More about life

A fun story from last week that I didnt really get a chance to mention, but September 11th was Emily's birthday and all she wanted was Christmas dinner - she's from England, so she doesn't do Thanksgiving, but that is what I am comparing dinner to. We bought a turkey at the market - yes, a live turkey, with feathers and all, and I watched (partly) as the other Emily sawed off it's head to kill it, then have to proceed to pluck and gut it. It was slightly intense. Then we were in the kitchen all day cooking stuffing, green bean casserole, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake! And it should be noted that we have zero of the luxuries of American cooking haha - everything is completely from scratch, including the fried onions that go on top of the casserole :) and all of the veggies are fresh from the market! It was by far the best meal I've eaten in a long time! But to really make it Christmas, we listened to Christmas music all day so we were all in a holiday spirit which was fun!

Something else I realized I haven't talked too much about is church. I mentioned that I met the pastor on the first Friday I was here, at a cafe in town, and then that Sunday he remembered my name and has asked how I was adjusting. He is so sweet and I feel really wants to be invested in his church and the people in it, which is really awesome. He is from Roanoke, and is a huge Tech fan, even has a VT flag hanging in his yard haha. Church is in his back yard which is pretty neat that it's outside (I keep waiting for the day it rains on us - but so far it's been beautiful every Sunday I have been here). The church is called Acacia Community Church and has a pretty contemporary feel. There is definitely a strong missionary community that goes there, but there is also a lot of Ugandans as well. There worship team is all Ugandans, which is fun and the music is really good - with a couple more popular songs thrown in that everyone knows! Then along with a great feel, there is definitely a strong message that is preached. They are going through 1 Peter, and for those of you reading this who go/went to Portico, the sermons are similar to Chris', in that we cover a very small chunk every week and we really dive into it. I'm loving that it is similar to Portico, it makes me feel a little more at home:) 

Last week we covered 1 Peter 2:7-10 and Pastor Terry posed the question "who are you?" in response to the scripture. In thinking about these verses, especially verse 9, he really challenged us to ask "who we are and where do you seek to place your reputation in?" (totally God's timing, especially after processing everything the other week in Bible Study) but also reminded us to see ourselves the way God sees us - that we are created beautiful in his image. I love that while being here the Lord has constantly been giving me scripture to point me back to the fact that he has made me for a purpose, has chosen me to be here in Uganda, and that he ultimately wants me to "declare the praises of him who called me out of darkness" - I want this to be my answer to the question "who am I?"

Then this week we read 1 Peter 2:11-17, and the question was asked "what do people say about you?" Whereas a lot could also be commented on about this sermon as well, a part that really stood out to me was in verse 11 - " Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and aliens..." and do I consider myself a foreigner or alien? Here, in Uganda I do, but at home it's easy not to. I want to feel at home and desire to feel at home, and even with coming here I have been struggling with wanting to feel like I have a place - but in thinking of this verse, and in light of being a Christian, Peter is saying that we should feel like aliens and foreigners in this world because this world should not be our reality of home. This was just a really neat message to hear, especially in feeling like I need to find a "home" for the three months I'm here in Uganda, or feel comfortable that my "home" is back in the U.S. but rather that my hope and view of home needs to be in a heavenly sense and completely focused on Christ. This switches gears a little bit but still focusing on home, this sermon also had me thinking a lot about home, back in the states with family, friends, and the comfortability I have known for so long. In thinking about all of this I was really overcome with feelings of thankfulness. In ten days I will have been gone one month, and even at this point in my trip last summer I was halfway through my trip in Botswana, but thinking about that now I really am not as homesick as I thought I would be, or was last year. I know that is going to be hard to hear for some people, but I am so thankful that while God has me here, I am really here, and not longing to be somewhere else - and for this I'm grateful!