Sunday, August 23, 2009

She's Off To Uganda of all places

Parenting is hard business sometimes. Anyone who has children knows this. We do the best that we can, we hopefully teach our children what we want them to know and then we let them go. And when we are successful at this then we, as parents, need to truly let them go, let them test the waters. It is hard.

Today The Engaged One leaves for her fall semester of study.....in Uganda. Oh yes, you read that right. She is going to be studying in Uganda for four months. She couldn't pick England or Spain or Iowa. Oh no, she has to go to Entebbe, a place that takes like FOREVER to get to.

It sounds like I am complaining and really I am not. Well, maybe a little bit but not too much. OK, well a lot but just stop pointing that out already. Really, I am not complaining about this it is just that I have been struggling with the uncertainty of sending our daughter off to some place where I can't text her like a thousand times a day to see how things are going. I don't text her that much now but if I wanted to and felt the urge I won't be able to. Drat.

Third world countries are not a new experience for our children. We have traveled with them to Peru and Mexico. They have traveled on their own to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They have heard about the trips that HHBL and I have taken to Rwanda, Ghana and India. Our girls have experienced, either personally or through us, what a third world country is like. The fact that most of the world doesn't have running water at their disposal or flushing toilets or even anything other than dirt floors. We want them to know these things, to understand how very blessed that we are to live in the United States of America.

But in all those times that we have been traveling with or without them to these countries, they have not been traveling alone and THAT is what has me weak at the knees. And really, when you are weak at the knees then you are DOWN on your knees in prayer for your children. And you can bet your bottom dollar that down on my knees, praying for The Engaged One, is where I will be until December 23 when she had her fiance walk off the plane back in the good old US of A. Just in case you were wondering, the Fiance is in India for 6 months with a program through their college.

The Engaged One is 21 years old and a very capable person. She is smart, strong, organized and able to take on hard tasks and we know that she will be fine. But my mother's heart still trembles at the fact that she has to fly Cleveland - JFK - Dubai - Entebbe all by herself. We know that this is the correct choice for her and that she is excited about the opportunity......but couldn't she have picked Iowa? They have good schools in Iowa right? It is just a suggestion.

4 comments:

  1. Oh my... exciting, yet scary at the same time. I certainly understand. Prayers go with The Engaged One. What a wonderful life experience it will be! -Tammy

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  2. I can't even imagine letting my daughter use the toilet by herself so this just sent me into a tailspin. But your daughter will be in God's strong, capable hands. He will protect her. Try to rest in that.
    Big hugs for you Debbie,
    Elle

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  3. Wow, Debbie. I'm floored by how you're handling this. But your vast experiences with them have obviously made a huge impact on their lives. I know that you are SO proud. I'll be praying for her safety for the next few days. Keep us posted. This is really interesting.

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  4. Hey all, just an update. We had an email from The Engaged One. She made it safely to Dubai where she was staying overnight in a hotel attached to the terminal. Tuesday she will be completing the journey to Entebbe where representatives from the school will be picking them up at the airport. So far, so good. I may actually sleep tonight!

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