OK So blogging has not been my strong suit the past few weeks...Okay, months... Things have been pretty quiet on here because my life right now is completely opposite....CRAAZAY..... I wish I could tell ya all exactly all the craziness right now but let's just say we can't complain about things being slow or boring..... Levi is doing amazing. He is growing like a weed, learning to communicate
and even how to fight like the rest of the kids lol.... I will update and back date post soon... I hope....
SO ANYWAYS.... I had to take a moment before Christmas and blog about something important to me.... The past few years we have been really trying to refocus and turn upward in our Christmas season as a family. We so want to focus on Christ and the true meaning of Christmas and how we want our kids to experience it. When we first got married Christmas was all about presents and buying lots of them for each other as well as family and friends. We knew it was about Jesus but other than going to Christmas service we didn't really reflect that in our time or giving.... then little Evelyn came along and it made us start to think...we talked about what we wanted to teach her and how we could make it not about presents and Santa..... well I can just say 4 years later we are still a work in progress... we have tried different things and I am sure will continue to talk about and find new ways to focus our families attention towards Christ during this season.... the one thing I wanted to share about is that we are trying to focus on GIVING.... well that seems pretty easy since that's what so many do focus on... giving
gifts to each other, making Want lists, etc... but I am talking about giving to Christ... it is HIS birthday now isn't it? But how can we give to Christ?
Well when we look at His word He talks about giving to the least of these... to those who are poor, outcast and truly needy... SO at Chrsitmas time we look for ways that we can specifically do that... we try to give and give more in those ways than giving fun and
extravagant gifts to each other.... we have birthdays and other special times we can spoil our kids or each other and we don't want Christmas to be that time...
SO I wanted to share about 3 Ministries that are dear to our hearts. These are ministries in Uganda that we have visited while we were there, shared meals with the board members/staff,and believe are most definitely doing the Lords work to minister to the least of these.
#1
Sixty Feet- God put sixty feet in our path about 2 years ago. He honestly shook our little world upside down when He opened our eyes and hearts to the Children that this
ministry is working with. They have been and are doing AMAZING things in Uganda and we were blessed to go and serve in 2011 with their fist missions team. We now call the board members
good friends and continue to see God moving mountains for these children through this ministry. Children and prisons should not be used in the same sentence... read about this kids
HERE.
#2
Ekubo Ministries- I somehow met Christie online and we chatted back and forth for a few months. When I was in Uganda this past Oct for our adoption I knew I wanted to go out and see the work Christie and her husband George were involved with in their village. This was one of the best days I had in Uganda. It was wonderful spending time out in the village and getting to talk with Christie. She is very real and straightforward and we got along very easily ;) She invited me into their home and also gave me a tour of their land where they have a couple small classrooms, a small church, and an unfinished clinic and babies home. They have opened their home to more than a dozen children at a time and many call them mom and dad now as they raise funds to legally adopt them. They always have open doors even when their 2 bedroom house is full beyond full. They are the real deal and Gods doing awesome work through their family. Right now through Christmas they have a matching grant up to 10k to help so they can finish their babies home where they will be able to take in more children while they seek to reunite them with family. Read about Ekubo
HERE.
#3
Ekisa is amazing.... this was definitely the one of the highlights of our time in Uganda this past Sept. These girls and their staff are the straight up the hands and feet of Jesus. Started by Emily and Emily :) Ekisa is a ministry in Uganda whose main purpose is providing a home to children with various special needs. These children are amazing and truly are living a full life at Ekisa. They are happy and full of joy and SO well loved. On top of this Ekisa also puts efforts towards educating families and the community about special needs and on top of that their entire staff are Ugandans who either have some kind of special need or their child has a special need. They are doing some amazing things and God is doing some awesome work through this ministry. Go
HERE and read about Ekisa and how you can help with their 25k in 25 days fundraiser!
I encourage you to pray and consider how you can give a gift this Christmas that can make a difference in the lives of others whom Jesus called us to love and care for, a gift worthy to be given to the King of Kings.
