mrs. rickard

well, it's been a little over 2 weeks since the wedding so at least i'm not as late on this one as uganda, but i am proud (and completely blessed) to announce that i am now officially mrs. rickard. overall, i am constantly amazed at God's hand in bringing jamie and i together and still blown away from time to time knowing that i am married to such an awesome, godly man and that God truly was working everything out for my good even in the times when i didn't recognize it.

now on to the actual day.....after all the stress and planning, i am happy to say that the wedding day was completely awesome and everything seemed to come together really well. i didn't sleep much the night before (partially due to excitement and partially due to a huge storm) but i woke up to a house full of awesome girls (my bridesmaids) and bagels (thanks to tiff) so that started my morning off right. my first act of the day, besides a shower, was getting my hair done so we'll start there...

first of all, let me say that getting my hair done was completely fun (other than the 83 bobby pins jammed into my head...yes, we counted them that night when we took them out of my hair)....you can probably tell why since this is the picture of my stylist, David and i at the practice run...

and though my hair looked like this for a while:
the finished product turned out great


the rest of the morning basically consisted of running around like crazy trying to get everything (the reception location) and everyone ready. it was during this time that i found out jamie's phone had been confiscated because he was trying to send me a text so i wouldn't be able to communicate with him at all until the actual wedding (kent apparently took the not seeing each other before the wedding thing to a whole new level).... i did however get a wedding gift delivery, which was an awesome SLR digital camera (the Canon Rebel XTi for those you camera people)...don't i have a great husband?

after much waiting around and killing time by practicing the thriller dance, it was time for the big moment....

me walking down the aisle with my dad:

this is apparently jamie's face when he first saw me (thanks ashley for snapping this one!)
pouring the unity sand...
the big kiss.....(and probably the only time you will catch me with a "kissing picture")
and introducing mr. & mrs. jamie rickard...

a few of my favorite moments from the ceremony:

• when i got down the aisle and was just looking at jamie while standing with my dad and he mouthed "i love you".... great memory
• praying with jamie right after communion.
  

after the ceremony and pictures it was on to the fun of the reception....

our cake
it got a little messy....

after the crying during the toasts (mostly thanks to tiffany) it was time for some dancing....

both serious (our first dance)
and fun (thriller)

i think the thriller dance went pretty well but i haven't seen the video yet so who knows?....it was definitely fun though and there was apparently an encore performance at the after party at bent willey's.

after much fun...(including the mom dance below)
it was time for us to leave (or at least fake leave for the camera)

the real depature involved my first time riding in a limo (which was stinkin' awesome)

the best part of the day (besides marrying jamie of course!) was being able to spend it with those we love.....we are so blessed to have an amazing family (both blood and in Christ) and it was awesome to get to share the beginning of this new adventure with them. the people i missed so much on that day were my grandparents, especially my grandma....she wanted me to get married more than anything so i know that she would have been overjoyed to be there, but instead she got to watch it all with our Matchmaker, which is even cooler.

to see more pics from the day click here and enter the password: TheRickards

a pictorial tour of my time in uganda

Just wanted to share a few (of the many) pictures I have from Uganda with some helpful captions ;) At the moment videos aren't uploading on my slow (and "borrowed") internet so those will have to wait I guess.


A couple of the boys getting water from the only source for the entire orphanage -- this tap.

The kids are super excited because Dan & Deb (2 of the other volunteers) bought the remaining mattresses that STAO needed so that each child could have one of their own.

These are the kids at the displacement camp we went to that literally followed Deb & I around the ENTIRE time.

The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE dancing.


This is the kids attempting to teach me how to dance and me finding out I have Mzungu (white girl) rhythm.

This is pretty much what happened every time you tried to take a picture....lots of excitement and hands in the camera :)

Asanat....love this girl...she taught me lots of Lugandan

Me with the other volunteers at the Nile: (R to L) Dan, Zech, me and then Deb in front


Cute! That's all I have to say...

Pastor Nelson and Deb doing laundry the Ugandan way


Hope you guys enjoy now that I'm officially back on the blogging train :)

uganda

As the red dirt stains on my feet begin to fade and I slowly get used to fast-paced life back in the States, I am finally finding time to process my trip and blog about it. The most common request since I have been back is "Tell me about Uganda." I have been so tempted just to answer, "Well, it is a small country in eastern Africa...." because there is no way to capture the experience in just a few sentences. The trip was nothing like I expected. Maybe I should start there. My expectations were high, as you might have guessed from my previous blogging. I wanted to be in love with every moment of the experience, to feel like I was truly connected to my passion and heart and to be absolutely enamored with Africa. Was that how I felt all of the time? No. Some of the time? Yes. In reality, living at an orphanage in Uganda for 2 weeks was a huge adjustment. Not only did I have to get used to my "toilet" being a hole in the ground and my "shower" being a bucket and a cup, I was surrounded by 70 kids almost 24-7 with very little privacy or alone time. Talk about incarnation ministry. I was homesick, I was physically sick, I had both ups and downs, discouragements and absolutely joyous moments, but all in all, God taught me so much and then commissioned me to come back and share it with all of you.

I'm going to be honest, putting the experience into words is going to be tough and I think that is why I have waited so long to do it. All in all, I came away with a sense of how truly blessed I am and how much I take that for granted at times. To see children who eat at most 2 meals a day (sometimes none depending on monetary support) be so joyous and in love with life was truly a wake up call. However, the fact that I am much more blessed monetarily than most, no all, of those people I came in contact with in Uganda was also a huge source of isolation for me. Being a "Mzungu" (white person) was not easy. Though it made me (and the other Westerners that were there to volunteer at the same time as me) very recognizable, it also made us targets not only for begging but also bitterness. While it was difficult to have so many people asking for money that you knew you couldn't help, it was even more difficult to realize the perceptions people had about us just because of the color of our skin. Even those that we grew the closest to told us that they believed that we inherently thought we were better than them and more deserving of blessings in life because of where we were from. It was nice to have a totally honest conversation like that and break down some of the misconceptions but disheartening to know that they existed in the first place.

I don't mean to dwell on the negative, just want to give a transparent picture of what I experienced. So time for some of the highlights of the trip:

• I got to float along in the NILE River and see it's source in Uganda....amazing!
• I got to learn one of my favorite songs ("I Surrender All") in Lugandan (the local language in Mafubira)
• Seeing the amazing reliance on prayer, especially in regards to healthcare, and tangibly seeing those prayers answered....For example, one of the girls at the orphanage, Eron, got VERY sick (with typhoid AND malaria) and had to be taken to the hospital...When the other kids found out, they immediately went to the church at the orphanage and began praying, even though it was probably 9 or 10pm. I don't know exactly how long they prayed because I was at the hospital but they definitely prayed without ceasing and God answered and brought Eron home safely after only a brief hospital stay.
• The AWESOME worship. Church lasted 4 hours each Sunday but it didn't feel like it because we were up dancing and singing and absolutely praising God with all that we had....and loving every minute of it!
• And last, but not least by any means -- the amazing amazing people that I met. From those with a heart to run this ministry, to all the awesome kids, to the volunteers that were there with me, God truly surrounded me with people with His heart and my experience wouldn't have been the same without them.

Lastly, I just wanted to share a few verses that God put on my heart during and upon reflecting on the trip:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
-- This is one of STAO's mission verses and completely embodies their calling and the calling that all of us have in one way or another.

"Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised to those who love Him?" James 2:5
--I was so reminded of this verse every time I went to church and saw the heart of worship of all the people around me. They couldn't have been more rich in faith and I think it is because of their complete reliance on God as provider that sometimes our STUFF gets in the way of.

Sorry this is so long. Think I'll post a whole separate blog with more pics and videos. Otherwise, if there is anything specific you want to know about the trip or the situation in Uganda, please please don't hesitate to ask because I would LOVE to share anything I know or have experienced with you. Grace and peace :)

yep....i'm still alive

just wanted you all to know that i am indeed still in existence, although you wouldn't know it from this blog. been a pretty busy life since i last posted and i think i really haven't written because i have been trying to process all that i want to say about my trip to Uganda, but a brief update on life before i more extensive blog (with pictures and everything -- i promise!):

1. i am now officially mrs. rickard -- got married on August 2 and officially changed my name yesterday .... more to come on that front

2. just got back from our honeymoon in jamaica which was amazing -- loved every minute and couldn't have asked for a more perfect time

3. i start 2nd year of med school monday (what?! where did the summer go??) so prayers are appreciated for that

well those are the big things that have happened and i promise more details about those above and Africa very very soon :)

let the adventure begin

Well guys, I'm leaving for Uganda tomorrow....eek....kinda crazy! Wish I had more time to blog about what all I'm feeling but suffice it to say that I am excited but also very nervous. I would appreciate your prayers and keep checking here because I will either be updating on my journey or definitely when I get back. God bless!

heaven on earth

This morning, I was reading in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles the part about David wanting to build a temple for the ark of God. In this passage, David says "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent." David recognizes the inequity between his dwelling and the dwelling place of God and wants to do something about it. That concept really got me thinking. How many of us are concerned about the inequity between our abundance and blessing and that of the current dwelling place of God, the current temple of the Lord .... His people.

Lately, Jamie and I have also been reading "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it....so much good stuff in there (which I will probably be blogging about sporadically). But this morning, as I was reading "Velvet Elvis," God reiterated the lesson above for me. In the book, Rob Bell is talking about heaven and how it is not a future place, but a reality here and now for those who are believers. Here is an excerpt from what he says:

"Jesus said that as this new reality takes over our hearts and lives and minds and actions, we are crossing over 'from death to life.' He called this new kind of life 'eternal life.' For Jesus, eternal life wasn't a state of being for the future that we would enter into somewhere else; it is a quality of life that starts now....

When we choose God's vision of who we are, we are living as God made us to live. We are living in the flow of how we are going to live forever. This is the life of heaven, here and now. As we live this life, in harmony with God's intentions for us, the life of heaven becomes more and more present in our lives. Heaven comes to earth...

Now if there is a life of heaven and we can choose it, then there's also another way. A way of living out of sync with how God created us to live. The word for this is hell: a way, a place, a realm absent of how God desires things to be. We can bring heaven to earth; we can bring hell to earth...

When people use the word hell, what do they mean? They mean a place, an event, a situation absent of how God desires things to be. Famine, debt, oppression, loneliness, despair, death, slaughter -- they are all hell on earth.

Jesus' desire for his followers is that they live in such a way that they bring heaven to earth.

What's disturbing then is when people talk more about hell after this life than they do about hell here and now. As a Christian, I want to do what I can to resist hell coming to earth. Poverty, injustice, suffering -- they are all hells on earth, and as Christians we oppose them with all our energies. Jesus told us to."

So to follow Christ, to live the life of heaven on earth, to take care of God's current temple, we must be concerned about others, about injustice, about using the resources that God has blessed us with (whether it be gifts, talents, material blessings, prayer) to oppose hell on earth.

I am so thankful for those of you who are already doing this, who are bringing heaven to earth here and now. I have been able to see it so clearly lately in people rallying behind me to help prepare for my trip to Uganda. It has been amazing to see people pour out generously to support me financially, to encourage me spiritually and to meet a need STAO has by getting a laptop for their use. (Seriously, thanks guys....I think I have been offered 5 laptops at this point!) Though I know many of you can't go and would want to, please know that a piece of you will be going with me...through your prayers, your financial support, and your love. Thanks for helping me attempt to bring heaven to earth :)

leaping...

So, I did something scary yesterday (no not skydiving -- a little different type of leap). I booked my ticket for Uganda. This was (and still is!) scary for two reasons: #1 -- it means I am actually going and #2 -- I booked the ticket only having about half as much money as I need to pay for it. It did feel a little bit like I would imagine skydiving does, jumping into the unknown....guess that's why they call it a leap of faith. The thing is, this is something I have to do. Despite my apprehension recently about this trip (mostly due to its proximity to my wedding), I realized that all of my doubts and fears were coming from ME not God. I promised God I would pursue this dream until He closed the door or told me not to -- and He hasn't. So here I am taking a huge leap, knowing that God WILL provide. My part is to pursue God's will to the best of my ability... pretty sure He can handle the rest ;). As Nelson (the pastor in charge of STAO says): "He has a thousand cattles on a thousand hills. He is going to sell one for you."