do much of the heavy lifting up all those steps I've complained written about.