I'd been sad all week about being gone from Tobin...but he was more than fine. And so many people were praying for me, I felt a tremendous sense of PEACE. All the way to meet Matt's mom and drop him off, Tobin kept telling Dudley (our border collie), "Dudwey! We're going to Gwammie's! Isn't that exciting???" No tears. I am so thankful!
We had a 3 hour layover in Minneapolis, and some of our Minnesota family were able to come up and see us. The Hinds brought us Chipotle (YUM!) and we had a little prayer huddle with them just before we left. What a sweet memory! Next stop: Amsterdam.
Luke was super excited about the big plane, and especially the individual tv screens in the back of each seat. Of course the novelty of that wore off after 2 consecutive 8/9 hour flights. The 4 hours in Amsterdam felt REALLY long, and on the Europe - Africa leg of our flights we were all able to get some SLEEP.
When I was here this summer, probably my lowest point was those exhausted first moments in Africa, getting my visa and luggage and heading out into the crowd of African strangers, one of whom was holding a sign that said my name. It was a completely different experience this time, being greeted by familiar faces (Ronnie, the babies home driver, and his wife), returning to a place I'm now familiar with, and seeing it all through Luke & Matt's eyes. Luke was SO TIRED, but really wanted to see everything and stay awake on the 1 hour drive to Kampala. Matt was amazed at how busy the city was, even at 11pm.
It has been wonderful to be here again, to see our little mister, and all the babies and Mamas at the babies home. It has been so fun to introduce Matt and Luke to my African friends, and to see how everyone STARES at my giant bald husband and my very blond boy! And I love being greeted with, "WELcome to Africa! You are VERY welcome!!"
It's good to be back.
