for the love of all that's GOOD in this world.

i complain....

a lot....

i complain about how annoying my children are....

how Taylor doesn't like to take baths....

or how Lewie goes through diapers like a mad man....

i complain that it's sooooo hot outside and that it took over an hour to drop 5 degrees in the house running the A/C with everything closed up and dark....

i complain because even i get caught up in the midst of taking everything i have for granted....

i'll tell you, that a few years ago (well probably about 4 now), i began looking into going to Uganda.

I really REALLLLLLY wanted to go here....

with our church.

i wanted to find sponsors so that I could fly to Africa and help the people there....

now, i didn't know WHAT exactly I'd do there,

or what they would have me do.

i didn't know what i'd see,

what i'd be subject to....

i didn't care....

i wanted to go....

however, i was a mother now.... a single mother at the time....

and how could i just up and go for 11 days?

it didn't happen....

years later, i am still a mother....

of 2 now.

with a husband that i have never stayed a night apart from....

how difficult that would be for me....

but you know what is even more difficult??

THIS (<-- go ahead and click that link) is even more difficult than me being away from my family for 11 days....

please go check out that album.

one of my beautiful friends, Joy, journeyed to Africa....

she is a mother,

yet she made her way all the way to Africa to do whatever she could do in her time there....

i cried going through that entire photo album....

we think OUR life is hard here?

we think OUR jobs "suck?"

we complain about our water not being hot enough....

or not getting nice enough clothing....

what if you had NONE?!

what if you walked around with a bare bum, and bathed in a dirty lake??

what if you didn't have a job?

or money?

or running water?

or food?

or a mom or dad to raise you?

what if you were raised by your 10 year old brother because both of your parents died of AIDS? That's extremely common there, you know....

i would do ANYTHING to give them a better life....

i don't feel like I can make a big enough difference, but how wonderful it would be if I could just hold those little babies and rock them for a while....

The world needs more people like Joy (and Jill)....

sneak a peek at those pictures.... i don't think you'll be, at all, disappointed....