Guests

I finished my last post quite abruptly saying that our guests had arrived. It has been a week now and they are back in Kampala. They have definitely left their mark on this family.

Whenever we've hosted guests, we've been sure to "pray it up". Having someone in your home for any length of time can be easy or not-so-easy. You know? So we pray a lot before they arrive that we will be a blessing to them and that they would fit easily into our family. God has honored these prayers so many times before and this past week was no exception.

Kathleen is a pediatric nurse from Scotland who works with HIV/AIDS patients on the Sesse Islands of Lake Victoria. Her stories will turn your stomach, make you so grateful you're not there, and marvel at the way God uses ordinary people to accomplish His will. Heidi is a dental hygienist from Michigan who works with university students in Kampala. Her father is running for congress, please stop for a second and pray that God will put godly men and women in positions of authority in our government. She has a way with Ugandan university students that inspires me to give even more of myself to these students who are at such a critical junction in their lives. Heidi is on the left and Kathleen is on the right.

They both played with the kids as if they were related. Heidi even went so far as to play "Big cop, Little cop" with the them. They all put on motorcycle helmets and ran around the house for the evening - it was hilarious. Especially since the kids resemble bobble heads with the way their helmets fit.

Along with these guests, we received a new member to our family on Tuesday evening. Her name is Molly and she seems to be a bit younger than Mindy. She was almost named Heidi but when she had a significant accident on our bed the first night and then meowed in the bathroom the remaining part of the night, we thought it better to find her a new name.

I'm trying to remind myself that Mindy was exceptional in her superb use of the litter box and hopefully Molly will learn from her big sister. You can't tell from this picture but she is definitely the more spry of the two. She makes giant leaps around rooms and climbs up your clothes to reach your hands (I'll try to get a picture of that as it's quite funny if not a little painful as well). It's good for Mindy to have a friend. Now our family is complete. They have only seen the dogs through the screen door and it seems like it will be several months before it's safe to let them out of the house and know/pray the dogs won't eat them. We'll see.

And last, but not least, Dade finally lost that other front tooth. It was loose when we left Texas (a little over 3 weeks ago) and I thought he would have lost it a lot sooner. It dangled precariously for several days. He could even point it at people, which was kind of gross. Finally, Wednesday during school he sneezed and said, "my tooth!" Dara and I both just said, "Daaaade" (because he had tried to make us believe he had pulled it on several occasions already). But I looked over and there it was! It must have been a pretty strong sneeze. So here is my gap-toothed boy (it really is much cuter in person - so I will try to get a better picture before it grows in).