Meeting Ken

Have you ever met someone and instantly felt like you've known them forever? Perhaps it is because I have seen videos of Ken speaking. Perhaps it is because I have been getting reports through our social worker about what Ken has done on behalf of the orphanage...or maybe it's just a God thing, but meeting Ken last night felt like welcoming home an old friend.

The family that was hosting Ken has 4 boys (2 from our orphanage) and another family from the waiting list was meeting Ken for the first time too. With all those kids around, a park seemed like the perfect place to gather. It was a gorgeous night to eat outside and listen to story after story about what God is doing through Ken & Cathy at Tenderheart babies home.

It was fun watching Cara come out of her shell and play with Aaron, Enoch and the other children. Play is a universal language. It warmed my heart for Cara to make her first Ugandan friends.

We learned that Isaac is an active little boy that loves to climb and play with other kids. Ken confirmed that he is speaking, not much, but Ken wasn't concerned at all about his speaking skills. We learned that he sleeps in toddler size bunk beds (so anyone that needs a crib is welcome to ours). Isaac is very shy around adults, which explains why he sits still and quietly stares in the video we were sent (we can't publish it until he is ours, but it's on my phone if you ever see me in person).

We also learned that the new location of the orphanage is about an hour and a half away from Kampala so we may be looking to update our travel arrangements to stay closer to the home. Hearing Ken talk about the babies home, the food, the landscape and the people made me want to get on a plane that very moment.

We mentioned to Ken that we would like to spend Christmas at the orphanage and he was very excited about this. He is going to continue to think about ways that we can be a blessing to the children and staff over the holiday. I am pretty sure no matter what happens that this is going to go down as the best Christmas ever!

It is getting harder and harder to keep my heart here as we prepare for Uganda. I am busy around the house now that Cara is back to school. We are trying to accomplish all the little things like recaulking gaps around the windows and fixing peeling paint on the deck. We have to think ahead about auto paying bills, updating our cell phone plan, filling prescriptions and any other detail that expires while we are away. It's like trying to live two timelines at once. It can make your head spin but I'll do whatever it takes to get my family on that plane and bring Issac home :)