40 Days

Thursday. June 11, 2009. It's 8:05pm, still sunny outside and I'm already extremely tired.

[okay. well it was sunny. and as I was typing, I looked out and saw these clouds transforming. it was incredible. needless to say, I got distracted. It's now 9:23pm, dark outside, but I'm not feeling quite as tired.]

40 days from right now, though, I'll be in Uganda.

Today, 40 days feels extremely far away. Things feel kind of like a lull right now. Checking the mail isnt as exciting anymore (although my dad totally surprised me when I learned that his company is helping send me to Uganda. my dad's so great!). In the times when my excitement isnt as intense, it makes me wish I were around the other people I were going with - wishing that we were already friends & could get together planning. I mentioned before about some additional activities I'd just learned about and I wanted to fill you guys in.

Obviously, we'll be spending a good amount of time building beds. Also, there will be 4 other different things we'll fill in the time with. For one, a worship team - and since over half the team is from Nashville, I'm thinking this part will be pretty great musical wise. Secondly, there will be a recreation team. Not that I've ever been a pro soccer star, I look forward to getting my tail kicked by the kids we meet! Thirdly, there's an arts & crafts team who will hopefully plan something neat to engage the kids. And lastly [this is the one I think sounds TOTALLY fun], there's a Birthday team! From what I've been told, birthdays arent celebrated as much over there (maybe that's an understatement) and so we're going to plan a big bash.

Sound be an amazing week. I mean, I was excited just to go build beds - even if that was all we did. But clearly, it's going to be so much more.

As far as support goes, I believe I've just hit 70%. The money has been a great process. I've been hoping that this can be an opportunity for others to join me in this journey but also use the money I've been saving to make it happen as well. Obviously I've still got a ways to go (30% = $1,350) so if anyone's reading this and wants to contribute - still possible :) and still time - relatively speaking, the deadline is having the funds raised before I leave July 20th. Personally, I'd like to reach the goal maybe a tiny bit before that! And I still have support letters I can send out - if you want one, email me: theugandajourney@gmail.com with your address & I'll drop one in the mail.

One last thing - I've come to discover that many people I know imagined I'd be sleeping in a hut in Uganda, but turns out it looks like we're staying at this really neat place. Here's the website if you want to check it out: adonaiguesthouse.com