Katie Nalem: Today is the Day!

"I am thankful for breath for today."

Those words stopped me in my tracks. They were followed by many along the same lines, "I am thankful for life." Day by day. Do I live like that?

Honestly, I don't. I live for the next best thing. The next day I get to go to the village, the day when I finally get married, the day when I have my own children. I'm constantly daydreaming, anticipating tomorrow. Because tomorrow has something that I don't have yet, and tomorrow is better than today. Right?

"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." -- Psalm 118:24

Today. God made today, and He gave me breath for today. And even though sometimes my days don't go as I'd like, sometimes I cry from exhaustion and discouragement, God has given me today. His mercies were new this morning and His grace has carried me through to this night. Today. He has given me today to bless Him and praise Him and sit at His feet in and awe and worship.

Our days have been quite busy as of late. On Wednesday of last week we went to a nearby village called Nyenga with Sarah (the Ugandan worker at the Center) where they have a program with the woman there. We sat with the women, listened to a health class, shared a devotional, and played with some babies. Each woman gets a bag of food -- tomatoes, eggs, posho (a dry mix that they add water to make porridge), onions, mekenai (no idea how to spell this, but it's tiny fish that they make a soup with), and sugar cane. We were able to meet some of these girls on the street later that day and chat with them like normal girls, instead of being the scary mzungu that comes to talk about Jesus. These girls are so young, but so full of life and so desperately in need of love. They come from hard lives with even harder stories to swallow, but I love them, and I know God loves them more.

Thursday morning we set off with Sarah for Mbale (about a two hour car ride) to get Edith and Miracle! She went there a few weeks ago to a hospital called Cure for her operation. She had an infection in her brain that was causing inflammation, so things took a little longer to settle down. She is now back in Jinja at the nutrion ward in the Children's Hospital where she will, by the grace of God, recover and add some weight to that tiny body. She is looking much better already! Edith is doing well, however she is concerned that things will go wrong once they let her go home, as any 16 year old would worry. We have loved walking with them through this, and praise the Lord, our little babe is living up to her name!

Saturday was a beautiful day for a boat ride, so I went with Micah and Tracy to the island of Kisima again to visit my friend Medina. We played cards, threw a ball around, washed laundry in Lake Victoria, ate roasted maize, jumped rope (in a skirt nonetheless!) and talked about Jesus. She claims to be Muslim but says she thinks Jesus loves her too; she says all ways are okay. She's 17 and feisty, she comes from a hard life as well, but I love her.

Another praise: a 17 year old named Sandra who just joined the program at the Center has just decided to keep her baby!! Abortion, while illegal, is a huge problem over here as teen pregnancies are rampant. The goal of the Center is to provide knowledge that the fetus is a baby, while encouraging the mother that we will walk with them through this as many are thrown out of the homes as they are now seen as a problem. We are so thrilled that Sandra is going to keep her baby, and excited to see how we get to play a part of this as well!

Insert a story for laughter: on our walk home from the Jores we have to pass through two trees that hold many large birds (see previous post on my Dr. Seuss trees!). During the night, any sound scares the birds and they poop all over. Last night was the worst we've seen! Laughter and squeals as we all ran across as fast as we could! Thankfully, none of us got any poop on us. This time. We're considering carrying umbrellas just to pass these birds. "Umbrellas up!" Uffda!

Our days are filled with children -- playing with the Jores, reading Bible stories and singing songs with the street kids, or holding babies at the Center. Our days are filled with building relationships -- with Carolyn, Sarah, Rachel and Robina and the moms at the Center, with the Jores and Luke, Andrew, and Micah, with Courtney's co-workers at The Keep, and with everyone else we encounter (even the boda drivers that insist on proposing to us!) Our days are filled with growth -- reading, praying, seeking, and being still. Our days are filled with joy.

Because joy comes in sitting at the foot of the Cross. It was there that Christ paid for my complete redemption that allows me to enter into the presence of the Creator of the Universe. It is there that I find HIS strength to love the people of Uganda. It is that joy that gives me enough for today. I don't have to rely on my own strength to muster up joy or to earn it by obedience, because God freely gives that joy to me through His Son, Jesus.

"The joy of the Lord is my strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)

All I need do is breathe the breath that He has provided for today.