What a fabulous day! We awoke at 5 am and headed into Jinja. We pulled into Amani and all of the children were getting ready for breakast. We walked into one of the rooms and Asher caught a glimpse of Dana and one of the "mama's" said "it is your mommy" and he ran into to Dana's arms and without even looking into her face said "i want to go home!" my heart almost jumped out of chest...this child TOTALLY understands...."I am going home to my forever family"....WOW! As i glanced up little Joseph and Daisy (oatsvall's children) were standing at the door, so I was able to kiss and love and kiss and love and kiss and love on them and say your mama is coming soon!....(Gwen, Daisy gave me a warm welcome, smiles, sat in my lap....so I guess Katie's bananas have warmed her heart to the "white skin" hahahaha! ) THEN, I looked around and there sat teeny tiny (with BIG marble brown eyes) little Patrick (Maddux lil one) and I held him, kissed his cheeks and told him that his mama and Daddy were coming soon too.AND then there was litttle Judah with his timid little grin ran into my arms for hugs and I whispered those same words to him "she will be here soon! your mama and daddy are coming!) My heart was totally overwhelmed with joy as I looked into each of these orphans eyes KNOWING that they are no longer orphans, their parents are coming for them. Just as He promises that HE will NOT leave us as orphans.
THEN I made my way to find little Josephine. As I entered her room, they had stripped all of them down to just their nappies,ready for breakast! She did not want much to do with me until her tummy was full and THEN she sat in my lap and didn't leave for the while day! As I sat beside her on the floor while she ate I looked into each of those babies eyes and tears spilled out of my eyes....and then I spotted Nicholas (Maddux's other lil one)and I just started laughing! He is the cutest little thing, cheeks so round, and as he drank his porridge, he grinned from ear to ear at me! He and Josie are in the same room, sleeping, eating, and doing life together..just like they will be once they get home!! and THEN on the playground there was little Bobby who was running, jumping, and playing with every inch of his little body. Full of energy, joy and it made my heart COMPLETE knowing that I will see all of these children DAILY for the rest of my life. (Smallings, I have several in mind for you.....precious!)
As if my heart was not full enough, I packed Josie on my back, and headed to Katie's for praise and worship! WOW! My new name for Katie is "the child whisperer"....I have never seen anything like it. Kids just come out from NOWHERE just to holler "Auntie Kaite!" She sent them all home with big bags of food, as they carried them all atop their heads, Renee and I stood and took pictures.
As we stood and watched almost 400 children walking the red dirt road, going home with food for their families...our hearts were FULL!
I went to the store today and bought a phone....so, I will be calling today and checking in...
Grace, how was the taylor swift concert? and A BIG shout out to Michael who caught a 30 yard pass and carried it back for a touchdown!WHOOP!
I love you and Miss you soooo much! (how is Caleb's breathing?)

We made it! We are staying in Entebbe for the night because we have to travel through Kampala to get to Jinja, and there is some rioting going on right now in Kampala. We will be leaving at 5am to head into Jinja....we just thought it wasn't safe to travel at night. Our flights went well, we all slept and ate and slept and ate...
Tomorrow is Katie's "praise and worship" day for her sponsored kids. They will start lingering in around 8am and the bongos will start beating around 10:30, then games, singing, and eating! I can't wait to see all of Katie's girls. we should arrive just in time for me to grab Josie Love from Amani, strap her on my back, and head for all of the fun!
A little funny for ya'll.....we pulled up to our hotel for the night. I must say it is the ritz carlton of africa. FANCY! FANCY! It has wifi and all of the "extras"! We start walking to our rooms, and they led us around the FANCY part of the hotel to a smaller building
that is slightly unkept. Our showers had frogs, lizards, roaches, there is no password for the internet....laughing hysteriacally, we are trying to figure out how you are able to stay in the "front part?!?" Oh well, we obnly have a few hours to sleep....I LOVE me SOME Africa!!

Off to bed, will be in touch tomorrow!! Love to all of my kiddos...mama loves you!
Suzanne

"Once our eyes have been opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and hold us responsible to act."
Proverbs 24: 12

Sometimes life is rough, but through pain, we can gain new good things. Almost a year ago, I joined a Discipleship Group at Christ Pres Church, with several of my friends in it, and we have had it just about every Wednesday. Basically, it's a place to go, learn about God, vent about what's going on in life, and just have a trustworthy group of girls to be able to go and talk to and know that they're always there for support. whether we need prayer for how we are doing in school, or we have a sick relative in the hospital, or we are under alot of pressure in a sport or whatever else it is, we can know that they're there. Anyway, tonight was our first meeting because we have the summer "off". We went around and said what moment this summer was life changing...everyone had a different answer, but the one that really caught my attention was one of my D-Group leaders answers. A couple of weeks before, she had lost someone that she was really close to and depended on ALOT. she was up crying all night long for several nights in a row, and literally felt like she was physically being torn apart. Through this she actually gained something she never would have expected. She experieced self-discovery and found a whole different part of herself that she never knew about. she was always afraid to explore and she depended so much on that person that she was afraid to go on her own. As she told us about this and how she is currently happier than she's ever been, I started thinking about what my parents have been telling me all week. "You really need to "step up" here at home and be a strong sense of security for your siblings, because they're really going to struggle while we're gone."

I know it's going to be rough having my parents leave for several weeks, but we will gain something that is DEFINITELY worth it and I know we'll be happier than ever, and I am BEYOND willing to step up so that we can get our baby HOME! and it may be rough when Josie Love gets home for the first little while, but if you look at the bigger picture, we saved an orphan from living a life without love, which is why God put us on Earth. He didn't put us here so we could have big houses, drive nice cars, have fancy clothes, and care about materialistic things. He put us here to love the orphaned and widowed, and love those around us. If just 8% of those who profess to be believers FOLLOWED what God wants us to do and adopted an orphan OR cared for a child in need, there would be no more orphans. That's 147 MILLION children without homes and love that would be given a family, and people to love them. "I'm too old"...Better an old mom than NO MOM right? :) and "It's too expensive" isn't an excuse because God will provide. I have seen him provide for the Oatsvalls, who started out without ANY money in their adoption fund and are now waiting to travel to go get their TWO children in Uganda. We also have several other friends that have had 2 or 3 "anonymous checks" for hundreds and thousands of dollars set in their mailbox. We serve a mighty God that can move mountains...Anything's possible.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 1: 27

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:30-31

OH! an by the way...go check out my mom's new products and feed a child in Africa with each purchase at 147millionorphans.com....they're AWESOME!

I cannot BELIEVE it! The past few days have seemed SO surreal! Grace and Annabelle have had the swine flu, SO all of my planning and packing has taken a backseat. WOW! I have 2 days to get myself and all of Josie Love's stuff packed! NOW, I have been shopping for awhile, so Josie is SET...it is Mama who might not have any clothes. I am beginning clothes are a little overrated these days anyway. We come into the world without them....?!?
Gwen and I have been working tirelessly on trying to get our ducks in a row with 147Millionorphans.com. OUR SITE SHOULD BE UP AND RUNNING WEDNESDAY...YIPPEE! We just got some AWESOME shirts in....it is BY FAR the softest shirt in my closet. Go check out our new stuff and feed a child in Uganda. While I am there, I will be videoing the Karamajong village so ya'll can get a close up view on who we are feeding with our products. Also, the Mama's in the Karamajong tribe are the ones making our beads, so I am hoping to get them on video also. If you follow Katie's blog, I'm gonna sneak a pic of little Michael also! ssshhhh!
So, I kept spinning my wheels and couldn't get ANYTHING done, solast night we headed to the cabin for a family get away before we leave...here are a few pics....
I'll post again on Wednesday night......pray, pray, pray for my family!

WE ARE COMING JOSIE LOVE!! We got the call Tuesday morning on the way to school! Our court date is September 14th!!! We will fly out on the 9th, so that we are sure to get there in time. I have to be very intentional while I am there to dress her nice so that I show the Ugandan people that I can care for her. At court we are suppose to wear our Sunday best and MAKE SURE that she is wearing shoes. You guys are going to see the cutest hairbows, shoes and outfits that you've ever seen before!! Mama has already been shopping! Annabelle and MillerAnne are very particular about what they wear.....they wanna look all grown up and like Grace. SO, Mama is having so much fun dressing a little girl again!! I emailed and asked for her sizes....their response was 18-24 months clothes and size 4 shoes. My eyes filled with tears......REALLY? REALLY? How can it be that a 3 year old little girl can be that small? Makes my heart ache to think about it. I am going to be packing the most delicious, nutritious snacks for her to start growing the moment I arrive. Aunt Mary (stateside for Amani Baby Cottage) assures me that the first six months she is home she will look like a totally different kid.
So, in the meantime, I am TRYING to get SOMEWHAT organized to be able to leave the other 6 behind for an indefinite amount of time. We're hoping for 2 weeks, but after looking at the paper work, I can't imagine it being less than three.....ALTHOUGH I SERVE A MIGHTY GOD WHO IS CAPABLE OF ANYTHING!!!
prayer Warriers: pray for fast travel, warfare....any snags that might arise while i am there, health for my ENTIRE family, and strength and patience for those that will be helping here at home.

Will post again in a few days with our new products from 147 Million Orphans....you are going to love them!!!!

Since Monday I have talked to SIX people through the process of adoption!! MY HEART IS SO FULL! Six more children are going to be able to call out "mommy!" "daddy!" I know that my sweet Saviour is ALL SMILES. I once heard "the secret of success is to find out what God is doing, and then get in on it with him".....God is definitely in the ORPHAN business!

I love to hear engagement stories. There is something so sweet about a man taking the time to look for a diamond and then planning how he is going to humble himself down on one knee and ASK her to marry him. That solitaire is a symbol of his bride... brilliant, priceless, and beautiful. Solitaires are jewelers most prized possession. They VERY CAREFULLY put each one into a setting. In Psalm 68:6...God settles the solitary in a home, he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. MIGHT YOUR FAMILY BE THE SETTING FOR GOD TO SET A SOLITAIRE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE? Our Lord is a jeweler. He VERY CAREFULLY places solitaires into settings. I CANNOT wait to see the brilliance of the six families that I spoke with this week. Their lives are going to shine before HIM after he sets each solitaire in it's setting. Orphans are MORE than endowed, brilliant, priceless, and beautiful....they have our fathers name on them!!

Take a look at these priceless jewels that HE set in my family.

I was going to wait to post until we had an update from Amani but just could not do it. As I went for a run this morning the Lord just kept whispering in my ear. So, I thought I'd share what is on my mind and heart. We just spent the weekend at our cabin on Center Hill lake. We LOVE going there to get away, it is one of our MOST favorite places as a family. Bananagrams, clue jr., movies by the fire......ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! On the norm we go to the marina to eat several times 1)because the food is fab and 2) I just do not want to cook. As we walk along the path surrounded with REALLY fast speed boats (my boys are in awe) and the biggest, nicest house boats one has ever seen I often ask myself "are we really here?!" And then WITHOUT FAIL I am jolted back into reality by someone stopping and asking me "if all of these kids are yours, "octomom has nothing on you!", "if you don't mind me asking.....where did you get your boys?"," are they brothers?" NOW, if you know me very well, you know that I do not have the gift of grace. Although, I will say that The Lord has given me an extra dose of it with each child. What use to aggravate me, NOW I see as an opportunity to educate. (hahaha) NOW what does make my heart ACHE is that my family seems to be so ABNORMAL. SO, my question to you today is "what are you doing to serve others today?" How are you stepping out of your normal day to day life and sacrificing for someone else? School is starting back, routines are forming again from the summer laziness..... SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT IS NOT ON YOUR SCHEDULE? How are you stepping out and trusting God to walk with you through darkness? Is your whole day planned? Just give HIM a small little opening to NOT know what is going to happen.....it is TOTAL freedom! You will love it! NOW in the beginning, you might feel a little uncomfortable but in the end you are going to feel SO free!! We were created to serve and walk by faith....FREE UP! enjoy Him living life for you! Just start by giving him 5 minutes today......
We are hoping to hear about a court date this week.....I'll let you know!