PRESENTS vs. PRESENCE
It's the night before Christmas and I feel like I should be writing something inspirational and meaningful about our Savior, but I find myself thinking of all the presents & gifts that will soon be opened.
A homeless woman once told me that material possessions aren't evil in and of them self. It's when they come in-between us and God. She told me that she was fortunate because she doesn't have possessions or "presents" to get in the way of her relationship with God. I remember Jesus saying in Matthew 5 that fortunate are the poor in spirit, fortunate are the meek...I believe that she and so many others in this world are fortunate because they're free from the burden of abundance. They're free, dependent upon God and fortunate in ways that I'm unable to relate to (I wish that I could - However, I'm thankful and unworthy of all that's been given to me and with the much that's been given also comes much responsibility).
ONE DAY OF LIFE IN UGANDA
I thought it would be cool to post photos of "one day" while I was working in the field in Uganda.
Charles, Engineering Assistant (left), Christo Head Engineer (center), Patrick Schools for Schools Program Manager (right) and Me in IC's Toyota Hilux. We're traveling to visit two of our partner schools (Atanga & Awere) way out in the field. It literally took the entire day to visit both schools.
NAMESAKE
In Uganda, most children are given names that describe the situation they're born into. For example, Okello, which means "born after twins", is given to a boy whose born after his parents have already produced twins. Some children during the war were named "Born in the Bush" (I can't remember the actual Luo name - shame on me) because they were literally born in the jungles of Uganda. One of Invisible Children's bracelet makers literally named her child "bracelet" because her ability to makes bracelets has allowed her to financially take care of the baby (and she became pregnant during her time as a bracelet maker).
I love this cultural difference in Uganda, all of the names they give their children have so much contextual meaning. In the US, it seems common to name your children based on what's cool or what's unique. I've always been in favor of the cool unique names like Jayden or Jade or even Jet, however, the deep seeded meaning of names in Uganda has made me think twice about how to name my children (which doesn't seem to be any time soon - in case you were wondering). This has a lot to do with the fact that a close friend of mine (in Uganda) named his baby boy after me.
I know, we don't look anything a like. He looks just like his dad.