Stepped foot of the plane today after 36 hours of traveling and the second I breathed in the “Ugandan smell” my heart-felt at rest. How fun it is to be with others who do not have the “home ” feeling I have tonight but who are wrestling with not being over sensitized by everything they see and smell. It takes me back to my first time when I thought I was being brave by just agreeing to come for 10 days and the romantic love I quickly formed for this country and it’s people. It does my soul good to remember those feelings of excitement of not knowing what to expect and seeing through aware lenses opposed to mine, which tend to be clouded by familiar.

I arrived to my Ugandan father (I have two here) and I felt like a little girl who was so thankful to be received by one she feels so comforted by. As I approached the Guest House my emotions take me by surprise as I feel a wave of relief, excitement, and yet still there is that overwhelming, lingering feeling of unbelief that I am here again. Greeted by smiles, embraces, and the smell of fish in the kitchen- it hit me. I am home. A home so so different from the one I just left- the home that has shaped me and prepared me to be embraced in this home today, half-way across the world.

The darkness I lay in right now, in my familiar room, takes me back to many restless and lonely nights. It also takes me back to nights of sleeplessness due to the overwhelming joy. There is a knot in my stomach for I have no idea what this year will bring but I am comforted in this-of this I am sure-He has never let me walk alone, He has gone before us to level the mountains in the distance, and I know what lies ahead is bigger than I could ever imagine. Humbled is my heart. Humbled that I have the privilege to serve Him in this capacity. Thankful that I have returned to the place where I feast on Him. Awaiting the suffering that knocks on your door here and anxiously awaiting to meet Him there in the midst of it all.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for praying. Thank you for being a part of this journey-for you are as much a part of it as I am. We are all “missionaries” doing this together, and where I am makes me no greater than where you are right now. Write your story…tell the World. Someone will listen and someone will be changed.

2013…what do the Orange Roads have for me this year?

Let’s go get our hands and feet dirty, live a lot, and laugh more. Increase Lord and decrease me.