It has been too long since I've posted an update, so let me share with y'all some highlights from the past couple of weeks:

 THE KIDS

Girls sorting peanuts (or "g-nuts" as they're called here)

It has been a painful to joy to watch how quickly our kids are growing, especially the girls.  Julia, the 2-year-old, is wearing Lucy's clothes, joining in games, speaking like a 3-year-old, and making us laugh.  All of Lucy's dresses suddenly look like mini-skirts, and she is writing out letters and numbers like a pro, and has made unexpected and sudden leaps in her artwork.  Georgia sometimes dazzles me with her beauty, has come to enjoy school (she actually cried last week when we were surprised with a Muslim holiday that closed down the schools), and is becoming a voracious reader.  (Recent favorite quote: "I love this book now that I can read it!")

 

 

 

Julia, Georgia, and Lucy in "dress-up" clothes

Jesse teaching Protase the intricacies of the DS

Jesse and Micah in Warrior Stance

Jesse continues in his loyalty to all things Star Wars (with particular attention to the Clone Wars), and he has completely mastered the two DS Star Wars games we brought with us.  Thankfully, our shipment from the United States finally arrived, which meant for Jesse renewed access to his Tin Tin books.  Jesse steadily improves in his academic performance at and enjoyment of school, but by far his favorite pastime is playing with Micah.  They hardly leave each others' side, and bound around Rugarama Hill, or huddle over Legos, or engage in long, ardent plans for their future country of Saville.  This is a serious focus for them -- journal pages, maps, plans, designs, vision statements -- Saville is going to bring peace to the world, and until there is peace, it is going to have the most advanced defense system the world has ever seen, with several humorous touches.  They have recently realized the enormity of their project, and have scaled it back to begin with the purchase of an island.  They'll grow from there!

LAKE BUNYONYI

I'm sure we've written already of our times on Bushara Island on Lake Bunyonyi.  The lake is about a 20 minute drive away, and the island has been a getaway for us.  A couple of Saturdays ago, however, we tried something different.  Rather than dipping down to the lake, we drove up to Arcadia to see the view from above.  Here's what we saw:

Mallory, Lucy, and Julia loving the flowers

Lake Bunyonyi from above

Beauty

Yes, this will be one of our new get-away-and-rest spots.  The kids run free on the green hillside, and we sit at tables and enjoy lunch, tea, and conversation.  We've fast learned the importance of resting and having fun as a team.  We need these times!  It's amazing what comes out -- clarity with regard to unspoken conflict we've been having, plus simple laughter and enjoyment of being together.

On the BirdsNest Deck at Breakfast

For my 40th birthday (just yesterday!) we discovered another wonderful place called BirdsNest.  Yes, it really looks like the pictures on the web page.  Leslie and I went there for lunch on Friday, then decided to stay overnight while the Morrows watched the kids.  What a wonderful escape!  A very sweet Belgian couple runs the place, and a well trained chef fed us some of the best food we've had yet in Uganda.  Our server also was just wonderful.  We're ready to go back!

Turning 40 has been more difficult than turning 30 was. I won't spend much time here reflecting on entering this next decade, but what has been challenging for me is not so much that I'm doing what I expected to be doing by 40, but that I'm not fully who I want be by the time I reached this age.  There is a yearning in me to be freer from my perception of people's expectations of me, to be giving so much less energy to image-management, to be more quietly and simply present to people and to God, listening and responsive rather than being impatient and internally defensive.  Believing in Jesus, loving people, and really and deeply doing both of these is at the heart of my yearning right now.

VISIT FROM GRANT
All of my Trinity friends will remember the Rev. Dr. Grant LeMarquand, professor of New Testament and Mission at Trinity School for Ministry, my seminary alma mater and place of employment for the 8 years preceding our move to Uganda.  Grant significantly shaped my understanding of Scripture, and his love of East Africa is one of the seeds planted in our lives that has grown into what has become our life here.  So it was pure joy to have him come for a visit last week as he finished up his 6 week tour of Africa (Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda).  Adding to the fun was having dinner with our next door neighbor, Gideon, who is the chaplain of BBUC and who attended Trinity the year we arrived in Ambridge!

Gideon, Travis, Grant

LESLIE

My view at my birthday breakfast

Leslie has been doing so well the past couple of weeks.  Actually, she has been doing better than I have!  Not only has she begun to bring beauty and order to our home, but she has really come into a space of greater rest and confidence.  She is making the trip into town on her own and bringing home the bacon (figuratively and literally).  She is deepening friendships with our workers, sharing and laughing with them.  The wisdom and prayer she brings to our team meetings consistently reshapes our thinking and our approach to life here.  Her attitude and spirits have lifted my own, and she keeps bringing clarity to my often cloudy wrestling with decisions.  And -- since I'm writing this blog I get to say it -- she continues to grow in beauty as well, even though she's frustrated with the lack of western hair stylists in Kabale!

Leslie painting the toenails of our house-help/friends/sisters!

ATTACHED TO THE CATHEDRAL
So much of our work in these first few months is simply settling in and learning what it means to be the Hines family in Kabale, and what it means to be Team Kabale (Hines and Morrows) in Kabale.  We're focusing on learning to love each other in this new season and place, and beginning to learn to love the people of BBUC and Kabale.  I have begun to meet with faculty and sit in on a few classes and connect with students and explore joining committees, and we are beginning to dabble in learning Rukiga, the local language.  Mostly, however, we're just settling into knowing and being known by the community, and figuring out how to eat, get around, communicate, and take care of ourselves.

St. Peter's Cathedral

One area where I have branched out a bit more is at St. Peter's Cathedral here on Rugarama Hill.  On December 5, I will be ordained a priest by Bishop George Katwesigye on behalf of my bishop, Archbishop Duncan.  Bishop Katwesigye graciously and wisely has assigned me to the cathedral so that I can begin to understand more of how the Anglican Church of Uganda functions, and so that he and his staff can with integrity affirm my call to the priesthood.  It has been a wonderful time.  Mostly I participate in the 8am English service, leading the liturgy or leading the prayers.  I love serving under the Revs. Amos, Obed, and Joshua -- men of character, humor, and wisdom who have been serving God and his church for decades.  I am learning a lot just watching them.

The highlight for me so far was a couple of Sundays ago when the Bishop surprised me by asking me to preach on the Sunday he confirmed over 200 people at the Cathedral.  I preached through an interpreter to a crowd of over one thousand people.  The interpreter was the Rev. Canon Jovahn, the Deputy Principal of BBUC and the man who has been my main contact for the past 5 years.  He is the one who has waited and prayed for us the longest, so it was a joy to stand beside him and speak out the words God had given me to say on that Sunday.

PACKAGES AND SHIPMENT
No pictures for this one, but a lot of gratefulness.  Over the past few weeks we have received packages from family and friends, plus our own shipment of items we sent to ourselves back in August!  The packages from family and friends have included things like prints of paintings for our walls, candied corn, autumnal decorations, wonderful sandals for Leslie (thanks Mary Ellen!), and salty snacks.  Every little bit is like a bright jewel that brings smiles to all our faces.

And what joy it was to receive our shipment at last!  A wonderful friend in Kampala arranged for getting our boxes from the capital to Kabale, and opening them was so much fun.  The girls dove into their dress-up clothes and dolls; Jesse hugged stuffed animals, spilled out his legos, and immediately began re-reading his Tin Tin books; Leslie rummaged through various foods and spices and kitchen accessories; I embraced books and began stacking them beside our bed.  The only challenge was discovering one trunk in which a container of Hershey's chocolate sauce had exploded and drenched toys and other items in chocolate.  I spent 4 hours cleaning the mess, but it was worth it (I only licked my fingers twice).
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We are beginning to settle in to life in Kabale.  We still have days that are up-and-down, tempers flair, tears fall, chaos erupts, water stops, surprises come....  We are not as weary, however, and with increasing frequency we find ourselves enjoying Kabale, and every now and then we feel the rhythm of the life that is coming.

Here are a few more photos to enjoy:

Lucy and Mallory

Cat-burglar Caught!

Julia helping with laundry

Georgia and Lucy with newly arrived shirts from Tia Maria

Julia!

Scene from BirdsNest Balcony on the eve of my birthday

Same scene, further out...