our love story - part 1

If I left it up to George to tell our story, it would be titled "she fell in love with the driver". He loves, loves, LOVES to tell it that way. And in all honesty, I love to hear his fun story of how we fell in love. He speaks with such passion. His voice gets higher and higher at the fun parts and he laughs and laughs when he describes the "independent girl that stepped off the plane" that night. Then he matter-of-factly reminds whomever he's telling that I left a changed woman. Broken without him. And he's right. Of course our stories are told from different viewpoints. He's a speaker, so his would be better told on video. I freeze when trying to share face-to-face with someone, so I'm better with writing. That's why we mesh so well :) So let me try to tell my side.

I had no idea who George William Magera was before I got to Uganda. All I was told was that we were visiting his village. I was told that he was the "leader", so I assumed that to be a leader in a dark place like that, he was an older guy. I hadn't seen any pictures of him, nor had I heard too much more about him other than "we'll be working in his village for a few days". I had gone on a trip with a girl and her parents. She had met George the year before and had promised to return to do a needs assessment on his village. While there, she had met a guy and although I didn’t know it at the time, most of the trip for her was to meet his family.

On the flight from Detroit to Amsterdam, I was soooo excited. I tried to burn up a little energy by watching as many movies as possible during that 8 hour flight. When we got to Amsterdam, I was "movied out". It was like 6am and although it was the beginning of a new day, I was tired. I got on the flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe and all I wanted to do was sleep. I was just going with the flow, so I didn't even try to figure out what time it would be when we arrived, so I didn't know if I should try to stay awake longer or sleep. Something hit me when we got on the flight and it was as if I got my "second wind". Tried to watch another movie but it wasn't happening. Found a cool option on the media system thingy that allows you to create a playlist from some of your favorite songs. I created one with a crazy mixture that included a little of everything. One particular song was Michael Buble's "Haven't Met You Yet". No particular reason, I just liked the beat. I fell asleep eventually but every time I woke up, that song was playing.

When we arrived at the airport in Entebbe, we were exhausted. I remember waiting in line FOREVER to get my visa and then even longer to get luggage. As we made our way through the doors, I greeted her boyfriend, then their friend Grace, and when I made it to George, I honestly didn’t even know who he was. He was young. Like, really young. Remember, I had thought that for him to be a leader, he was much older. When I was introduced to him, I was honestly shocked that it was that same guy. He and I both recall me hugging him much tighter and far longer than I had hugged the rest. To this day I remember that so vividly. We made our way to Grace’s van where we all held hands and prayed. I broke into tears. I was overwhelmed with God all at once. I was there. My feet were on Ugandan soil. The heat. The mosquitoes. The feeling of being RIGHT where He wanted me. It was a lot to take in. And seriously, those Ugandan prayers (they take like 15 mins and are SO heartfelt), well, I was just overcome with emotion. We were letting the guys figure out our luggage situation as we figured out seating arrangements in the van. I didn’t know at the time why I was so concerned with George, but I remember looking for him and not seeing him outside the window. It was very dark, as our flight arrived after 9pm. I asked where he was and was told that our luggage didn’t fit and he had driven separately and was gone a few rows away to get it. Something in me blurted out, “I’ll ride with him.” I jumped out and ran to the driver’s side (they drive on the right-hand side). He laughed and pointed me to the other side.

***What I found out later was that he had intended on coming to the airport to pick us but had spent the day in Kampala and called Dan to tell him that he’d just see us in Mukono. He’d been working with an organization and due to the red tape that they sometimes have or create, he was VERY discouraged and was trying to keep his distance from more white people and their “wanting to change Uganda” stance that almost everyone arrives at the airport with. He’d heard it all before, so he was just tired of it. At the last minute, though, Dan called and said he was stranded with no money and needed George to pick him and take him to the airport because he wasn’t sure the other guy (Grace) was going to show up. George didn’t really care, but God moved him to GO.

So here we are, riding together. Neither one of us knows any more than the other’s names. I’m sitting on the wrong side of the truck, in an unfamiliar land, with someone I don’t know and although it feels weird, I feel safe. When I tell you that there aren’t any street lights, I’m not EVEN exaggerating. It was dark, and all I could see were the faint tail lights of the van in front of us that carried the people I came with. I know now that it was a 2 hr drive, which was made a little shorter by the fact that it was late at night so the traffic wasn’t as bad. As I mentioned earlier, I was strong when I arrived. I had already put myself on the alter and asked God not to let me see anything my heart hadn’t already felt. What I meant by that was to keep me strong while I was there, and not to let my eyes see anything too disturbing that would sidetrack my trip. My heart was already head over heels for this country that I could only see bits and pieces of depending on the lighting along the way. There was never a silent moment in that truck. If you know me, you know that’s virtually impossible but something about this guy made me open up like a book.

We talked about me – How I had just accepted Christ in Jan and God had pointed me to Uganda. How I had already told the guy that gave me the visa that I would be moving here next time. How I had just ended a VERY unhealthy relationship. How I was done with men. Done. Like, I just wanted to go it alone. I felt that was a better choice for me, seeing as I wanted to move to a foreign country, take in vulnerable children and minister to everyone along the way. No man. After all, I didn’t NEED a man. Yeah, we STILL laugh about that one.

We talked about him – How he accepted Christ when he was 12 and wanted so badly to go to a Pastor’s Conference shortly afterwards that he offered to accompany the men on the trip to press their suits and shine their shoes. How during that trip one of the pastors fell sick and HE was asked to preach. How God put the words in his mouth to preach, how the congregation roared and when he finished there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. How badly he wanted to succeed with his work in the village but the support just wasn’t there.

When we reached home (a house we were staying in Mukono at Uganda Christian University), he helped us unpack our things and hung out for a little bit but then went to his house he shared with his brother on their family’s compound. The other guys slept on sofas in the living room. I desperately wanted him to stay so we could talk as long as we wanted, but he left. He, along with a few friends, still remember my status update from that night. I said that I felt I had just met my soul mate. And I didn’t mean that as in a relationship. I meant it in terms of friendship. I went to bed that night thinking about him and his children. I wasn’t sure why he was on my mind so much, but there was definitely a connection.

I started this blog post WEEKS ago. My sister even created a sweet video to put at the end. I was hours and hours into it when I realized this wasn't going to be a quick one. Actually, I had written 8 pages full in a Word document and hadn't even gotten home from my first 3 weeks in Uganda. George was excited to read it, so he kept asking me. When I told him about the 8 pages, he offered to help me "reduce" the story. I tweaked it a little bit, since I tend to be TOO detail-oriented, but I know that some day our children will read this and I want them to read my heart. So "our love story" will be in parts :) Stay tuned for the rest of it...