A changed heart...

• Nearly half of the estimated 2 million orphans are orphaned due to AIDS, with the total expected to rise to 3.5 million by 2010.

"He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,

rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,

Seats them among the honored guests,

a place of honor among the brightest and best.

He gives childless couples a family,

gives them joy as the parents of children. Hallelujah!" psalm 113:4

Michelle in her final weeks at Baby Watoto, Uganda

It is bitter sweet, the ending of a beautiful journey.  Michelle will be coming home soon to continue her studies at the University of Texas in the fall.  She has learned, she has grown, and she has been changed.  It gets in your soul and you forever know the abundance of love.  Please read some of her final thoughts as she closes this chapter in her life's novel.  We are so proud of Michelle and her selfless desire to just show love to those who need hope.

Peace & Blessings, Diane.

I think that before, because it felt like I still had so much time here, I was kinda anxious and wanted to go home. But now, I only have one week left, and it’ll go by so fast. I’m currently sitting in the rocking chair on our porch, looking at three Ugandans working in a patch of tall grass, looking out over the hills and clean, beautiful sky, and its times like these where I don’t want to go home, back to drama and busy life where people make tiny problems huge and get mad at lines and traffic. How can I go back after being here and seeing how these people live? They work so hard and still have almost nothing, but are the most giving people I’ve met. They can’t even drink their own water without getting sick. They live a simple life. We live such complex lives, and I wish we didn’t. You think you know the world, or at least have a grasp on it, until you actually go out into it.
Yes, the city is much different from the country, it smells and the roads are full of pot holes, but I love these people. God loves these people. He loves these kids, and He loved them when no one else did. When they were found in a box or a toilet or with a bag over their head, He still loved them and saw them as His beautiful children. And there are kids all over the world like this. I wonder if God’s heart isn’t breaking every second, because mine is for these kids. I’ve been trying to figure out how to handle leaving, and I can’t imagine feeling anything but sadness, because I really love these children, these babies, these nannies, these volunteers. I’m probably never going to see them again, and that breaks my heart. I love waking up to the sweet innocence of the babies, even if they cry and smell. Sometimes, you just need to cuddle a baby in the morning to make the rest of the day good.
Two and a half years ago at world mandate, God laid Uganda on my heart. I even got one of those bracelets to remind me to pray every day for this place. And now I’m here. I tried other organizations and options, but the doors all closed. Except for this one. So when I miss home, I just remind myself that this is where I am supposed to be. And maybe I won’t learn some huge profound lesson, but being here is changing my heart, I think. Just the way I look at people and the world and my own life. And sometimes we need that, a reality check. If anyone ever needs a reality check, go to a place worse off. It makes you take a good look at what is really important in your life.
Why am I here? Because it’s where God put me, where I needed to be so that my heart would change. To do something truly not for myself. To see God in other places and people, outside of my box I keep putting Him in. To love the widows and orphans. To become who He wants me to be. Because He called, and I followed. And I couldn’t have asked for a better way to do all this.
All Glory to Him,  Michelle