Brightly Wound Treasures: Little Feet

Just a couple days after arriving at my new home, it was hard to ignore the many neighbor children standing outside my gate greeting me with smiling faces and shouting auntie! auntie! every time I arrive home. They have given me the most sweetest welcome to the neighborhood. Every morning I wake up to the little feet scurrying around under my gate and the tiny voices outside giggling asking if they "can enter" and come play. It has been a joy to have them around. We have already had so many sweet moments together reading on my porch and playing games.

Several nights ago we made a tent with my mosquito net in my empty living room, watching veggie tales and eating popcorn. My cute little neighbors have made sure that I will not be lonely here. As I am slowly trying to remember everyones name (even the hard ones to pronounce), there are a few children who live very close by and I see them everyday. I'm slowly learning more and more about each of them and the things that make them individually special. Each one has brought so much happiness to this already wonderful home that God has provided. I don't mind their tiny muddy foot prints on my kitchen floor, I don't mind putting on bandaids when they stub their toes, I don't mind carrying them home after dark when they fall asleep and I love that they are my neighbors.

Very soon after moving in it was necessary to set up my water filter for easy access to clean drinking water. The kids gathered around as I began putting it together.

And were so excited to be the first ones to test out my new water filter system

Thanks Dots!!

As the weeks pass by. Our house is slowly coming together and the neighbor children are such a sweet edition. For a muzungu (white person) I do a lot of walking. We don't have a car and I avoid taking boda boda's (motorcycle taxi) as much as possible. I'm often carrying bags of groceries from the store to the top of the dusty road all the way back home. When I reach close to home, my little friends never fail to come and meet me and insist on helping me with my bags.

Each one of these little ones come from different backgrounds and it has been a delight building new relationships with them and their families.

Along with the little feet outside our gate..
Also came little paws..

The second night after moving in we came home late to find a scraggly little cat running under our gate. He was skin and bone, (literally) because he was missing a lot of fur, his wiskers were burnt and cracked and he looked to be blind in one eye.

We have since named our new kitty "Zero"

He eats well and has been quickly growing, finally his fur is starting to come back. The gentleman who came by to vaccinate our pets, told us that Zero is blind in one eye, but that didn't stop us from praying healing over Zero's eye. Which is now almost completely cleared. Zero has beautiful bright green eyes.

One evening..

About a week after Zero arrived the kids came rushing through my gate dropping something small and yellow on my doorstep and running away.

I was wondering why they did not bring me the ugandan traditional Chicken as a gift..

but instead another kitten...

(Polly)

We have since told them, please, no more cats.

But egg-layin' chickens are always welcome!

Along with the little paws..

Also came some bigger ones..

JANGO

Jango, is a great dane but a gentle giant and does great with the kids.

The kids love picking flowers from my tree to stick in his collar.

The children LOVE our animals and have so much fun together.

Great Danes in Uganda are considered an "imported breed" and rare to find. It was a blessing how Jango came home to us and we feel so fortunate to have him here!