Rattins living Coram Deo

Gracie is Daddy's girl. Most definitely. And I don't mind! I spend my day lifting, changing, feeding, entertaining, teaching, stretching, defending, and checking on her... I don't mind that she prefers to snuggle with Daddy in the evenings and I definitely don't mind that she prefers him to feed her... ;-P I've been trying to teach her the sign for Daddy for a good six months - I jokingly say that it takes her a year to learn each new sign... but it's not far from the truth. She has 3 signs, we've been a family for 5+ years... BUT, she just added "Daddy" to her repertoire (!!) or the Gracie variant thereof (hand to her forehead). Josh is out of town this week. He was out of town last month for less than a week and we all did fine. But this time, Gracie has been refusing to go to sleep - whining, even crying, instead of sleeping. Is it the heat (it's HOT this week)? Is she thirsty (hydrating her could be my full time occupation)? Is she hu...

I was alerted to her presence by the dog barking. Almost as a rule of thumb, Acholis HATE dogs - they are taught from childhood that dogs want to kill them. So this frightened teenager was hiding behind my gate by the time I got out to her. ("SO SORRY!!") She had been collecting firewood in the vacant lot adjacent to our house all morning and we had waved at each other. Now, she invited herself into my home (floors wet with half-done mopping) and sat down. "What can I do for you?" After multiple attempts to draw out an answer as to why the teenager was in my home, sitting at my table, coloring in Ana's coloring book, a mumbled: "I have a problem." "What is this problem?" No answer. "Why are you not in school?" "Teacher sent me home." "Why?" "I had no shoes." (I'm understanding the nature of her "problem" quickly.) Through the course of a convoluted conversation, it came out that she h...

I find myself especially overwhelmed with emotions when a familiar song is song in church, praising our Father God. Gracie "sings out" especially loudly when she recognizes a song, which always makes me choke up anyway as she makes her joyful noise particularly to songs worshiping God, not just any song. But those familiar songs speak a language of my heart, a language that my heart longs for at times. We worship ONE God, across cultures, across languages, when we are with others whose names are in the Lamb's book of life. The powerful impact of that unity is astounding. I remember the same amazing thought as we worshiped with Masaai believers in Kenya and absorbed Masaai worship in Masaai-style, so very different from North American-style. Praising our Abba Father God. I remember the same thought as we soaked in the rich four-part harmonies of the school children walking to church, singing to God as they went, and we followed. Praising our Abba Father God. And n...