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Natomy
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Name: Natalie
Country: Uganda
Metro: Kampala
Birthday: 1/6/1991
Gender: Female
Interests: laughing, smiling, pictures, hanging out, talking, yelling, the Greatest Love, chick flicks, singing in the shower, walking my dog, rock-n- roll, waterfalls, Mexican, Calvary, basketball, winning, pranking, chocolate, guys, television, love, writing, walking in the rain, jogging, cooking, orphans, siblings, listening, learning, super-natural experiences, thunderstorms, sounds of the ocean, birds singing, children laughing, couples dancing, God, mood rings, cell phones, text messaging, church, ice skating, swinging, journaling, Jesus, scrapbooks, photo albums, fried chicken, memories, shoes, emails, letters, dreaming, praying, football, solving problems, "chap stick, chapped lips, things like chemistry", Relient K, reading, trying new things, rap, Chinese food, 4-wheeling, paintball guns, Hokies, MUSIC!, movies, cable, puppies, and lots of other stuff... :)
Expertise: Sharing Christ's love with any and all who will listen.
"And He said to them, 'Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.'"
Mark 16:15
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  WeWereLikexWOAHx
Yahoo:  natomy2004
Jabber: yes...a lot :)
Member Since:
9/28/2005
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| Leila, you constantly inspire me to write. Every time I think Xanga has finally gone down the tubes, you write a blog. :)
So what to say! It could be any of the random things going on in my life right now...Chemistry coming up, my new painted and rearranged room, a hopeful trip to America in October, my family that is driving me crazy, or the new friends I've made this summer.... There's a lot, and college time is creeping up on me. I want to make my time here last, but I want to get my school work done faster. I'm contradicting myself a lot lately with this predicament, and I'm stressed about it. I can only pray that time passes slower and slower.
I'm also reading an amazing book called Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. I love what she says in there about struggling...kind of like what I'm doing right now with being pulled between my home...and where I know I'm going.
"My little niece Gallaudet Howard taught me something
important when she was almost 3 years old. Seeing that she was having
difficulty with the sleeves, I asked her if I could help her put her dress on.
‘Oh, never mind,’ she said, ‘Papa usually lets me struggle.’ What kind of a
father is that? Her father…is also a very sensitive one, aware of the
importance of struggle in the process of growth. I found…1 Peter 5:10 could be
translated, ‘After you have suffered a while, He himself will mend that which was
broken.’ If all struggles and sufferings were eliminated, the spirit would no
more reach maturity than would the child. The Heavenly Father wants to see us
grow up.”
Ahh...that hit the spot for sure! How bout this one...
“When the will of God crosses the will of man, somebody has to die. –
Addison Leitch ...Life requires countless 'little deaths'- occasions when we are given the
chance to say no to self and yes to God. The Apostle Paul said, ‘For
continually, while still alive, we are being surrendered into the hands of
death, for Jesus’ sake…’ It is not that everything that has anything to do with
ourselves is wicked and deserving of death. It did not mean that when Jesus
said, ‘Not my will…’ There could not have been even the smallest part of His
will that was wicked. It was a choice to lay down everything- the good He had
done and the good He might do if permitted to live- for the love of God. The
same choice is offered to us.”
Dying to self...can't even count how many times I've heard that or even said it. But it's still true.
I’ve been reading this book, and I’ve been thinking too
much. I keep thinking about my life, and where I’ve just come from. God doesn’t
just bring us through the valleys to we can say “Thanks God! You brought me
through it!” He gives them to us so that we can learn, and so that we can grow.
It’s like the struggle...without struggle, there is no
growth, and without growth, I’ll be stuck in the same place forever. I feel
like I’ve been struggling for so long, and running away from who God wanted me
to be...
and now is my time to grow.
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| Hey everybody! I know it's been forever since I sent out an update....but I am stateside now for anyone who didn't know and I've enjoyed myself thoroughly. Now take me home before I freeze to death!! :) Just wanted to remind myself how selfish I am so I wrote the below email this morning and thought I would share it with you. I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving Day! I thought to myself today that I have so many things to be thankful for. My salvation, my family, my friends, my church.... they're all givens. But what about things that seem insignificant to me that I forget to thank God for? Like the privelege to live in a country... well more like 2 countries... where I have the freedom and right to love God and to serve Him wherever and whenever. For a mom and a dad and brother who serve along side of me in Uganda and have the same call on their life as I do. For the internet I'm using right now. For the wonderful food I gorged myself on yesterday and still have enough left overs that I could feed 10 Ugandan families with. For friends who are so amazing that I have been able to just pick up where we left off. For the bed I slept in last night...the cell phone I've been talking on all morning. And especially for the "ghetto van" that I'm most of the time ashamed to ride in. (I love you Dad) For the 30 pairs of shoes in my closet. The borrowed pajamas I'm wearing. What about the very breath in my lungs right now? The beat of my heart and the fact that God put it there and that He brought the sun up just for me this morning. I live in a time and in a place where just about anything I need is available to me. I'm never starving or helpless or unclothed. God has broken my heart this morning over how blessed I am and how much STUFF I have. I am extremely blessed...and God is even more awesome than He was yesterday. I thank God for each and every one of you. You're more of a blessing than you know. Happy Day After Ya'll! Rockin America, (this time around anyways) Natalie | | |
| This month is going by quickly. Maybe even too quickly. Life just seems to fly by me in a blur, and I feel like some days, I am missing it. Is there a way to stop that from happening? I hope so! I've figured out that when I slow down and think about God and how much He has blessed me with, the time doesn't go by as fast. Amazing. June usually holds many festivities for us here in Uganda. Volunteers upon volunteers upon even more volunteers are making their way across the seas to Uganda for summer break. Some come for ministry, others for their own purposes, but whatever the reason, now is the time. Now seems the time to make the difference, and people are drawn to my town. It's a quaint little town Jinja is, and people like it for the rafting, bunjee jumping, 4-wheeling, and over all peacefulness. I love my town. I can say it's by far the best one I've ever lived in. The people here rock, and even when things seem bad, or the poverty and corruptness get to me, I have to just remind myself that it's not about Natalie. It's about God's plan for me here, and that nothing goes unnoticed in His eyes. He sees my suffering, He sees what I need and what I want, and all though sometimes I convince myself that He's forogtten all about me, He ends up being my hero in the end. Speaking of heroes, I'm watching a TV series on DVD called Heroes. It's about people who have special abilities and can do extraordinary things. There's this one guy who doesn't really have a power of his own, but when he's really close to other people who have powers, he can absorb their powers and do what they do. I would loooove to be like that. I would love to just be so close to God and absorb everything that He wants for me into my life and un turn be able to use it to help other people. And not really just myself being like that, but other people wanting to be that way around me. Wanting to be like me BECAUSE I am being like Christ. Not because I want little mini-me's running around everywhere, but because they see such an example in my life, that they want to be that way too. Might sound crazy, but in all reality, I can't expect God to use me when I'm still full of ME!! I have to empty it all out, and let Him fill me up again. That's much easier said than done though, so pray for me. Gotta give some shoutz to my lovelies. Leila my dear, I miss you a lot. Please come back soon. :) :) Lyd, you rock girl. You constantly make me laugh and smile. Thank you. Natalie, take care of Leila, and stay outta trouble. :) Miss ya. I love you guys :D Also, June is Esther's "BIRTHDAY MONTH" where she celebrates her birthday in small ways all month til her actual birthday. One of those small but not so small ways was that we took her out to dinner at Gately on the Nile. One of the nicest restaraunts in my town, and we got all dressed up for the occassion. Just thought you guys might like to see our pictures. Enjoy! Hugs and prayers to ya all. Natalie 
Michelle, Me, and Esther 
Left to right: Front row- Michelle, Esther, Me, Emma Back Row- Jonah and Jarod I think we're a lovely bunch :) 
Me and the cute little birthday girl. | | |
| Just still in awe of God's amazing love. I'm so reminded of that song Beautiful One... Wonderful so wonderful is Your unfailing love Your cross has spoken mercy over me. The beauty of Your Majesty awakes my heart to sing... How glorious, how wonderful You are! God's love is amazing. I just can't stop thanking Him. | | |
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