T minus one sleep!!!!!!

I really can’t believe it’s here. One more sleep until I fly to Uganda to see those beautiful babies again. These past two weeks have been amazing, being able to spend time seeing friends and different parts of England, Scotland and Wales has truly been a blessing. It has been exciting, relaxing and also a little bit tiring with the constant countdown going on in my head to finally make it back to the place and the people that changed my life last year.

But before I get there I am excited about these next two days. As I celebrate Canada Day abroad I am reminded of how amazing my country is and more importantly how amazing the people are that make it up. We are a country known for our kindness, gentle hearts and freedom. I pray that as I travel from place to place I am able to leave a little bit of Canada in the hearts of those around me. As our national anthem declares “God keep our land glorious and free.” This is not something that we deserve, as I read in Romans 3:23 “for everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Yet we still have been given this freedom because of the love of God:

“Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).

We are free because God has made us free from the power of sin and death over us. All we have to do is accept Him and we are then able to experience the fullness of this freedom. So as you celebrate Canada Day remember who allowed us to live in this freedom!

I pray that I’m able to spread the love and joy of God to everyone I come in contact with.

I am proud to Canadian and I’m blessed to be a Christian.  

Love you all!

Jaclyn

Good friends and great times!

It’s been a busy couple of days since I’ve landed in England, my feet have defiantly hit the ground running. And I love it! It’s been so nice to spend the past few days with my best friend Brittany and her husband Mark. Brittany and I spent the weekend in Stratford which is the birth place of William Shakespeare. It’s such a beautiful city filled with such a historic atmosphere with the birth house of Shakespeare and various other houses that he spent time in throughout his life around every corner. It was really something else to walk around his house and made me think I wonder if someday people from around the world will visit my house….highly unlikely! Haha. But a girl can dream. These houses that we visited had the most beautiful yards filled with beautiful gardens and walkways to just soak up the afternoon sun (when it decides to show its face).

 

*This is William Shakespeare's birth house and back garden.

Our weekend was very fun and educational but it poured rain for most of it! The sight of two Canadian girls lugging around our suitcases with big yellow ponchos with map in hand must have been a sight!!! But we had a great time!

I’m getting very excited and anxious about my arrival to Uganda, yet feeling a little daunted by the thought of yet another plane ride. I’m not afraid to fly but I’m just not a fan of having a complete stranger in my personal bubble falling asleep on my shoulder. My flight here was very eventful to say the least! I sat beside a lovely older gentleman who didn’t speak any English who tried for the majority of the flight to tell me story after story in a foreign language…I didn’t understand anything he told me but I can now say that I’ve actually spoken to someone on a plane it still counts in my books even though he likely didn’t understand anything I said either! But besides the inevitable flight ahead of me I’m still extremely excited to finally reach Uganda and see the babies once again!

Until then I will continue to look like a drowned rat in this very rainy country but enjoy every bit of time that I’m able to spend with my great friends over here.

I hope you all back home are doing well. Miss you.

Jaclyn