Extreme Makeover GSF Edition

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow.."

His blessings have been especially tangible this month after reuniting with Daniel (my boyfriend) after six months apart - PRAISE GOD! Daniel arrived on January 22 and will spend the next 6 months in Uganda working with a ministry called Engineering Ministries International (EMI). Although he is stationed in Kampala which is about a two hour drive from Good Shepherd's Fold, it feels like he's next door compared to him being in Texas! It's been great to already spend time together (including this past weekend!), and when we aren't together, I'm just thankful that we are at least in the same time zone =)

There are also exciting things happening here at Good Shepherd's Fold! We have been working on renovating the toddler house. The toddler house suffered from a crumbling cement floor, pealing walls, and...well...rats. It was time for some Extreme Makeover GSF edition! After being blessed with some generous donations and a special fund raising effort by my sister Katelyn, we had all the funds ready to redo the cement floor, tile the showers, and repaint all of the walls. It's been a work in progress (we are going on 1.5 months of work...), but it is nearly finished! Soon it will be all ready for the toddlers to move in, complete with a new supply of toys compliments of CEFC and my sister Carly. It's been a blessing to watch the way that God has provided for all of these sweet toddlers, and I feel honored to be a part of His work. 

Breaking up the old floor

Laying the concrete!

Finished floor...ready for the walls to get painted!

The paint is almost finished!

I have a lot to look forward to in the next ten days because (drum roll, please)....my parents are coming to visit me! My mom and dad are actually in transit as I type this. I'm ecstatic and can't wait to share my "Uganda world" with them. My dad actually came to GSF last January without me (not that I'm holding that against him....ok maybe I'm still trying to get over that), but this will be my mother's first trip to Africa! My dad will be working with Sam, the pastor of the new GSF church (read about it here), and my mom will be helping me rearrange and organize the renovated toddler house. I'm very grateful that they're taking the trip out here and cannot wait to see them! Again, I feel so honored and blessed!

So, there's so much to be grateful for this month! But there are also some definite prayer needs.

1. Pray that the toddler house renovations would get finished! We moved the toddlers into a different house during the project, which bumped other kids out of their own house. The project was only anticipated to take 3 weeks, and we are going on 7 weeks. That's a lot of weeks to have 18 displaced toddlers! 

2. All of the GSF kids started school today. In Uganda, the school year coordinates with the calendar year, so they're all starting their new classes and teachers. Pray for them as they transition back into the school schedule! Also pray that our kids would be diligent in their studies.

3. Pray for my parents as they are traveling to Uganda! Also pray that God would bless our time together.

4. Pray for Daniel and he continues to adjust to life here in Uganda!

5. Pray for Sebastian, one of our sweet little toddlers. He is going in for surgery to close up his cleft palate tomorrow. Pray that the surgery is successful!

First day of school!

Sebastian leaving for surgery