An Unwelcomed Goodbye

The Unwelcomed Goodbye

First a look at our new digs. We moved into Kampala in expectation of our Embassy appointment.

We are in a very nice part of town that is walking distance from the US Embassy. This is our view of Kampala.

This is the view from our room at night

sunrise from our room

This is Roxy. Reeses owes her everything. Isaac has a very deep fear of dogs and Roxy is slowly winning him over. He even touched her today!

Isaac is obsessed with these toy Boda Boda's that they have here.

Now for the hard news:

Today we had a setback in our plans. We were waiting for an email from the embassy telling us to come and file our paperwork tomorrow and instead we got a call from IOM asking us to come back in. They gave no explanation but we were told to come right away.

We arrived and were processed immediately to see the doctor. As we walked back it was clear we were seeing a different doctor this time. He said he noticed that Isaac's file said his lymph nodes were enlarged and that he wanted to double check him in person before sending our file over to the Embassy.

In the end Isaac passed again and no further testing was needed, but the sad truth was that this changes things in an irreversible way. It is hard to predict how quickly our file will make it to the Embassy. We kindly mentioned to the doctor that we had moved our family into Kampala with the hopes of being at the Embassy soon and I swear he laughed under his breath.

It is hard saying goodbye to Bill and Cara without knowing when we will see each other again. It's possible that Isaac and I will be celebrating his birthday here instead of with family as we had hoped. However, it was just yesterday that God was teaching me the ways that he is in control and even delays can be a blessing. I will choose to have hope that there is a reason for this disappointing news.

Even still, last night I cried over Cara as she was getting ready for bed. The time difference means that I will only get to hear her sweet voice for a few moments each day. First she said to me "Don't worry Mommy you'll dream about me every night and I'll dream about you." I told her how glad I was that she got to come to Africa with us and be a part of this journey. I listed off things I loved about having her with us and when I got to collecting flowers she said "Don't worry mommy I will still pick you flowers and throw them around the world to you. Every time you see a flower fall from a bush or a tree that will be me sending you my love." THEN she said "Please don't cry Mommy, I'll say hello to the moon and stars every night and that will mean I love you." By this point the tears were rolling steadily down my face. She's like a Hallmark card!

She spent all day encouraging me but also saying "I'm gonna miss you Mommy." We took one last adventure to the equator as a family before we had to say goodbye.

Back at Herb and Ellen's (the guest house we are staying at in Kampala) we enjoyed dinner together and I once again got to remind her that she needed to finish all her food. All too soon it was time to say goodbye. The sweet little girl who had been so brave finally broke down in tears. She begged for me to get on the plane with her. We both cried as we hugged and I assured her that I would be home as soon as possible. I am so thankful that I didn't have to have this moment 8 weeks ago. It would have been unbareable. Isaac and Bill said their goodbyes and then Bill took Cara from me. I tried hard to be brave for her like she was for me but it was too much to watch the gate close without knowing when I would see them again.

The car taking them to the airport is here :(

Thankfully, parenting never stops and Isaac needed me to watch him play. Thankful for the distraction I began my new season of waiting. (This mostly included texting with my best friends and my dad until I fell asleep)