Red,

…..for the first two days in Uganda, i "optimistically panicked" and fought the red. I declared that mine would be the only Ugandan home scrubbed clean of it. The first morning i woke up with swollen hands and wrists from scrubbing, we discovered muscles long dormant….and as i reached for my newly purchased white bowl, i had to dust off the red dust.

Not to be deterred- i rallied the troops, every child of mine, every newly found friend, and we all scrubbed, we went through bottle after bottle of soap. The Ugandans giggled and smiled sympathetically. Did they secretly know that the white new girl would one day have to surrender to the red??? Did they take bets on how long it would be?

You might as well tell the earth to stop spining.

Red is here to stay……………but so are we.

My new favorite color is clayish red. If you surround yourself with red sheets and towells, dark clothes and chair covers, your struggle subsides.

Adam rarely wears shoes here. Our home has a wonderfully inviting white porous bathtub. I thought the red stain in it would surrnder to bleach, but as i poured the tub for Adam’s first bath to begin scrubbing his red body clean, i could not see the bottom of the tub through the water. Then Adam got in, and that shade of red cannot be explained!

We are settling in, have started language learning and the kids start school at the International school this Tuesday. Ben is 15 now, and rumor has it…there are only 12 kids in the entire high school, it should be an interesting first day!!!

Our time at Hope Children’s Home has been the highlight of our first few weeks here. We wish we could bring each of you here with us to meet these kids. The more we crawl into their stories, the more we fall in love with each of them. Please pray for us as we begin to make plans for the future here, as we listen to His heart towards each of these kids. As i sat and watched them eat one day, i was struck by my ridiculous obession with being clean, for the hours i have spent trying to outwit the red dirt, the time i spend creating variety for myself, whether it be with food or entertainment or whatever. These little people were so thankful just to be sitting at their wooden table and smelling the rice and beans and cabbage being dished up for them.  As they waited for their bowls to arrive, their red stained feet swung back and forth.

 Thank you to all of you who have made this whole transition possible. We long to give you a dusty red hug!