January 2, 2012
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Happy New Year!
Well, there was no sparkly ball dropping in Kampala. So the glamor of New Year was a little absent for us. But the old year left and the new year came. It makes you think about the year past and the year to come.
The year past... probably the biggest life change to happen to Lizzy and myself, except for having kids. In the beginning of the year, I was working in a job where I had good potential to do well. I was blessed to have moved up a couple of rungs in the corporate ladder. Then I gave my resignation... In March, we separated ourselves from EVERYTHING familiar. In April, we started to grow roots in the Pearl of Africa. In the following 8 months, we spent quite a bit of time reviewing and adjusting our plans for our ministry in Uganda. By the grace of God we have kept our sanity. It is definitely due to the adjust-ability of our children. Not only were they the biggest life change for us, they are the biggest blessing. Honestly, without their presence we would have self destructed by now. Thanks to technology, we have been able to keep up with our relationships abroad. We have been soooo blessed and encouraged by all of our friends and family that support us in so many ways! God has chosen us to serve him, that was made pretty evident throughout the past year. I will admit, there had been some times where I thought we were making the wrong move. Thankfully, the doubt did not find root in our hearts and we were strong enough to continue.
The year to come... my biggest hope for 2012 is that we can stay strong. Uganda is not the home for the weak. If you cannot manage constant temptation, discouragement, and attack from every which way, you cannot manage living in Uganda. Now this is not something that you set as a New Year's Resolution. Well, I guess it is... my NYR is to be more prayerful. It is the personal relationship and dependence on God that will protect us from destruction. We have had LITERALLY countless blessings since we have been here. That has been the artillery God has used to encourage us and defeat the devil in our lives. I am hopeful that those blessings continue into the year of 2012. We are going to have some new experiences, that is for sure. We have to root hard for the US in the 2012 London Olympics. We have to figure out how to vote for a president from 8000 miles from home. We have to serve our Lord with all of our heart when times look good or bad. We have to stop focusing on when we leave and do what we can for the Kingdom while we are here.
I would imagine that there will be fifty plus more entries in this blog before I write about the next new year. So please stay tuned. I know that we are not as interesting as the new sitcoms on ABC. But when you read this blog, understand what and where we are, and choose to keep in contact with us, it is encouraging. So with that, please keep in touch. Your kind words of encouragement, small gifts sent, big gifts to the ministry, and prayer keep our hearts and minds strong.
I have a prophecy, well, actually a confidence and hope, that we will have our first construction team in 2012. Please pray that that is the case!
Chad Neeley
Volunteer Construction Coordinator - WWCS Uganda/USA
