Rattins living Coram Deo

Yes, we feel like those country mice... It's not until you leave your home that you realize certain things about your home. 1. Dirty clothes and dirty feet and legs are normal to us but sure stand out in the majestic Ministry of Health building! 2. Flipflops and T shirts have become standard wear but we sure look shabby! 3. Cheese and meats options at the grocery store made me want to dance around. 4. A slightly air-conditioned store made me linger. 5. I felt the need to shower and dress up just to go out of the house in Kampala. 6. I forgot I was in Uganda momentarily. (Couldn't remember WHAT country I was in, but Kampala isn't the Uganda I know!) 7. It took us 20 minutes to decide what to eat at the food court in a mall (more than ONE option?! In Gulu, if you go to a restaurant, you don't need the menu, you just ask what they have that day because they likely only have ingredients for ONE dish, if that.). 8. I frantically looked around for the fans in the home we...

In honor of my dad, who can't stand cottage cheese, I made some today. (haha!) Really simple, actually. 1. Heat milk to simmering. 2. Add white vinegar bit by bit. (I did NOT use rennet as called for in most recipes and it worked just fine!) 3. As soon as it separates and curdles, remove from heat. 4. Strain through cloth and strainer. 5. Rinse the curds. 6. Break up curds and salt to taste. There you go! Some recipes say to stir in half and half or cream... I don't have that, so for now, it'll be more like farmer's cheese - a little drier than store-bought cottage cheese. I'm not sure yet what I'll do with the whey - smoothies? Ricotta cheese? Feed to the dogs for protein? Nothing today though - one project is enough! Hopefully the electricity will stay on long enough to chill the whey and keep for tomorrow.

I'm very excited about this! I made solar tomato sauce today. I haven't built a real solar oven yet, since I don't have the supplies, but here's what I did! 1. Kick the kids out of my "solar oven" (haha!). 2. Chopped up half dozen or so tomatoes, added pepper, salt, two cloves fresh garlic, oil, and small onion. Covered clear bowl with plastic wrap and poked some tiny holes in it for a little bit of moisture release. I lined my black bin with what foil I had and tried to bake some bread - didn't get hot enough. 3. I left it out all day - it didn't get above 150 degrees F, so my "solar oven" is limited until I get a piece of glass for the top, BUT it stewed my tomatoes! It smelled SO good as soon as I took the plastic off! 4. I mashed up the tomatoes for more of a sauce, but it could certainly be served on bread as bruschetta type topping, etc. Josh thinks it tastes as good as any restaurant sauce!

"Auntie, can you give me medicine for the flu?" "The flu? Well, tell me more about what you are feeling..." Blank stare. Sister comes to the rescue. "Auntie, she needs medicine for the flu." After much poking and prodding, it sounded like every day she had a congested nose, especially at night. No fevers, no cough. My diagnosis: allergies (the air is thick with mango pollen and smoke from burning fields and trash). Not a day goes by that I do not use my medical skills. There is so much GERD (acid reflux) - interpreted as chest pains - so I treat GERD A LOT! This season there are also a lot of allergies - interpreted as "the flu" - so I'm treating allergies too. Mostly, my "patients" are people who come into my home. I haven't put out a shingle; I don't want a general patient population. I'm here to work with children with disabilities once I have learned the language and culture. That is my passion, my heart's...

There is no place we would rather be than in Gulu right now. God is so good to us to allow us to serve him here, have compassion for people here, and live here. But there are times that there is grief mixed into the joy and peace that God has gifted to us. Those times revolve around once-in-a-lifetime moments in family life. Like the birth of our new nephew last night, or the hospitalization of a family member; our baby niece and nephew sitting up for the first time and giggling; and even the everyday moments that could never be captured in an email or letter or photo. God has taught me a lot about prayer through our directors who LIVE in prayer. They stop and pray at any moment and it is so powerful. Their relationship with God is real and present and immediate. So, as we live this exciting life on the other side of the world, I am so grateful for a God who listens to my heart and cares for His children omnisciently , omnipresently , and omnipotently ! I can pray to the Almigh...

I remember as a child, attending a girls' club with my mom and sister, through our local church in Cote d'Ivoire. I specifically remember my mom teaching baking lessons and sewing lessons... Now it's my turn! My teenaged helpers have been interested in my baking. They are fascinated by baking and love the taste of all the sweets that come out of the oven. So, I promised them baking lessons. Now that my washing machine is working (I LOVE IT!) we had a lot more time in our day today. So, our first baking lesson: brownies! The girls read a recipe for the first time - completely in the dark about 1/3 c and 1/4 tsp. So, first some basic math - really basic! Then, following the directions, the importance of mixing baking powder in well with the other dry ingredients, cracking eggs on the side of the bowl... so many little things to teach... that are very important! They jumped around in excitement every time the timer rang (I didn't quite get the temperature right on my...

At church last Sunday, I quickly noticed a young girl with Down Syndrome and watched her discreetly (?) the whole service. Maybe 7 or 8, she was kept close by her 9 or 10 year old sister. Her older sister, literally kept her by her side at all times. When they stood together, she draped her arms over her shoulders. When they walked, she took her hand. I asked the pastor if this girl attended school and she does! This is such a unique situation for several reasons. First of all, the child survived infancy. Down Syndrome is associated with low tone, poor feeding, heart defects... every child is different and God blessed this dear one with just the right combination and right family and community that she survived past infancy. She also survived a horrendous war! Secondly, she attends school. School is not free and often school is reserved for those who are seen to have potential to go somewhere with their education. Thirdly, her older sister clearly adores her AND is likely a h...

"Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, "The hand of the our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him." So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. (Ezra 8:21-23) And reading about Jesus calming the storm (Matthew 8:23-27), Jesus said, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. When I first arrived in Uganda, I was very fearful at night. I was fearful of people breaking in while we slept. So I did not sleep. In my anxiety, I reasoned that I could somehow prevent a break-in if I just stayed alert (makes sense, right?! ...

Today I focused on Gracie's homeschooling. I've had some struggles with... motivation... for Ana this week, but she's doing better with that, so I was able to give Ana her handwriting work and then let her play StarFall while I worked with Gracie. Gracie's work is revolving around the Ipad that we were gifted for her. I have an old baby mitten that I cut a hole in to help her isolate her pointer finger. Today, I put a tube of foam inside her hand for her fingers to wrap around as this sometimes cues her to keep the other fingers closed. Then her hand and the foam went into the mitten and her pointer finger out the hole. It worked pretty well. We started with an easy shape game (Shapes for Toddlers app) - she rocked that one! I still have to hold her elbow so she doesn't overshoot the Ipad - I'm working on a set-up for this. So I even closed my eyes so that I wouldn't be subconsciously guiding her. She KNOWS her shapes - did awesome! Then we moved to a...

I picked up the boys for a day at our house today. As soon as I pulled the car up to Home of Love, Moses climbed in. The mamas wanted to bathe them and put clean clothes on them, so I waited till fresh clean boys reappeared and off we went. Moody thoughtful Brian was quiet as this time around I actually buckled the boys in instead of letting them sit unrestrained in the car. (we've progressed in our relationship!) I wondered what he was thinking. Enthusiastic Moses was no mystery. Especially as he grinned at me and said, "dek mit!" (good food!) I groaned inside and outside and tickled him. As one of my friends said to me after describing the boys glued to my body as I prepared food, I'm "the food lady." Nothing more than that! (Although I also feel like the rule lady!) I stood my ground today and, although I had a few bananas and I boiled a dozen eggs and had some chapatis that I know they LOVE, when they refused to eat my nutritious (and not unsavory) ...

The pharmacy had a fragrance of diarrhea and those in line near me were coughing. They were clutching their notebooks which they had carried from the local clinic. Inside each notebook (essentially a patient's chart) was the "prescription" written for the pharmacist to fill. The doctor in me fought the pragmatic mom in me as I knew that I had to step into the crowded pharmacy and get to work on getting Gracie's meds in Gulu. I stepped in and realized that this was going to take awhile... I was NOT willing to stand in line properly so I WAS going to get cut in front of repeatedly. I settled in for the wait. Proper line-standing-etiquette is deeply ingrained in Americans. You stand a certain distance away from the person in front of you. You stand confidently, avoid eye contact, and shift your weight to keep that place in line. You don't cut in front of someone else - that's a lesson taught to toddlers in the USA. I have yet to figure out HOW to stand i...