Meeting Elizabeth

 

So this blog is a little bit late
coming… but I have been trying to come up with the words that would best
describe why meeting Elizabeth was such a special thing… then I realized that
the words probably would never come in a way that would be able to fully
express it so I thought I would just go for it now…

Lets rewind to when my dad was
here… while still living in Kenya my dad and Kirk were insisting that I would
come back to Uganda when the Hope 4 Kids staff would be here in early April.  I said that there was no way that it could
happen and that I would just have to meet them some other time.  But dad still had hope that I would meet him. 

When I first heard that I was going
to be coming back to Uganda I called my dad and was telling him about it.  One of his first questions was wondering when
I would be there because I might get there in time to meet Tom, Angie and Elizabeth.  But no, the dates just weren’t lining up.  The night I was stuck in the bus traveling
for 29 hours I was talking to my dad again and he was telling me I should call
Tom, the founder of Hope 4 Kids, because he was stuck at the airport due of
the Volcano and might be able to help somehow. They were supposed to be flying
out the day that we were arriving.  The
next day here at True Vine I was told that since they were unable to fly out that they were
going to bring the team back to Torroro for another week to wait for a flight.  

This may seem silly but this was
very exciting news.  I had been wanting
to meet these people for a while now and had been hearing over and over again
about how I NEEDED to meet this Elizabeth. 
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was another one of those ‘prayer
accidents’ that Pastor Wilber talks about… and was wondering if my dad would
ever have to explain to Tom,‘oh I prayed that my daughter would meet you so
woops there was a volcano and now she gets to meet you…sorry you were delayed
in Africa but this was important’ (I know its not really an ‘accident’ but its
just a funny concept that Pastor jokes about a lot here and that I quite enjoy
the thought of.)

So Elizabeth.  She runs the orphan department for Hope 4
Kids and you only have to be around her for a moment to see what a calling she
has for this… God made her to love on children. 
I met her first at the hotel and was greeted with a big hug and a warm
smile… and the next day she invited us to all come out and play some games with
the kids here at True Vine.  There were
kids everywhere and she is going around calling them by name and telling me who
is who and they all know her as well.  As I
was running around playing with ‘The Amazing Flying Ring’ (Thanks Kirk!) I
could look over and see kids surrounding her and noticed the time that she took
to SEE each one.  Through out the next
couple of days any chance I got to be around her I would take… and every time I
was around her I was so inspired by her heart and the way that she serves God
with the best of her gifts.  (And plus she is
just a blast to be around!)

Living in this small community of
12 18-24 year olds has been hard for me in only one aspect… at home I have the
opportunity to spend time with lots of women who are older than I am.  I think about the special time I have gotten
to spend with my mom and my grandmas and my aunts and older cousins and Karen
and Patti and Jennie.  On this trip I
have really missed spending time with women that I can really look up to who are at the next point in life and are able to speak into the place that I currently find myself in. At
home I do not think I have just one person specifically ‘discipling’ me… for reasons I will
never know I have been much more blessed than that… I have had so many women at
home take time to ‘disciple’ me and teach me how to be a women after Gods heart and for that I
am so very thankful.  But here in Africa
I have been going through withdrawals or something…haha… and often think back
to time spent learning about hospitality and loving through time with Karen or
about Gods heart and his beauty through time with Patti and about the value of prayer and seeking God daily through time spent with Jennie… and on and on and on.

Meeting Elizabeth was a great
encouragement to my spirit; to have special time with a woman that I could
really look up to and learn from and be encouraged by could not have come at a more meaningful time.  In the few conversations I had with her I was
greatly encouraged.  One of the first
chances I had to talk with her we were out playing with some kids and she was
talking to me about school and following dreams and about leadership.  She encouraged me to follow my dreams and encouraged
my heart in the ways that being a leader sometimes makes it tired.  Both perfect timing, for later that week I
found out that I did not get into the school that I was hoping to go to… but I
know that God had sent Elizabeth before that news in order to speak the courage
into me that I would need to step up and look at what dreams God has been
planting in my heart that I would want to go after following, and that a call to leadership is not dependent on school at all. Its amazing how God takes us through seasons without the things that are important to us (like maybe in this case discipleship) but he is so faithful to bring it back in the moments that it is most needed… even if that means a volcano erupting and keeping a whole team on this side of the world for a few extra days.

It has been sometime since
Elizabeth has come and gone but I can honestly say that the encouragement that
she offered and spoke into me has been thought of each day since she has
left. 

Discipleship is so important… and
even small moments of walking in it can have a major impact.  Thanks Elizabeth.