I want to be home.
I've made it 21 days without being terribly homesick. And now?
It has hit hard.
I love Uganda, but I. am. tired.
I love all six children, and I love that we became legal guardians of the newest three upon a ruling issued today, but I. am. worn.
I love Pineapple Mirinda soda and the rooster in the morning and the sky's beautiful palette in the evening and the chiapati and the fresh fruit and the sounds of Luganda around us and the boda bodas and the cool night air and the hot sun and the breathtaking views of Lake Victoria and even the mental math needed to convert Ugandan shillings to dollars... but I love home too.
The reminder I needed today is that our Ugandan children love home too.
They talk of going to America with us, but they don't know what that means, other than the excitement Patience has about being able to go to school. They don't know that they'll be homesick for here once we're there.
They don't know they'll miss Pineapple Mirinda soda and the rooster in the morning and the sky's beautiful palette in the evening and the chiapati and the fresh fruit and the sounds of Luganda around us and the boda bodas and the cool night air and the hot sun and the breathtaking views of Lake Victoria...
...and so, for today, I'm soaking in Uganda as I long for home, experiencing a little bit of what Patience and Philip and Patricia will feel as they soak in America and long for their first home.
God is redeeming this time for all of us. As we wait, he is reminding me that adoption is all about redemption and that this life is meant to be marked with a heavenly homesickness, a longing for the day when all broken things are made beautiful.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons,
the redemption of our bodies.
Romans 8:23
