Rafting the River Nile

I had never been rafting before. And now I think I never have to again. haha No rapids could be as awesome as these.

I'm on the left in the back row!

Here we are again. I'm forth from the left after the goofy photogenic guy smiling at the camera. Lol uncle tom!

This rafting trip was such an adventure. It started off with an boda accident on the way there! Me and rachel were riding to the middle of town to catch the bus to jinja my arms were cold because it was so early in the morning so naturally I had both of my arms snuggly tucked in my jacket and leaned against Rachel as our boda weaved in and out of traffic. Next thing I knew we just tipped over. haha another boda changed lanes expectantly and hit ours and we fell to the ground but don't worry we only scraped our knees and elbows a tad! no biggie! We got back on and got to our bus stop in time! Then we took the bus and a while later arrived at the Nile river ready to face death! honestly I was terrified! Rachel had rafted the Nile before and almost died like twice or something so she had horror stories and she was freaking out too. I'm pretty sure both of us were shaking as we got into the raft. The guide flipped us over in the calm water a few times to teach us how to get out from under the boat in case we flip. HA! We flipped almost every single time. It was terrifying. I don't think I have ever been so afraid of dying. When you flip and the water is swirling around you and you cant get up to breathe and the boat is keeping you under there is nothing like the desperation you feel in those moments that seem to drag on and on. I cannot breathe. I just kept thinking this in my head over and over again. I cannot breath. I'm not going to be ok. I cannot breathe. As soon as I found the air pocket under the raft to take a deep breath a huge wave would slam into my mouth and nose. I was choking. This happened literally every single time we flipped and Uncle Tom and Rachel can attest to my fear filled expressions as I finally took in a breath of life.

I didn't die! I am so blessed I got to experience near death though! I really am thankful! It made me so grateful to be alive. Witnessing the power of thousands of gallons of water rolling over a rock at one time with tremendous speed was so beautiful. I have never seen anything like it. The water was unstoppable. There was nothing that was going to tame it or slow it down. And our boat was like a fragile floating leaf completely at the mercy of the power beneath us. wow. I still cannot believe I made it through this. what a day. I remember praying before each rapid Lord, fill me with all joy and peace, as I trust You. I trust You. Save me. haha And I meant it like never before too!

That's not all I learned from these rapids.

I told my dad about my rafting trip and how we went through like 9 rapids, 4 of which were the highest stage raft-able (stage 5) and also told him about some hard stuff going on in life and he starts pouring out this amazing metaphor like its no big deal. he said most of life is filled with stage 1 or 2 rapids, easy little blurps that come and go, but there are only a few times in life when there are category 5 rapids that we face. We have to trust God to get us through those stage 5 rapids - He doesn't promise us that the boat wont flip over or that we wont get wet, disoriented, or even trapped under for a few seconds, but He does promise us that He's gonna be right there with us the whole time and that with Him we will make it out alive.
Wow dad. You are seriously the best dad in the world. and your almost as cool as Jaja Laura too ;)

little memories

Recently I was reminded of a super sweet time I got to have in Uganda with the girls. It was about 10:30pm and the grown ups were finishing up our devo time and carol came out of the girls room looking upset. She and everyone else in the room were scared. They told me that annet and brenda were having scary dreams and no one could go to sleep now. I remember laying in Annet's bed and telling whispering a really long story to them about kittens and flying kites and kids playing soccer. Anyways this story went on and on and totally didn't make sense at all but after about 45 mins all the girls were asleep and I sneaked out of the middle bunk bed and tip toed out the door. mission accomplished :) i think it was sweet carol who lifted her sleepy head and said "auntie jess-ka, thank you"

Jesus, please be with the rafiki kiddos and keep them safe. Bless them and help them grow big and strong and fall in love with you. amen.