Days 89-90: Endnotes

10.12.09: DAY NINETY. Southampton, UK
Home. Everything is fresh and lovely. Every other sentence is, ‘I haven’t... for 3 months’. You need to pray for my crossing the road instincts – apparently stepping out into traffic is not safe here. Everything is quite normal, quite as I’ve always known it, but I have the lightest feeling of strangeness, like a sound in the distance you don’t notice until it’s gone.

The man at immigration announced to me, after several minutes of accusations (me trying to avoid offending him with as many ‘sebo’s as I could muster), that I had lied to get a police report/got my bag stolen just to avoid having to pay for another visa... and sent me through. Praise God. Apart from that the flight was uneventful and boring (except cackling uncontrollably through the latest Pixar film at 5 in the morning). But at least I’m home safe. As I said to Eric, “Things like this remind us we’re not really in control of our lives.” (He said, “I never feel in control.”)

Lost my photos, lost my journals, lost my notes. I'm not going to stop missing them. But thinking about it, most people in the history of the world, most people today, don’t have detailed records of everything in their lives. They use their memories. I’ve still got all those. I’m fine. Although the robbery made me really keen to get home, it’s not putting me off going back. I’m already dreaming about a couple of opportunities...

What makes a good story is that the main character not only does exciting things; they change. So I really hope I have (Tell me if you notice anything!) God’s shown me how passive I can be and how I need to fight for what I’m passionate about, or limit what he can do with me. And he’s pointed out that I try to do everything and cope with everything on my own, worrying that I’m a burden or an irritation to people. There’s some big things to work on! (Please pray for them)

So this is the end of my Ugandan story. If you’ve been reading, thanks for reading. If you’ve been praying, thank you so much for that. It’s made a lot of difference; that immigration guy could have sent me back to buy another visa with money I don’t have. I hope your lives are every bit as full as mine – I’m sure they are, or can be. I hope you have a fantastic Christmas. God hasn’t abandoned us, but come to live with us; what a great thing to celebrate! I think that’s good news for us all.

Love & shalom!