Little Bitty Update

I am posting a tiny update because I am too tired to go into detail...not because of our new house mates, but because of all of the holiday preparation etc!

Tracy and Churchill arrived, a few minutes ahead of schedule (unbelievable!), at about 9:15 on Christmas Eve. We were expecting their plane at 9:30 according to the monitor, but I spotted them on the escalator 15 minutes early. Rehema ran to the bottom of the stairs and started yodeling...Tracy's face immediately went sour. She was so embarrassed! But she got over it quickly and Churchill's grin was big enough for both of them. There was a lot of hugging and laughing and the woman behind me said, "Oh my God! I don't even know them and I am crying!" It was truly a sweet reunion.

We didn't stay up long when we got home...they ate and bathed and everyone went to bed so Santa could come. Christmas morning was probably a bit overwhelming. Tracy shook her head and refused to believe that Santa left her the gifts we told her were for her. She got a baby doll with a stroller, that we had to show her how to use. They carry their babies in slings in Uganda, not strollers. She also got two Barbies, a white one and a black one with several outfits. She insisted that they were all named Meagan and that the black one really was white. She also says that Rehema has turned white since she has been in the U.S. and wonders if she will turn white too.

They have taken the past couple of days to try to turn their body clocks around, since our day is their night. They are still up tonight at almost 8:30. They are in the family room watching Despicable Me and I hear Tracy laughing out loud every once in a while. A good sign that she is loosening up and becoming more comfortable around us. She is pretty shy and prefers to speak Luo to English. She is sure that she will find a black person in Austin to speak Luo with besides her mother and her brother who promises that after the new year, only English will be spoken.

Well, I hope to post more soon with some pictures of the reunion. I hope that you get to meet them soon. They are really beautiful.

By the way...if anyone has any size 10-12 girl's clothes to pass down, let me know. Tracy is much taller than we expected!!

They'll Be Home for Christmas!

Yesterday we purchased tickets for Churchill and Tracy! They will be coming in at 9:30 on Christmas Eve. I have talked to the principal at the elementary school and they are expecting Tracy next semester. I now have to talk to McCallum to see what to do about Churchill.

While we were filling out all the info for the plane tickets, I got to find out the kid's birthdays. We thought Churchill was 18 and Tracy was 8, but they are actually 17 and 7. Ugandans don't keep track of age or celebrate birthdays, so I taught Rehema how to count out their ages. I am relieved that they are younger than we thought...I was worried about Churchill being too old for high school and that Tracy would look too old for the grade she will probably fit best in. Also, Graceyn really wanted a 'little sister' to take care of...now that she knows Tracy is 2 years younger, she can feel like 'big sister' to her.

Now we have to get busy and figure out immunizations, health insurance, sleeping arrangements, Christmas presents, warm clothes, and who knows what else. If anyone has information on health insurance for children residing temporarily in the US on 12 month visas, please contact me!!!!

Needless to say, we are going into this with a lot of prayer and trust in God's provision. Please pray for all of us as we go through this transition. There will be lots of adjustments to be made on everyone's part, but Churchill and Tracy will be going through enormous cultural changes. Pray that their youthfulness will make it easier on them than it was on their mother. They have never seen many of the things they will encounter on their trip here, alone. They do not celebrate Christmas in the same materialistic way that we do in America. School will be completely different. And even though they speak English, they will have to get used to the very different accents. (When I have talked with Tracy on Skype, she asks her mother to tell me to please speak English!) Oddly enough, one of the things I worry most about is the temperature difference from their home. Rehema wears hats and coats in the summer and she has been here for a year and 1/2! They will be coming in the beginning of winter and will never have felt temperatures this cold before...even though we consider our winters to be mild.

I am looking forward to posting about their reunion with their mother...they have not seen her in 1 1/2 years! Can you imagine? It's going to be a party...I better alert the security at the airport :)

Tracy, Churchill and Advent

In my last post, I talked about Rehema's kids and the possibility of them coming to the US to be with their mother. I have wanted to post updates many times, but haven't had the time to sit at the computer to do it. A LOT has happened since my last post...

First of all, thank you to those of you who were moved to want to help bring Churchill and Tracy to Austin. Your prayers have helped us to see God's hand moving. Both kids have been granted US visas for 12 months, which apparently is very hard to get in Uganda. They are free to come and join Rehema as soon as we can get them plane tickets. Since it is the holiday season, airfare is very high. Yesterday all we could find was tickets that would cost about $2400 one way for the two of them. It looked like we were going to have to wait until February when the tickets were about 1/2 that price. But today, Rehema found airfare that would total about $1700 for the two of them and they would arrive around midnight on Christmas Eve.

There are still many unknowns and complications about caring for them once they get here, but God is showing us that it is not impossible. I just finished talking and praying with Rehema about making the decision to purchase the tickets. Please join us in praying for God's timing and direction in all of this. I really want to just get out of the way and let Him do His thing. It's a very hard thing for me to do! I want Rehema to be reunited with her children, but more than that, I want God to get His way.

I was reminded tonight how much this is like advent. We are waiting and anticipating Churchill and Tracy's arrival. As much as we are excited about that, we agreed that we were much more excited about the anticipation of the coming of our Jesus. And not just the anticipation of the anniversary of him coming to the world as a child, but the anticipation of him coming to the world in Glory! As much as we long for the day that we will be with Churchill and Tracy, we long for the day we will be with Jesus so much more.

Devin and I would like to host a small fundraiser to help Rehema with the costs of bringing her kids here and for caring for them once they are with her. I am not sure when that will be, but I will post about it here and try to get the word out through Facebook and email too. This is such a busy season for everyone, but we will see what is in store for us.

If you have been praying for this situation, please continue! If you have just learned about this sweet family, please add them to your prayers. I hope one day that you will meet them and that you will be as blessed as we have been to know them.