It’s safe to say a lot of people agree with the term, “manic monday” and in most cases I think we all would too, but this Monday.  This morning, everyone woke up at their leisure, with no alarm clock!  Now, that may not seem too exciting, but for this bunch, no alarm clock is something to treasure!  So after we all moseyed our way to the kitchen we enjoyed breakfast on the back porch and a nice time of fellowship with Randi and Steve.

We were headed to downtown DC for a meeting with ONE.org at two but decided to make a few stops to find two more bags for Robert, Phiona and Job to pack all their freebies and gifts for everyone back home in Uganda!  Then it was off to DC traffic and navigate to the meeting.  We found two friends along the way who met us there, Kathleen Riehl and Robert McLellan who came to help us in the meeting.  Immediately upon walking into the building, we felt welcome and at ease.  The gentleman who greeted us at the door came fully supplied with candy, a smile and great directions to the office!  Next we met Kate Coleman, who has been coordinating this meeting and again, you feel a little calmer.  Everyone there came in with a smile, a handshake, a thank you, it was a beautiful office with beautiful people.  Rodney, Robert and Phiona shared about Sports Outreach and their personal stories before opening the floor for a few questions and answers.  Everyone was so inspired again but this amazing story and after everyone had gone and we were behind with the main leaders of the organization, they shared an email a staff member had just sent, he has worked at ONE for 5 years and he said this was the best “brown bag” in five years.  We are very excited to see what will come from this new partnership and how we can both work together to share not only Robert and Phiona’s story but also other women’s story and how we can all continue to empower young girls and women.

Thank you to the entire ONE staff for allowing us the opportunity to come and not only share out story but to share theirs as well with us.

Our next stop was back at Vienna Presbyterian where we  had dinner with the Goodwich family who brought sandwiches and chips and their two boys who love chess!  It was casual and fun.  The boys had the opportunity to play with Phiona before heading home.  Shortly after they left the missions committee came in to have a brief meeting with us and to hear some updates of the programs with Sports Outreach. After that we did a few quick shopping trips to get the final things needed before they travel home on Wednesday and then we all had a relaxing even with the DeWeese family and early to bed!

Tomorrow brings a school visit and a small reception in the evening.