Howdy!!

So, in my last post I said we had 26 days until we leave...WRONG! I should have put 19 days which means today it only makes 13 days!! I cannot believe it! It hasn't sunk in yet because I am not in a constant state of panic. I'm sure next week will be crazy though. I am still tying up loose ends at work at Mercy Health Center since this is my first extended time being away (it will probably be my last one too!) I am so excited to be going to Africa. You have no idea!!! I did meet with a NICU nurse earlier this week to gain some knowledge about taking care of the babies, feeding them, when to take them to the hospital, etc... Hopefully all of the information will be useful. We are really praying about getting some new babies while we are over there which I am really excited about. To see the process from the beginning will truly be amazing.

I want to ride an elephant! It's on my bucket list and since I'm heading over to a land filled with elephants I think this is a great time to cross it off. My Aunt Delle thinks it will be disguisting and it probably will, but I still want to do it. Don't ask how this will come about, but "Operation Elephant Ride" has begun and hopefully we will be able to complete the mission! Getting on the elephant should be quite humerous since I have such short legs...video/photo op anyone?? Suffice it to say that it won't look pretty, but it will be loads of fun! Did I mention I'm scared of heights? Well, I don't care...I'm doing it!!!!

Here goes nothing...

God is amazing!!!

Can I just say that God is totally amazing!! I have been working really hard to raise my own money for this trip to Africa and let me say that it is NOT cheap. I have had two people so far just give me money for my trip without having to send out support letters. Well, last night a sweet lady who shall remain nameless sent me a check with quite a sizeable amount...$500!! Not only that, but she sent Amy a very large check to begin the fund for the new home that needs to be purchased and built. MANY tears were shed because we were all together when we opened these letters. Such a sweet note accompanied these checks. Sorry to be so vague, but suffice to say that God provides even when we don't expect it.
I cannot believe that I leave in 26 days! There is so much to do, but I am trying not to get overwhelmed. I will enjoy this Christmas with my family (the last one together for two years since MB will be leaving for North Africa...sadness) and then focus on packing next week or perhaps the next one since I am a last-minute-packer anyway. I hope that you have a wonderful time with your families.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Hold Fast...

So, I've already gotten in trouble by my sisters complaining that I don't post often enough. SORRY!! But I am a little busy getting stuff ready to go. THREE WEEKS from today we will be on a plane headed to London for our first layover. 21 DAYS!!!! Some of you may know that I graduated from dental hygiene school in June 2008. Since then I have not found a permanent position with a dentist here in Athens (or around it for that matter). I have just been filling in with different offices, but that was always touch and go depending on who went on vacation or was sick week to week. Well, when I was planning this trip I kind of thought to myself how humorous it would be if I found a job. That's what happened! I met Dr. Powell a few weeks ago at a fundraiser for my job at Mercy Health Center. He and I had e-mailed back and forth many times before because he supports us at Mercy and donate supplies. Well, I met him face-to-face that night and his wife was asking about my job situation. I told her that I had not found a permanent home, but was always looking for something. To make a long story short his part-time hygienist had to quit earlier than expected due to shoulder problems she was having. So, he offered me the position almost sight-unseen for two days a week. My first thought was that God was going to have me give up this trip. I wasn't sure I could do that, but I prayed and put it all in His hands. I met with Dr. Powell and he said that he could find someone else to fill in for the six weeks I would be gone if I would start filling in for him now and then be ready to start in March when I got back. Well, I didn't even have to pray too hard about that one...YES!! Not only does this provide extra money for my trip, but it also means when I get back I will have an immediate source of income instead of being totally broke : )
Everyone always told me to be patient - that God would provide the perfect job for me. Well, He did!!

Lots of things have been happening as we prepare for our trip. Uganda doesn't have any baby swings of any kind. You Mothers out there must know how trying this must be to be taking care of 13 babies without a swing. So, Amy got on Craigslist and found several swings in great condition. Right now, as I am typing this, they are taken apart and put into two suitcases ready for travel to Sonrise. I know that they will be so relieved. We are also looking into purchasing some other baby equipment such as an infant carseat and slings to carry the babies around. Amy has changed her tune from eBay fanatic to Craigslist junkie!

Please pray for us as the trip draws ever closer. I did get my shots (4 total) and still need to take my typhoid medication and malaria pills. Pray for our health. Pray that God will prepare my heart for everything that I will encounter there (I know it will be tough). Pray that we will be able to take in more babies while we are there. Pray that I will be able to gain some medical knowledge to help them take care of the babies that are sick. Just pray...
Thank you for everything and I love each one of you : )

Time is flying...

So, I just realized that we leave for Uganda in 40 days!!! I cannot believe it. If I think about it too much I get overwhelmed at all that I have to do. Packing seems like WAY too much. I still have to get all of my shots and medicines. I don't have all of the proper clothing or shoes. The list goes on. Then I remember that I serve a God who is in control of EVERY situation - big or small. He cares about everything - big or small. He holds the entire world in His hands! I cannot even fathom that!!!
I have been reading the blog of my friend Lindsey who is in Uganda right now working with Sonrise. It makes me long to be there now with all of those precious babies. Please begin praying for us now that the Lord would prepare us mentally, physically, and spiritually for this long journey. I know it will be tough. Amy has already warned me to just expect to get sick at least once or twice on this trip (sounds like fun!) I know that it will be very tiring, but I also know that it will be so very rewarding. No matter what I face, I know that God will bring me through it. So, thanks for praying for us. Thanks for reading this blog. And thanks for joining with us in our work with Sonrise Baby Home!

How the journey began...

First of all, you will notice as I post that I like to use a lot of punctuation marks, such as five exclamation points at the end of a sentence. This is how I write-thanks, in part, to Amy who is a great influence on me! You have been warned. I wanted to let all of my prayer warriors/partners know how this journey to Sonrise began. This will give you an inside look at how God truly does work even when I can't see it happening. He truly is an awesome God!
I must begin by saying that God has always placed in my heart a desire to go to Africa. Another desire of mine was to go on a mission trip to work with an orphanage of some kind. Never did I think He would meld the two together in such an amazing way. I have been on overseas mission trips before - two to Nicaragua and one to Romania - and really do have a huge heart for missions whether here in Georgia or internationally. When I graduated college in 2008 I thought that my dreams of going to Africa were going to be put on the back burner because I would be getting a full-time job and there was no way that my employer would let me off for a 6 week vacation and still hold the job for me when I returned. Basically, I had resigned myself to waiting until later in life to hopefully fulfill this dream.
My friend, Amy Washington, went to Uganda this past summer 2009. She wanted to work with a baby home, but the ones in the area were not accepting any volunteers during the time she would be over there. So, she was very flexible and decided to spend her time with a children's home for five weeks (Musana Children's Home). After arriving, the workers at Musana told her about a baby home that had just opened up the week before. Amy and Jessie (another friend who was on the trip) didn't need to be asked twice about taking a little weekend visit over there. Once they got to Sonrise Baby Home they fell in love with everything about it. You can imagine how little Sonrise had to offer to the babies, but it was very evident to both Amy and Jessie that this was a place that they were called to work with. So, after Jessie left to come back to the States, Amy spent the last two weeks of her trip strictly working at Sonrise Baby Home. We would get occasional e-mails from her throughout her summer there and she would tell us about Sonrise. It was very evident in her e-mails that she felt called to further ministry with them. When she came back to the United States at the end of the summer, she felt burdened to continue to help Sonrise. So, she began fundraising a little and overseeing the process of becoming a non-profit ministry. Then, Amy started talking about going back...
Amy left her heart with those precious babies in Africa and when she talked about Sonrise and the ministry that the workers have you couldn't help but wish that you could be apart of it. One night in early September, she came over to my house and we just sat and talked for about two hours about life. The subject of going back to Uganda in January came up and she was saying how badly she wished someone could go back with her. But due to school schedules of her sisters and work schedules of other friends it was hard to ask someone to take off from January through the end of February right after they had been off for the Christmas holiday. Then she asked me about going. My first thought was "There is NO WAY that I can ask off from my job at Mercy Health Center for 6 whole weeks"!!! So I told her this and she kind of understood. The subject came up again about how she wished that I could go with her. We started talking and the wheels started turning. I am a fill-in dental hygienist which means that I can choose when I want to work. At Mercy Health Center, I work about three days a week with the dental clinic on Fridays being the busiest day of all. Then I remembered my wonderful intern, Chad. He has truly been a lifesaver (I don't know how I have run the clinic without an intern for the past 2 1/2 years!). Anyway, Chad has caught on very quickly to how things are run and is able to pretty much handle things by himself. Then I was kind of worried about what my parents would say about me taking off on such short notice. After Amy and I talked more about it, I started getting excited. Maybe it would work out after all. I could just let people know that I wouldn't be available to fill in during those six weeks, and if Chad was able to handle the clinic (which I knew he would be very capable) then Tracy (my boss) would be more inclined to let me be gone. By the end of mine and Amy's conversation we were both pretty excited because I basically told her that I would try to ask off and if that was a go then I would make this trip with her.
After she left that night, I had the biggest peace come over me. I felt as if I had taken a turn in the road and realized that I was actually heading in the right direction! I was in constant prayer about everything. When I arrived at work that next week I went into Tracy's office to see what she thought. She immediately said that if my intern could oversee the clinics that she would be fine with me leaving. Well, that just fueled the fire to let me know that God was opening the door for me. When I approached Chad about how he would feel about me being gone for 6 weeks he was so excited about the possiblity of running everything without me there - and he doesn't have any classes on Fridays that would conflict with the dental clinic. Victory #2!!!! Finally, I approached Mom one morning (I think I scared her a little bit because I opened up the conversation by saying "Mom, I need to talk to you about something...") and she said "Go!". At this point I still wasn't quite sure if my final decision was made, so I continued praying about it. Amy got in touch with a travel agent to reserve seats for us and still I prayed.
Well, it's been almost three months since Amy and I had that conversation and I am so happy to inform you that I WILL BE GOING TO AFRICA!!! The Lord has opened door after door and provided funds that I didn't know were possible. Almost as soon as I started seriously praying about going, I received several calls from dentists about filling in for different days as a hygienist...I could work almost every one of them! I have a jar on my dresser that I've been putting money aside in. It has been so cool to watch that thing fill up!
My dream of going to Africa wasn't put on hold after all. God was busy working behind the scenes formulating His plan for me until He was ready to reveal it. I'm so glad that He doesn't show it to us too soon. I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. I am learning that God doesn't waste anything in our lives. He always uses it for something good...always!
And so, as I begin to share more and more about our trip and then let you know what we are doing while we are there, I hope that you will journey with us to Uganda. Let the countdown begin...51 days until we leave (January 11, 2010)!!

Thank you so very much for your love, support, and prayers!
Leah

There's a first time for everything...

So, I have NEVER done a blog before! I know that may shock some people...haha! I also said that I would NEVER keep a blog. But, sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways and here I am typing this for you to read. I can't promise how often I'll update it, but I will try my best to keep you informed of the happenings leading up to and including our trip to Uganda in January. I would love to tell you how this whole story came about, but that is for another time and place. Check back later for more...