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| Best dog in America |
It’s been a while since I’ve written (and some of you have
pointed that out), but it feels fitting to start again while waiting in an
airport for a flight that has been delayed indefinitely, possibly jeopardizing
my entire trip and messing up plans involving dozens of other people connected
to Neverthirst in Uganda. Just my normal. Nothing really unexpected in the life
of Amanda. That said, the life of Amanda has not at all gone how I expected
this past summer. It’s been quite painful actually, but it’s when you’re not
comfortable that you notice the comfort that comes from the Comforter. During
the times when you know you shouldn’t have peace, but you have it (occasionally), you
recognize it as a gift from the Prince of Peace.
I’m coming off a few weeks of time with my family, holding
me up, pulling me through, praying through the Word with me, pointing me back
to the Truth in the midst of lies. I’ve been drinking in the Bible—I
always needed it, but when you think you have everything under control, you can
read a bit for fun. When you know you control nothing, you have to devour it
for survival. I’ve been in 1 Peter a lot. I’m stuck on 1 Peter 4:19 “Let those
who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to the faithful
Creator while doing good.” As I focused on how I could serve other people, it
helped pull me out of the darkness a bit. And God gave me the chance to help a
lovely family I met through my Dad’s ESL class at church. I was so blessed to
be able to go to the emergency room with them and pester the nurses for various
things they needed and help connect them with others who could visit and pray.
Of course, they returned the favor, praying for me and encouraging me as well.
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| Will be back with these wonderful people soon. |
As a life-long wanderer, I’ve had so many people help me out
when I’ve been the foreigner—people who took me to the hospital for an infected
toe in India, people who took me to the hospital for a staph infection in
Rwanda (I really have to be forced to get medical care as a general rule), people
who lent me their face veils and robes so that I could pass as Yemeni in case
of kidnapping on the road I had to travel, people who stayed after church to
help me fix my car in Northern Ireland, people in South Sudan who hid me with
their family in the bush while our town was being shot to bits by warring
tribes, and so many others. I don’t usually get a chance to help people in the
country where I’m not a foreigner (though often I still feel like one), so it’s
nice to have a small opportunity to give back.
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| Good people I love working hard. |
And now I’m headed back to Africa—a place where I’m clearly
a foreigner, but where I have so many people who have been family to me. People
who have checked in and assured me that they are there for me. It’s a wonderful
thing to be a part of the family of God—the support you have from all over the
world is really encouraging. My life of wandering has assured me support in
prayer from every continent (except Antarctica—haven’t made it there yet), and
that’s pretty cool. Things are not going the way I had expected or hoped or
planned, but God is still good. He is still at work around the world. And I get
to be a part of that work.
Please pray for my friend Odette. She is a wonderful godly
woman who needs a miracle of healing right now.
And if I make it to Uganda, you'll probably find out.
Please enjoy the following photos of my parents' dog with a mohawk and bangs/fringe.
He's so stylish.
