Officially Mapengo

He suddenly sprung out of his chair-

"Mummy, my tooth is out"

"Really? how did it happen?"

With the cutest, toothless grin I ever saw he said, "I just kept turning it around and around with my tongue".

So, that's how it happened.
I was just laughing at myself - by the time losing a tooth becomes a thrill then you know parenting is something else.

With all the special days popping up these past weeks - what with the valentines party, his birthday, he got invited for a party this weekend... I couldn't quite make the whole tooth fairy thing work. He is not big on it anyway and since we still have candy around the house, it served well for the occasion. I didn't even try to add the mystic aspect, but we will see, still have 19 or so teeth to lose right? atleast he knows we rejoice with him.

Hello Love

I attended the Hello Love Concert featuring Chris Tomlin and Israel Houghton last night.

Woooooo!!! now that was some really fine stuff in there.

Israel Houghton got us off to a real good start, he pulled out "I am a friend of God", "I am not forgotten","Lord you are good" then sprinkled a few new songs here and there. I was dancing and singing like my life depended on it. But the crowd was not coming up to par, they were just not getting into the groove. Perfect surround sound, great music, musicians all in sync, I could literally feel the vibes under my feet, you know?!

Somewhere along the way Israel figured they probably didn't know him, so - rewind, start again, my name is Israel ...

I couldn't believe it. Here I was working up a sweat and people were still standing?, were we listening to the same music?.

Anyway I decided not to look around, thank God the place was dark so I was able to really get jiggy with it and not have people looking at me like I had gone crazy. My neighbors did give me space though.

But I still don't have an excuse for the crowds reaction.

Second half, Chris Tomlin came on stage and people cheered, whistled, clapped, shouted, I thought "hmmm, they were actually waiting for Chris huh?". When he did his first song "we will sing sing sing" they went back to just standing and a few people at the front had raised hands. That's when I thought "these guys have got to be kidding me", I was almost hitting the roof at this point and screaming my lungs out. The music was awesome, the songs were familiar, the lyrics where up on the screen, what?, people what?

My conclusion?, worship artists should invest in travelling and doing all their concerts in Africa, Uganda in particular. At least back home we know how to express ourselves, dance, dance, dance - ok if you can't dance, jump, I know a lot of people who get away with it.

Again I decided to chill the people and do my thing, forget about my surroundings, concentrate on Him and worship Him, that's what I paid for ain't it?

I loved that Chris would start the songs and let the crowd carry on, it felt like a worship session, that blessed my heart.

We sang, "God of this city", "Indescribable", "How Great is our God", "Let God arise", "Jesus Messiah", "Your grace is enough", "Amazing Grace" and many more

After a while we sat down and Chris shared what he'd been up to and what God had placed on his heart. He talked about travelling the world on the Passion tour and was more than glad that he didn't forget to mention Uganda.

Then he talked about a song he recorded with the Watoto. Yeow!! that's when I begun swelling in my chair. I almost screamed at that point but "diggi" was killing me. He went on to say he'd called Mercy the choir director, and showed a video clip of the kids, at this point I was half the size of the auditorium (at least in my head and heart I was). He talked about having a chat with Louie Giglio, who said he had just come back from a conference at which he met the founders of Watoto - Gary and Marilyn Skinner. Now I was bursting, I wanted to scream, "that's my pastor your talking about".

Chris mentioned a fundraising tour called "One million can do something now" and how they want to come and build sustainable villages for Ugandan refugees and homes for former child soldiers in Gulu, I was thrilled.

It's wonderful to see what God is doing through the Watoto, never dreamed it would get this big, looks like it's getting even bigger and that's awesome for the orphans, the displaced kids of Gulu, for KPC, for Kampala, for Uganda, for Africa, for the world.

Just when I thought I couldn't take any more, Israel and Chris came back on stage to sing their last song, then waved good bye as they went off the stage.

Two seconds later they were back and we had a good 5 minutes jam session before they run off for good.
I heaved a sweet sigh of satisfaction, picked up my bag and headed home.

The Birthday Boy

It was a pretty calm day.
Got up about 6:30am.
The birthday boy woke up to a happy birthday duet by his dad and I.
He was really excited, he said " I have been waiting for this day a long time". Turns out he had done his own decorating in the middle of the night so my balloons added to "his" touch. He had paper strings placed around his bed.

That was about all the peace we had that morning before...

"mummy, where are my power rangers?"

We got him some really nice clothes but I hadn't wrapped them (my bad), then he says "mummy they are supposed to be wrapped", now I'm thinking what have I got myself into? little boy can't settle, is not too thrilled about the clothes ...

I was tempted to start the "in our days" talk, but we had a whole day a head of us, so I told him to have fun at school and that we would be passing by.

Sam and I had planned for him to celebrate the day with his friends at school and Ms. Dee was in on that.

We showed up at 10am. The kids were all excited except the birthday boy. "Mummy, mummy, did you bring the power rangers?" "mummy..."

"Mich relax, you will get your presents at home, you are not allowed to have presents at school because all the other kids will want to take them"

That seemed to settle things for a bit, then it was "mummy, mummy, can I come home with you?" "mummy I want to go home now"

We haven't even shared the cup cakes or sang happy birthday at this point. Meanwhile his friends are eagerly waiting. I'm thinking, this is getting really embarrassing.

We finally get to sing for him, eat some cake and before he could start "mummy, I want to ..." I said "Ok Mich, have a nice day, see you later" I gave him a big hug and we were out the door.

I was a little flustered that he was so jittery, wasn't grateful for what we had done and then wanted toys so he could show off.

Ok, so I take some blame for not teaching Mich to be grateful with what he is given - how ever small the gift, even if it's not what he dreamed.

After musing on this a bit I realise other factors come in to play.

1 - Going to birthday parties where parents out do themselves with all sorts of presents for their kids (young fella begins to think he can have flying monkeys)

2 - Issues with trying to fit in and be cool, you know?!, getting liked by the other kids, (oh why would kids be having pressures so early? he has a whole life of that a head of him).

3 - It's just a crazy era to be growing up in, let alone being right here ( this is when I really miss home)

Whatever happened to the days when just drinking a soda made it all exciting, or getting a dress, a packet of biscuits?

He finally came home and found his presents on his bed. Then he said "This is the best day I have ever had. Mummy you are the best mummy in the whole world. Daddy you are the best daddy in the whole world".

Shortly after that he was looking forward to his 6th birthday and telling us all the things he would like. That is when I lost it and we had a serious talk about being grateful, now he only mentions the things he wants when we are saying the grace.

You get it all

Mich celebrates his 5th birthday tomorrow and it seems like he's in a hurry to hit some targets before he shows all fingers of one hand.

For a while there school was like a horror story but things a looking up now.

Yesterday, straight from school, bag still on his back he said "mummy 't', 't', 'in' - 'tin", I was thrilled, finally he is beginning to understand how words are created.
A week ago he said, mummy, you know what?, "a consonant and a vowel put together make a blend". Yeee! thumbs up Ms. Dee, you are doing a great job.

He told his Dad "reading is easy", but fell back on that one, every time we tried reading together he got really frustrated.

Anyway, lately his favourite bed times stories have been "Elmo's alphabet" and "Eating the alphabet". Noooo!, I kid you not.

Mich loves stories, long stories, stories that go on and on and keep him captivated to the tale until "the end" or "and they lived happily ever after".

There have even been times his head was heavy with sleep and I've thought, phew! no story tonight, then as soon as I lay him down he says "mummy we haven't read a story", (shoot!)

I respond "Mich, you are really tired, we will read it tomorrow" (absolutely wrong move), he will sit up like he was never sleepy in the first place and demand his story.

So, moving from that to "A" is for Apricot, "C" is for Corn? some one pinch me.

Last night I was so eager to watch American Idol, I made sure dinner was ready, we ate and Sam kindly put Mich to bed.
After reading a story, praying and saying goodnight we kept hearing crushing sounds from Mich's room, I brushed it off because he is known to use that to get attention.

When Sam walked into the room a little later, ah!!

The wall was covered with miniature ink prints of Minnie mouse. Aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!!

He had a session with his dad then I sat him down and explained why what he had done was wrong, that decorating the wall with stamps of Minnie mouse wasn't exactly cool. He seemed surprised that we were not pleased, he was just trying to make his room look good. I'm hoping that we shall not be discussing something like this again, at least he seemed to understand that.

Raising a child takes a lot of wisdom, so where as this was so wrong and we can't get it off the wall, it was a first time.

Yep, with parenting you get the whole package, the good, the bad and the ugly.

And now we try to clean up the mess, which I suspect is going to take a long time.

In the village

"There is no night so dark, so black as night in the country"

When I step out of the house without a light, night wraps his arm around me and draws me into his pitch black belly.
At full moon the village is illuminated by her rays, the stars dotted across the sky mirror the majesty of an awesome God.
The magical glow worms darting, on the grass, in the air, on my shoulder – now I see them, now I don’t. Just when I think I have figured out their path they disappear, it's fascinating.

I hear animals conversing in the dark, the owl hooting in the distance, birds tweeting goodnight. Sounds of the chicken, roosters, turkeys and ducks fluffing their feathers as they each look for a cozy nook in the tree.
The drunken man's gibberish soliloquy as he stumbles home after an evening of ajon drinking with friends.

Ah! The sounds of the night.
I drift off to sleep in a world where silence takes centre stage.


5 o’clock in the morning, the roosters across the village dutifully crow – “coco-lio-kokooooo arise and shine, a new day is upon us” and the turkeys clucks “kulukulukulu, true true true, it’s getting bright indeed”
The sheep and goats bleat as the care taker tugs them along to be tethered in the bushes.
The cows raise their voices to say “good mooooorning”.
Ochan makes a clicking sounds with his tongue as he lures the cow to the milking shed. He pats her back to calm her down then he ever so gently but firmly draws milk from her udder into his bucket. Her tail hits his face from time to time as she swipes insects off her back. She enjoys the stroke of his fingers, it soothes her once aching udders.

I tried to milk a cow once but never got more than a few drops into the bucket.

The smell of fresh cow dung whiffs up into the air, as if to remind me that I am in the country.

The villagers get up at the crack of dawn and head straight to their gardens, weeding, digging, planting or harvesting, depending on the time of the year.

Grandma says 6 o’clock is the best time to plough the land, it’s the coolest time of day and the fresh morning dew softens the soil.

8 o’clock grandma is sitting at the entrance of her hut churning milk in her favorite gourd.

I relish the sound that it makes as she shakes it to a rhythm – chachung, chachung, chachung.
Later she emerges from her hut with eritey, a local tray.

She strides through the kraal and the neighborhood looking for fresh dang. When asked to help, Simon and I giggle and scamper away.

See, dang is the glue that holds her tray together, it seals all the holes so her millet grains don't filter through gaping holes.

10 o'clock the villagers and farmers, return carrying their hoes, sticks, sickles and pangas each one peeling away from the crowd as they reach their respective huts, they wave to the rest who have a longer distance to cover.
Time for breakfast, a few leftovers from last nights supper, roasted or boiled cassava, g nuts, sweet potatoes and a cup of milk, black tea, porridge, water, oranges, mangoes.

God of My Days

You awaken my heart
From slumbering
Meet me in mourning
And you speak to my grief
You're the light in my darkness
The delight of my eyes
The hope of the daybreak
When the sun's slow to rise

I trust that every moment's in your hands
You're the God of my days
The King of my nights
Lord of my laughter
Sovereign in sorrow
You're the Prince of my praise
The love of my life
You never leave me
You are faithful
God of my days

You unveil my eyes
Help me to see
The arms of my Father
Encircling me
You're a constant companion
I am never alone
Your love is the banner
That's leading me home

My eyes are on You
My hope is in You
My faith is in You

My eyes are on You
My hope is in You
My faith is in You

By Gateway worship

The Val' party

You know? I found out that valentines day is sweet after all, (quite apart from all the candy), it's a fun day in children's lives.I have decided that it's best enjoyed in pre-k and kindergarten after that things take a different turn.
Mich had a valentines party at his school today, you should have seen his classroom. It was decorated with all sorts of cute things, balloons, flowers, candy, red ribbons, candy, oh and candy :-). Mich said "mummy on valentines day you get so many candies, you can't even eat them all in one day". True, I nodded to that.
All the kids were dressed in red except my main man (too much maalo on our part), thankfully he didn't notice, he was really excited about the day.
Mich got some interesting presents, I thought they were creative, cute and curious.


This one for example was from one of the boys in his class, thankfully there is nothing more to it.

This was another one from a boy. Interesting... they are just pictures right?

Happy Valentines