The Night Before Kindergarten & 3rd

One of the most incredible privileges you can have as parent, is to watch God work through your children.  It is especially sweet to see God's spirit moving in your child, in order to pour out love on one of your other children. 

Tonight, Ellie had her inaugural prayer circle for school.  We started this ritual for Caleb, when he started Kindergarten.  The night before school begins, we make time to pray for and read scripture over the new student.  Dawson and I pick out verses and promises that we want to pray for our kiddo.  Then, the special child creates a circle around themselves (using fun, beloved items) and we sit around them to read and over them.   and Ellie was absolutely ecstatic that she would have her own prayer circle this year.  It was so cool to see how meaningful this little tradition has become in our family. 

When we started this night-before-school custom, both Lisa and Tracy got to be a part of it.  Then, the next year, Uncle AJ even joined in!  So, our circle seems small when it is just the 5 of us.  Even though they can't physically be with us, it is the most incredible feeling to know that our extended family is lifting our kids up to our Lord in prayer. 

My favorite moment from the night was when Caleb prayed for Ellie.  It continues to bring tears to my eyes when I think about it.   It seemed like the Holy Spirit was speaking through Caleb's words.  This was the beginning of his prayer.....

"Father, I lift up Ellie to you and I ask that you rain down wisdom, grace and strength on her.  I ask that you make her fearless and brave, so she won't be scared.  And God, please give her good friends...." and he said some other really sweet stuff, but I couldn't remember the rest.  I LOVE my kids!

We are so blessed.  And I am trying to count my blessings, rather than mourn Ellie's entrance into "school age."  But I am sad that she is growing up.  And I can't believe my baby boy is starting 3rd grade!?!  The times has flown.

Here are some of our pictures from tonight....

 Ellie's first prayer circle...

 Very appropriately lined in Barbies.  Can you tell that she is proud?

 It was so awesome to hear Caleb read God's word over Ellie....and even Adelyn "read" from the Bible :)

Caleb is an awesome brother....when he wants to be :)

 We were both crying :/  Like mother, like daughter!

 Then we tried to 'shake it off' by making funny faces!

 Caleb Wayne's turn!  

 Proud Daddy!

Who knew?

This is going to be the shortest and most boring post ever....maybe. 

It's 12:30am, and I seem to be seeing these numbers on the clock a lot lately.  My mind can't seem to stop buzzing and whirling.  Even in the late hours.

Who knew part-time teaching....just a handful of 13 and 14 year olds....would be so much work?!? 

Praise our Awesome God for my Awesome husband!

Back to ancient civilizations....

Brief Break from Africa Chronicles...

I am supposed to be cleaning my kitchen, folding 3 loads of laundry, creating a syllabus for my new Humanities class at KOR, packing bags for 5 people and calling 2 people back......

Instead, I am sitting here blogging.  I have a problem!

Oh well.  I wanted to say/share two things today.  One- I just read a little devotional article about Philippians 4: 4-7 and I am sitting here trying to absorb it.  The scripture is

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I have read this scripture many times.  It speaks to me in a very personal way, because I really struggle with anxiety.  This scripture instructs me how to deal with that anxiety...and I rarely handle it the way God instructs.  But He promises to replace my anxiety with peace, if I give it to Him.  The devotional I read spoke about how this peace is a 'natural fruit' of the Spirit. The HOLY  Spirit.  And I have to admit that I sit here, IN AWE...again....that I have THE HOLY SPIRIT living in me.  I am ashamed to realize that I live out most of my days in complete spiritual amnesia.   

What an incredible truth.  I, Michelle Marie Lively Skow.....a complete idiot most of the time, have the completely undeserved privilege of having the Spirit of the one, true GOD, dwell within me!!!!  

I know this is not breaking news.....but oh my goodness!  

Praise the Maker!

And Two- I am officially starting a campaign to stop the use of the word "HOLY" in our colloquial phrases.  I am so guilty of this...and have been since I started using the phrase 'holy cow' in 2nd grade.  But I have been so convicted lately that we have abused and overused the word 'holy' so much (even pairing this sacred word with 'crap' and worse) that it has lost its meaning.  Our human languages are so limited in how we can describe our God....we shouldn't taint the few words we have reserved for Him.  (cue exit from soap box)

ho·ly[hoh-lee]adjective, ho·li·er, ho·li·est, noun, plural ho·lies.

adjective

1. specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated: holy ground.

2. dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion: a holy man.

3. saintly; godly; pious; devout: a holy life.

4. having a spiritually pure quality: a holy love.

5. entitled to worship or veneration as or as if sacred: a holy relic.

Water

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2

From the very beginning, there has been water.  I'd never really paid much attention to that before.  But I think there is something very spiritual about water.  It is of God.  Jesus is the Living Water. And God created in us a need for water....both physically and spiritually.  It is an absolute necessity for life.  

In Uganda, for the first time in my entire life, I realized how precious water is.  Here in America, we take water for granted.  I waste water all the time.  Even living in a region that recently experienced a terrible drought, I never went without water.  I'm not saying people here don't suffer due to lack of rain....certainly there are people who lose their farms, have to sell off their cattle....even I had to pay more money at HEB for my groceries because of the drought. But I can truly say that I never went thirsty, even through all those months without rain. In fact, I'm pretty sure every store I went to still had a public drinking fountain for whomever was in need.  And every public building.  And every park.  In every home....the faucets never stopped working.  

In Uganda, water is a treasure.  Safe, clean drinking water is so valuable.  I met so many children whose bellies were full of parasitic worms from drinking dirty water.  From having no choice but to drink water that was bad for them.  


The team always loaded up on filtered and bottled water every morning, before heading out for the day.  We always had our water bottles in our backpack, and frequently drank from them, as we worked and played outside throughout the day.  Even though we would sometimes spend hours working with the same group of kids, I can honestly say I never saw one of them drink.  None of them carried around a water bottle.  None of them ran into their huts for a quick drink, to turn on the faucet and fill up their cup.  Water was not readily available for them.  

What I did see was children carrying around jerry cans.  Either on their way to fetch water, or walking to bring it home for their family.  I saw young girls filling up their cans on the edge of Lake Victoria.  A lake filled with raw sewage.  

One of the more heartbreaking moments from the trip was in Wakisi.  This village was so beautiful.  And the day we spent there overflowed with God's goodness and grace.  We had so many joyful moments with the beautiful people there.  The village has two young teachers who come into the village every weekday to teach some of the children.  Their names are Charles and Michelle. (easy names to remember...one being mine and the other the same as my dad!)  Both of them were incredibly warm and welcoming to us.  I talked to them about their lives and their teaching.  It was so funny to see Michelle dressed in a long-sleeve sweater, wool skirt and knit hat.  We were sweating in the 80+ degree weather, but since it is their winter season, she was felt cool.  

At the end of our day there, Michelle pulled me aside and asked if we had an extra water bottle to share with her.  My heart sank.  She was thirsty.  And even though I probably could've found an extra bottle of water, I knew I could not give her one.  For several reasons, it would've caused more harm than good to give her one.  So I didn't.  I had to tell her no.  It hurt my heart.  Her request was so simple.  

Their need is so basic.  Not easy, but basic.  Water.

Now, I think about those sweet, thirsty people when I turn on my faucets.  I feel guilty when I pour clean, healthy water down the drain.  I hate that they suffer, and I have an endless supply.  

my bottomless water bottle...with babies praising God in the background

 classroom under a tree

 singing "Father Abraham...had many sons.  I am one of them and so are you!"

 the real heroes...Tressie & Elyse washing and Emma, Kari & Megan digging to help those poor feet

sharing pictures of my babies with the mamas and jajas of the village

 Lovin' on this sweet baby named Mulani.  He stole my heart...and then wouldn't let go...literally. :)

 One of our team members speaking to the two teachers I told you about...Michelle & Charles

 these precious girls danced so beautifully for us

so we wanted to learn how

they tried to teach us...:)

 And one of them even loaned me her hip wrap...but I still couldn't imitate them.  But it was fun trying!! :)

 i love this picture...we were singing, "He's got the whole world in His Hands."

This is so easy....so joyful

  Dawson and one of his many Ugandan fan clubs :)

How do I begin.....

I've started this blog entry several times.  I've wanted to tell the story of our time in Uganda.

But there are NO words that could possibly convey the experience- the spiritual, emotional and physical experiences that have forever changed my perspective and my heart.

Even though the words can not possibly convey what I want them to, I am still going to try. I have a feeling this is going to be long and probably come in phases.  Here is the beginning...

Africa is really different from America.

America...at least my America, is all about comfort, entertainment, and planning for retirement.
Africa is about surviving the day, and hoping for Heaven.

America wastes.  I waste. a lot.
Uganda wants.  Many are in want.

In America, my daughters have many dolls....so many dolls they can't play with them all.
In Uganda, I saw many children.  The only doll I saw belonged to a baby...the doll was made of sugar cane and sticks.

In America, many Christians, including myself, seem very preoccupied with this life.
In Uganda, most Christians I met seem to be focused on eternal life.

a little now, a lot more to come....

Family Fun Day

It seems like we have been consumed with preparation for Uganda for many weeks.  There have been MILLIONS of errands, along with hours of washing, packing, buying, researching, obsessing, etc.  So, Dawson and I decided that today would be dedicated to our kids....to having as much fun with them as possible.  The WHOLE day!  And it was awesome!

This morning, we all walked down to our neighborhood park.  Dawson and I played with the kids...actually played, not just sat on the bench and watched them play.  Dawson and Caleb threw around the football, while the girls and I ran around on the playscape and played 'Barbie camp out.'  Then we all took turns swinging.  It was a very pleasant start to our day!

Next, we took the kids to watch "Madagascar 3".  It was cute!  Even Adelyn was entertained, and sat through most of the movie.  We spoiled them with popcorn, candy and soda.  We all enjoyed the full experience!

We let them skip naps today (which is a BIG deal in the Skow household) and we all went swimming at the public pool instead!  It was like a dream come true for them....to trade-in naps for swimming! :)  It was a super fun time, not too crowded.  And my precious baby girl is now swimming!  I almost started crying when I saw her swimming in the pool today.  I can't believe how big she is getting!!!

After a quick Sonic run, we came home, changed clothes and took them to Chuck-E-Cheese for supper!  This obnoxious establishment is usually only reserved for birthday treats, so they were pretty excited about eating with ChuckE!  Pizza, games and a weird, giant mouse....what more could a kid want?? :)

We ended the day with a round of baths and some good, quality story time!  Ellie wanted me to read, "Mommy and Me" tonight.  It took everything I had to not start crying when she handed me the book. I am determined to not let my sadness about leaving them spill over on them.  However....I'm sure they were all wondering why I hugged them each about 472 times today.

I didn't take any pictures of our "Family Fun Day"....which actually was kind of nice.  To be just a participant in my kids' lives.  Not a photographer.  Not an overseer.  Just a participant today.  But I will include some of my recent favorites of my sweet babies.

whew....handing them off to Nonny tomorrow is going to be hard.

 My beautiful, little mermaids

 From one of the MANY concerts that we have had lately :)

One of my very favorites from the VBS mustache series :)

 My precious little helper...helping me 'mow the grass'!

 

And my handsome, fellow gardener

What I am really scared of....

I love my blog.  You know why?  Because it is like a friend.  One that is available for listening 24/7, with no judgement or opinions.  I can just talk on and on about my joys, my fears or whatever I want, and my blog just takes it all in. :)  And for those victims who read my blog...it is completely of your own free will, so I don't have to take any responsibility!

So, tonight, as I sit here right in front of this blessed AC window unit (yes, our AC is broken.  God bless America) I need to pour out my heart a little bit.

There is no doubt or debate that I am an emotional person.  The end.  So, every event in my life is an emotional event.  Everything is either happy or exciting or sad or infuriating.  Well, this journey of preparing for our time in Uganda has been one of the most emotional things I have EVER done.  I have experienced SO many emotions....so many powerful and extreme emotions.  It has been exhausting!  It makes me feel so much more sympathetic toward my dear friends who actually moved to Uganda in January.  I can't imagine how powerful those emotions must have been.

Anyway.  I have felt excited, joyful, anxious, worried, curious and more about this trip.  But I would say the overwhelming emotion has been FEAR.  I am embarrassed to say that.  But it is true.  The most powerful emotion I have felt about this 11 day adventure has been fear. 

I have quite a few 'mini-fears.'  Fears that cross my mind, but don't hold too much weight. 

Fear of flying over the ocean.

Fear of getting sick.

Fear of how people see me.

Fear of bugs in my hair.

Fear of bugs in my feet.

Fear of 'hole-in-the-ground' potties :/

But then I have the REAL fears.  The Big Mama fears....that make me feel sick to my stomach.  These are fears that I don't really want to even talk about, because it substantiates them.  But that's not the way I roll.  It's oddly therapeutic for me to articulate them.

The fear of leaving my babies for so long... so long that it somehow messes with the bond I have with them.

The fear of not being strong enough. 

The fear of getting in the way of God's perfect will for this trip.

The fear of God truly changing me.  Like for real.  Because people always say/act like they want to be changed by this kind of trip....I can't even tell you how many people have told me "this will change me."  But I think most people are only looking for 'micro-change'....the kind of change that is still within acceptable boundaries and controllable.  I am afraid God might change me down deep.  The kind of change that doesn't shift perspective, but instead beats it down on the concrete, busts it into a million pieces and stomps on it. 

The fear that God might use this trip to reveal part of His will for our lives. 

These fears....shake me to the core.  They challenge my faith and my theology. 

And the most ridiculous thing of all is that God tells me:

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  
Romans 8:14-16


But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine."
Isaiah 43:1 

I especially love this passage, when he basically calls them little worms...I have definitely felt like a little worm lately.  This scripture speaks to me!
 
"For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help you.
¹⁴ Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
    little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 41:13-15

I know He is the only one I should fear.  His Word is my peace.