Today I could take it no more. 1pm is the time for afternoon prayers and on Fridays there is more than just a call to prayer. It involves a whole message. I stood and listened at my window to the lies and decided I needed to go and see exactly where the message was coming from. I have been hearing this for months and have never really determined the location, except that it's very close.
I quickly put on my shoes ( feet fitted with the Gospel of Peace ), donned my helmet of Salvation, had no belt but definitely buckled Truth to my being. The shield of faith preceded me as I walked down the road, following the voice. I had already been in the Word of God and prayed my way there. I was armed and ready.
I followed the voice right down to the local university campus and saw the megaphone. I stood at the gate ( on reflection, an interesting place for a chance meeting. See John 10: 1-10 ) A man in his 20s asked if he could help me, so I asked a few questions.
1. How many people on campus are interested in this message? Answer : About 4% ! Are you kidding me? 79% are Christian.
2. Does anyone object to 5 am prayer? ( I know I do ) Answer:" Well they did protest for a while when students were studying for exams but now they are fine." Let us never be "fine" or tolerate and become complacent about anything other than Truth.
3. What do you believe?" For me, I was a Catholic but now I am okay with this." ( indicating message from megaphone) So I say, "that's a big switch" He says " the only thing I don't like is too much about the prophet and putting him above God." Now we are getting somewhere. I push a little further and he tells me when his children grow up and are about 10 and can understand, he will let them make a choice. I explain he doesn't have to wait until 10, my granddaughter understood at age 4 !!! I also said he needs to tell them Truth. He had mentioned earlier that all ways lead to God. I told him they did not and that Jesus was the only way. We talked briefly about what happens when you die and that you may not like the choices available for all eternity. He smiled politely and I felt it was time to leave.
I know my words have no power but prayed that this man would be convicted by the Holy Spirit to change his ways before it's too late.
Sometimes it's okay to just simply pray for others and sometimes we have to put feet to our faith and move out. Today I felt propelled into action.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Back to the balcony
One of the things I missed the most while I was gone from Kampala in Dec. was the view from my balcony. When everything in life seems hard and insurmountable I can just go look out the window or sit in my chair and look at the beauty that God created and know that the ONE who designed every kind of bird and gave boundaries to the waters and let his color palate explode all over the water and sky, is bigger than the sum of all my difficulties.
In the early morning hours with a coffee in hand, I like to read from one of my devotional books and then commit to memory a promise of God. I have a little paperback book that cost 99 cents and it's worth it's weight in gold. It contains 199 promises. I'm still going over the first 5 as the old brain ain't what it used to be :-(
There has been much rain both while I was away and since my return. It's supposed to be the hot/dry season but it hasn't happened yet.
A couple of days after I arrived I was treated to this wonderful rainbow. Yes. it's a bit hard to see in the midst of the clouds, but then that's life isn't it?
When circumstances are difficult sometimes we can only see grey clouds, but if we look closely there's always a rainbow with a promise of better tomorrows.
In the early morning hours with a coffee in hand, I like to read from one of my devotional books and then commit to memory a promise of God. I have a little paperback book that cost 99 cents and it's worth it's weight in gold. It contains 199 promises. I'm still going over the first 5 as the old brain ain't what it used to be :-(
There has been much rain both while I was away and since my return. It's supposed to be the hot/dry season but it hasn't happened yet.
A couple of days after I arrived I was treated to this wonderful rainbow. Yes. it's a bit hard to see in the midst of the clouds, but then that's life isn't it?
When circumstances are difficult sometimes we can only see grey clouds, but if we look closely there's always a rainbow with a promise of better tomorrows.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Houston Highlights
I am absolutely astounded that my last post was in early November! I could have sworn it seemed like just a few weeks ago. The days have been marching by at an alarming rate.
As most of you know by now I flew back to Houston, arriving there November 29th to be present at my son, Daniel's wedding on Dec. 9th.
I found out that I had no time for jet lag and got busy preparing for a Bridal Tea on Dec. 2nd that I helped host at my friend, Kaki's house. Such fun with dear, longtime friends who came to bless the bride to be.
It was so very elegant with crystal glasses, bone china cups, finger sandwiches and among other delicacies, cranberry scones with jam and cream.
With the shower over and one week until the wedding I needed to kick it into high gear. No time to think about Christmas at all, kept telling myself, "focus, Kerrie, focus."I loved listening to Christmas carols in the car as I ran around with errands. It was hard going into stores though and just not looking at things that I knew I needed to purchase before Christmas. I was very happy to be able to join my former BSF class for 2 lessons. It was great seeing familiar faces again.
Next was the matter of printing ceremony programs and putting together wedding favors. My talented daughter, Janelle took care of the programs, although it was not without a hiccup. I wish the print paper came with a HUGE label that says watermarked! It's no fun choosing the paper, printing it and then seeing the name of the company in the middle of the program ( UGH ! )
Another sweet friend came to my rescue to help with 150 wedding favors. Thanks to Kathy who happened to be in town all the way from Jakarta :-)
After applying stickers that said
"Daniel and Amber the perfect blend", the Cappuccino mix was carefully measured and poured into bags. Next came rubber bands and ribbons.
Some sore fingers later, Kathy and I enjoyed a nice lunch and chat at a nearby restaurant.
I so enjoyed being at home with my daughter, son in law and 3 grandchildren. I was able to visit Liberty's school where she attends kindergarten and see some of her activities. Mema was in high demand for story time, hugs and just some extra attention.
Saturday, the 8th dawned and it was time for the wedding rehearsal. The venue was lovely and it seemed like everything was falling into place for the big day.
The flower girl and ring bearers, along with the rest of us get some instructions and it seems everyone is ready.
Sometimes looks can be deceiving, when in fact all three grandchildren were in some stage of sickness with a nasty flu. So thankful for Ibuprofen and Tylenol and lots of prayers.
Rehearsal dinner at South American restaurant, Tango and Malbec in Houston.
Food was delicious and it was nice to just relax and celebrate with wedding attendants and close friends, some who traveled very far to be with us, like Cameron from Australia and Fadi from Toronto, Canada.
Weather forecast for Sunday, December 9th was not very encouraging. Since my daughter and son in law got married during Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 I was feeling a bit anxious about it. Not to fear, God had it all under control. We did have a little scare though for about 45 seconds when pre wedding photos were being taken and several rain drops fell. As it happened the front that was forecast never came until around 11pm at night :-)
Sometimes, it's hard to wait. Three little people watching and waiting for this "wedding thing" to begin.
And then, before you know it, with the blink of an eye and a few tears shed by the mothers, the vows are spoken and the long prepared for moment is over.
My son in law officiated and was happy to present the new couple, Mr and Mrs. Snow.
I could display lots of photos but of course I can't. Happy times were had by all at the reception and at the end of the day I had lots to thank God for, not the least being my lovely new daughter in law.
With the wedding behind us and the newlyweds off on their honeymoon, it became time to turn my attention to Christmas. I made lots of quick trips out to the stores and tried not to get caught up in materialism madness.
Christmas Day was fun, especially because I was able to spend it with my entire, immediate family, those in the northern hemisphere anyway. It's hard being split between my parents and my children and grandchildren.
Just 2 days after Christmas I left Houston and traveled via the Middle East back to Kampala. My next blog will be about my first week back and life here.
I found out that I had no time for jet lag and got busy preparing for a Bridal Tea on Dec. 2nd that I helped host at my friend, Kaki's house. Such fun with dear, longtime friends who came to bless the bride to be.
It was so very elegant with crystal glasses, bone china cups, finger sandwiches and among other delicacies, cranberry scones with jam and cream.
With the shower over and one week until the wedding I needed to kick it into high gear. No time to think about Christmas at all, kept telling myself, "focus, Kerrie, focus."I loved listening to Christmas carols in the car as I ran around with errands. It was hard going into stores though and just not looking at things that I knew I needed to purchase before Christmas. I was very happy to be able to join my former BSF class for 2 lessons. It was great seeing familiar faces again.
Next was the matter of printing ceremony programs and putting together wedding favors. My talented daughter, Janelle took care of the programs, although it was not without a hiccup. I wish the print paper came with a HUGE label that says watermarked! It's no fun choosing the paper, printing it and then seeing the name of the company in the middle of the program ( UGH ! )
After applying stickers that said
"Daniel and Amber the perfect blend", the Cappuccino mix was carefully measured and poured into bags. Next came rubber bands and ribbons.
Some sore fingers later, Kathy and I enjoyed a nice lunch and chat at a nearby restaurant.
I so enjoyed being at home with my daughter, son in law and 3 grandchildren. I was able to visit Liberty's school where she attends kindergarten and see some of her activities. Mema was in high demand for story time, hugs and just some extra attention.
Saturday, the 8th dawned and it was time for the wedding rehearsal. The venue was lovely and it seemed like everything was falling into place for the big day.
The flower girl and ring bearers, along with the rest of us get some instructions and it seems everyone is ready.
Sometimes looks can be deceiving, when in fact all three grandchildren were in some stage of sickness with a nasty flu. So thankful for Ibuprofen and Tylenol and lots of prayers.
Rehearsal dinner at South American restaurant, Tango and Malbec in Houston.
Food was delicious and it was nice to just relax and celebrate with wedding attendants and close friends, some who traveled very far to be with us, like Cameron from Australia and Fadi from Toronto, Canada.
Weather forecast for Sunday, December 9th was not very encouraging. Since my daughter and son in law got married during Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 I was feeling a bit anxious about it. Not to fear, God had it all under control. We did have a little scare though for about 45 seconds when pre wedding photos were being taken and several rain drops fell. As it happened the front that was forecast never came until around 11pm at night :-)
Sometimes, it's hard to wait. Three little people watching and waiting for this "wedding thing" to begin.
And then, before you know it, with the blink of an eye and a few tears shed by the mothers, the vows are spoken and the long prepared for moment is over.
My son in law officiated and was happy to present the new couple, Mr and Mrs. Snow.
I could display lots of photos but of course I can't. Happy times were had by all at the reception and at the end of the day I had lots to thank God for, not the least being my lovely new daughter in law.
With the wedding behind us and the newlyweds off on their honeymoon, it became time to turn my attention to Christmas. I made lots of quick trips out to the stores and tried not to get caught up in materialism madness.
Christmas Day was fun, especially because I was able to spend it with my entire, immediate family, those in the northern hemisphere anyway. It's hard being split between my parents and my children and grandchildren.
Just 2 days after Christmas I left Houston and traveled via the Middle East back to Kampala. My next blog will be about my first week back and life here.
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