Rattins living Coram Deo

We visited our colleague and friend, Rose, and her brand new baby girl, Lakisa, this week.  This adorable healthy newborn was an answer to prayer as mama and baby are both healthy and thriving.  This is not a given in this area.  Child and maternal mortality rates are high - very high. But what struck me was a comment that she made as we sat in her tiny sitting room with her husband (unusual!), her two sons, a maid (usually a young lady from one of the families who needs domestic experience as she waits to get married), and the two grandmothers.  Yes, both grandmothers came to help.  This is a little unusual, especially since Rose and her husband are from different tribes.  But the happy grandmothers were both sitting there, together, loving on their grandbaby. "The baby is doing so well because the mothers are here to help.  When you are young like us, you can't have a healthy baby.  You need help from the mothers."  Rose is probably a...

Of course, I'm doing a lot of thinking about motherhood these days... well, most days for the last 7 years... And there are some truly God-honoring things already written about motherhood, so I won't try to create my own phenomenal writing when others have gone before me.  But a few thoughts... As I struggle to keep my eyes open, stiffle the "I've got an infant" yawns, and find time to go to the bathroom, moms of teens tell me that the "worst is yet to come." As if this period of life with "littles" shouldn't be stressful or challenging, after all, it's nothing compared to the teen years! Well, every season is unique.  I won't deny that I look forward to going to the bathroom alone whenever I please.  But, I also won't deny that there's such a joy to having a baby whose needs I can readily and instantly meet and having young ones who like to snuggle (sometimes).  I also physically don't look forward to my nearly 9 ...

I've been working on writing up Micah's birth story - I'm not usually one to post such things publicly, but I thought I'd make an exception this time.  If you don't like birth stories, don't read! But I know that Micah's home birth in northern Uganda is of great interest to many, so here it is.   Micah’s birth story  Micah’s story is one of a kind… something I never imagined that I would experience… and so grateful that we got to experience! We found out we were pregnant with Micah just about 3 months after moving to Northern Uganda – surprise! Fortunately for us, a missionary friend (Emilie) was already about 4 months into her pregnancy and had done significant research about the options for safe deliveries in our area. The hospitals are very unsafe and unreliable; maternal and infant mortality rates are incredibly high. So hospitals in our region were NOT an option. Waiting around to go into labor in Kampala sounded miserable with a family of four...

God has graciously brought us out of a very intense season of life with Moses into a more predictable season. I wondered what it would be like to transition from having Elizabeth around (young adult who spent 3 months in our home) to having Mimi and Papa around (for one month from the USA). The transition has been nearly seamless! Most other transitions have involved ... headache ... as the children act out their insecurities and test boundaries with each new transition. This one has been less painful! Thank you, Lord! Ministry is still intense, but the dramatic unknowns and sudden shifting of responsibilities from none to full-on, have calmed down as we grasp more and more of what God's direction is for these ministries. Now, I sit here blogging at 4pm. There is quiet in the house. Dinner is prepared and just waiting to be baked, so is dessert. The power is off, but I got two loads of laundry done this morning and nearly dried before the rain arrived. Mimi did the dishes an...

I haven’t blogged in a while – things got rather busy here. Josh is running non-stop as he figures out what it means to be Acting Director of ACTION Gulu. He feels the weight of that responsibility – having employees who depend on ACTION to put food on their tables, having 40 some children at Home of Love who are entirely dependent on us for everything, including their spiritual discipleship, having a school that is huge and needs reforms, building a missionary team… We’ve been eternally blessed by the presence of Elizabeth this summer – a young lady who desires to serve God and joined us in Gulu for a few months to serve our family. She has focused on Gracie’s homeschooling and therapies and Gracie has thrived under Elizabeth’s attention! Elizabeth has also picked up the slack for me as third trimester of pregnancy hit with the fatigue that comes along with it. And then the illnesses hit – with four kids, 7 total household members, and a big belly, it seems that the illnesses have b...

(Aerial view of 3 engrossed girls - Gracie, Ana, and our friend, Mercy - coloring [or, in Gracie's case, trying to eat markers].) We've been interested in figuring out Moses and any "delays" he might have (from American standards). It's taken a while and now as he is blossoming before our eyes, we see a fine motor delay and language delay. The school system is very different here - perhaps the topic of a whole separate post in months to come. But they don't learn much in the "nursery" school years, so much of his delay can be attributed to a lack of early-childhood education and stimulation. (This is not a critique of Home of Love nor the school - this is simply how things are done here and we are comparing him to our rather advanced American 4 year old who just tested at a 2nd grade level!) But as we thought about his speech and comprehension delay, we compared his life to that of life in the family. In the "Children's Home," he s...