God continues to Rock our World

Here is the post about our Sunday 9/18/11 and I apologize in advance for the length...

I am struggling to share this day and I’m not sure why.  It was probably one of the most profound, “full–circle”, see-the-dots-connecting days my family has ever had.  So, I guess I am fearful to try to put it on paper because I may not do it justice or maybe because if I do I won’t be able to keep my emotions in check.   

While trying to bond with an infant I am extra careful of my mood as that is the only indicator Abigail has on her safety and security.  So tears are only shed in the shower or late at night when everyone is sleeping. 

So I’m thinking I will just give you more facts and hopefully that will help me keep it together...

So we started our day at church!  WOW it was beautiful to worship outdoors in such an amazing setting.  Abigail was very well behaved at church.  It was fun to have a baby to snuggle while singing worship songs.  I’m already looking forward to church next week.

After church we came back to our house, ate a quick sandwich and grabbed the gifts Auntie Sarah and Auntie Night had gotten for us to give to Abigail’s Grandparents.  Peter met us at the house and when Wilson arrived, we all jumped in the van ready to start off on our adventure.  Night wanted to go with us and I was excited for her to go.  I had no idea how grateful I would be later but God did!

I think I have shared that we are more the “stay home and rent a DVD” family than an outdoor adventurous kind of tribe.  So just being in Africa is so outside our norm that we can’t help but vacillate between giddy, anxious and downright in awe that WE are actually here with Abigail doing the things we are doing. 

As we started our journey to Abigail’s birthplace I had my 3 favorite Ugandans (Abi, Peter and Wilson), Mike, Kenzie and Night with me so I was full of excitement.  Mike was very anxious about what the day would be and Kenzie was deep in thought staring out the window as we drove.  Peter kept us laughing which helped with Mike’s nerves.  Peter tells stories and shares parts of his day in the most hilarious way.  He is a jokester and he laughs at his own jokes and stories while he is telling them.  When Peter laughs he laughs with his ENTIRE body!  We are always in stitches before he ever gets to the punch-line so who knows if it would be nearly as funny if Peter didn’t think it was so funny as he told it. 

Well the road to the village was a LONG one and it was not an easy one to travel.  I am so glad Wilson was driving.  He makes us feel so at home and safe.  The further we went it was obvious that we were going into the depths of Uganda.  The poverty, the hunger, the remoteness of it all was something I had never seen or imagined.  The further we traveled from town the more like the pages of National Geographic our views became, the more Mike became distracted from his nerves and the more nervous I got.  Abigail slept in Auntie Night’s arms almost the entire 1.5-hour trip.  The road was SO bumpy that you had to keep her pressed against you for fear she would have shaken baby syndrome if you didn’t.    

When we arrived Stephen (Abigail’s maternal grandfather) welcomed us with open arms!  He led us inside a round mud hut with chairs placed in a circle around a small table.  Once we were all seated we were asked to sign a visitor’s log.  They had each of us print our name our address and our occupation.  As we sat in the hut, the children (and adults) of the village were surrounding it trying to get a glance at the group of us inside…  Auntie Night, Peter, Wilson, Mike, Kenzie Abigail and I were there along with Gideon and Augusto (an elder and the Chief of the village respectively) and Stephen. 

When Stephen’s wife (Abigail’s Jja Jja or grandmother) stepped in the door she immediately “greeted” us in Ugandan tradition by kneeling and holding up her hand.  Auntie Night had warned me that if we did not go to her she would crawl on her knees from person to person until she greeted each visitor properly.  I quickly stood to go greet her.  I wanted to drop to my knees, throw my arms around her neck and try my best to let her know how much we appreciated her caring for Abigail the first few days of her life and for allowing her to live in the clinic all these months and for agreeing to our adoption of Abigail.  I desperately wanted her to know how much we love Abigail and that she is not a curse or an abomination that she is a covenant child of God and He knew that she would be with our family before she was even born.  I restrained myself and took her hand, looked into her deep eyes and said thank you, thank you, thank you!  We then gave her the gifts we brought of soap, sugar, salt, bread and a traditional garment. We also gifted Stephen with a garment. 

They showed us many pictures of Abigail’s mother and aunt and even gave us a negative of one of the photos so we could print a picture.  HOW cool is that???  Only by God's design would we be able to meet Abigail’s family and see them welcome her into their village!  And we could take pictures for her of her birthplace and those that live there.  I still get goose bumps when I think of how blessed we are to have this experience and to have this part of Abi’s story.  One day she will be a teenager and will have questions.  One day she will be an adult and will need to know all of her story.  Thank you God for allowing us this opportunity. 

Oh I forgot to tell y’all about the gifts they gave us.  Let me set the scene for you… Children had crowded the hut so that it was completely dark inside.  We decided to go out of the hut so we could take pictures.  There were 2 openings and a girl from the village grabbed Abigail from me and went out the “back door”.  I followed her and everyone else went out the front door.  Well, Baby Sister is quite attached already and quickly wanted her mama back so as I turned around I went back through the hut to meet up with the group.  As I came out the door of the darkened hut I saw Stephen and he held up a LIVE chicken directly in front of me!  I’m not going to lie and tell you I acted all dignified.  I screamed and grabbed Kenzie’s arm and moved her between me and the chicken.  Once I realized he wanted us to actually TAKE the chicken from him I continued to push Kenzie his direction and said “give it to her, give it to her”. Poor Kenz!  She kept looking at me and then at the grandfather shaking her head no and trying to get away.  Hahaha.  Once again our knight in shining armour, my sweet hubby and the best dad in the world “took one for the team” and graciously accepted the gift.  They also gifted us enough sweet potatoes to feed everyone at the clinic in Masese and the families that live behind our home more than one meal. 

Did they not know that we already had the gift we came for?  Could they not see that we LOVE Abigail more than we can explain?  Were they going to be hungry now as they gave us so much?  I wanted desperately to refuse the gifts but Wilson and Night quickly explained it would be rude to do so and as a guest we had to accept.  I have never been more humbled in all of my life. 

We took many photos.  Some were taken specifically with Abigail’s future in mind and others just because there were so many things we wanted to remember.  The children and adults LOVED having their photos taken and then looking at the view-finder on the camera to see themselves.  This was done repeatedly and brought MUCH laughter! 

As I was taking pictures of a group of children a young women VERY pregnant walked up.  She was holding a small child covered in a blanket.  Well everything was covered except his hand… his swollen, peeling, malnourished hand.

I have looked at before and after pictures and read blog posts enough to know what I was seeing.  I asked the momma if her baby was ok and reached to lift the blanket more so I could see the rest of the child.  I also motioned for Night to come over to where I was.  Again, HOW COOL IS OUR GOD?????  Night was with us.  This was a last minute decision that proved to be extremely helpful.  I was able to call Renee while Night explained the clinic and what they could do to help the baby.  You guys are not going to believe this but we loaded up in the van WITH this momma and her precious boy Akim, drove further down the road so she could speak with her husband, then we took them to the clinic.  The clinic that has taken such good care of our Abigail for her entire life!  This little boy is getting medical treatment and his mom is learning about nutrition and how to care for her son and her unborn child.  Praise the Lord is really all I can say. 

This day was MORE than we could have asked or imagined which is exactly what His love for us is always. 

Love from Uganda

PS: the LIVE chicken rode back with us also!  I don't even want to know what Wilson did to that thing to make it ride silently in the back for the entire bumpy ride.  Auntie Sarah squealed with delight when we told her we were "re-gifting" the chicken.  She told me today that she was going to let me help her kill and prepare it for a special meal this week.... OH GOODIE!