our love story - part 2

The next day we awoke to news of the bombings. They’d happened shortly after we’d passed through Kampala the night before. The people I was with had left luggage at the airport and were afraid to pass back through Kampala on their way to Entebbe to get it. They hired someone to do it for them so we spent the day exploring the campus. No matter where we went or what we saw that day, my thoughts were with some guy named George. I wondered how his day was going. I wondered when I’d see him again. He was on my mind all day long. After we returned home, he came over. I was excited to see him.

The following days were spent carrying the other people here and there to meet Dan’s family and do whatever they wanted him to do. I was beginning to get frustrated because the trip seemed to be more about the girl I was with and meeting her fiancé’s family than ministering. I was head strong. I had come here to share the love of Christ, not hop from village to village meeting someone else’s parents. I also didn’t come here to hang out with her friends from America. It was just an awkward situation and I was SO worried about wasting my trip. I vented my frustration to George and that’s when I began to see more of his heart. He assured me that my trip would NOT be wasted and that although I was told we were coming for a much different reason, God would use me regardless. He told me that God was just preparing me for something bigger. Every time I got frustrated with what little we were doing for the people of Uganda versus what we were doing for self, I remembered his calming words.

We were supposed to spend a week in George’s village. Of course that changed because she had other things to do, like meet her American friends at the airport. These people had family here and I couldn’t for the life of me understand why we had to give up days in the village for them. Just seemed really selfish to me. I didn’t even want to go to the village. I knew once I did that my life would change. After all, campus life at UCU was far from “third world”. We had running water and power. And a toilet that flushed. I knew I’d leave my heart in a village that not only had no running water, power, or flushing toilets, but that didn’t even have clean drinking water. But I went. And I fell in love. I fell in love with the children. I fell in love with the parents/grandparents. I fell in love with the hopeless faces that I was sure God had brought me there to shine a light for. I fell in love with the environment. I fell in love with the way they live life there. I wasn’t quite in love with George yet, but boy did we have a strong friendship.

The day we left, I broke down. I excused myself into George’s Mom’s bedroom. She sent him in to comfort me. I don’t remember what all he said, but I got really strong, really quickly. I was more determined to not let those people ruin my trip. I didn’t care what all we had to do, as long as he was there with us. That day he let us know that no matter what we needed, he would be there to drive us. He'd taken time away from work, from school, and had even borrowed his brother-in-law's van. Looking back, I see that he just wanted to be there for me.

The next week, everyone went on a safari and I was supposed to work at an orphanage. George took me to Lugazi and we found the orphanage. I was NOT told that these children were in school all day and that there was little for me to do during that time. I was told that I could either sit there and watch TV or find something else to do until the children got home from school. We took one of the volunteers that was already there with us and went to Jinja for the day. When we returned, the children came home from school and started on chores. I got to visit with them for about 30 mins before it was dinner time. I took George to the side and after spending the day with another volunteer and seeing her frustration with having very little to do there, I decided that it wasn’t the best place for me to spend my week. We headed back to Mukono that night. We fixed dinner and watched a movie. Then I got out my iPhone and we listened to one of David Platt’s sermons. I explained to him that David was my home church pastor. We discussed the sermon and then listened to some worship music. I had a lot of songs by Tenth Avenue North, so we mostly listened to those. After the song “Beloved” was over, George kissed me. I was shocked. But I kissed him right back. It was a moment we won’t ever forget and one that we talk about often.

The next day was more like one of those “what were we thinking?” moments. I kept thinking - WHAT IN THE WORLD? This guy lives in another country. What if it's not God's will that I move back here? This is crazy that I'm in some foreign country kissing on a guy that may never be mine. The day was coming to an end, so when we returned to campus, we pulled into the driveway and sat out in the van like we always did, so we could talk privately. So we talked about it. Well, he talked about it and I closed off my ears to it. I just didn’t want to let my heart get involved with someone. Remember, I was DONE with men! Then I heard the words that made my heart race. The old "I have to tell you something." This isn't EXACTLY what you want to hear in a situation like this. You're there face-to-face. At someone's mercy. Some guy you don't really know. You are NOT exactly sure what's gonna follow that sentence. I think there was like a really long pause before I said "OK".

He fumbled around for a minute and then he was like, "Christie, I'm falling in love with you." I'm PRETTY sure my heart stopped. I was frozen for like 15 seconds. Then out of nowhere, I grab the handle on the door, jump out of the van and wind-sprint up to the house. Oh, I soooo wish I this on camera. He said I looked like a lightning bolt. I'm not exactly sure what happened but I did NOT want anything to do with him for the rest of the day! I went into my room and could see outside that he hadn't left yet. I kept wondering if he was going to come inside. A couple minutes later, he left. I felt bad. He was an awesome guy. Again, WHAT IN THE WORLD was I thinking? I couldn't get him off my mind. I wanted to be around him so badly but I didn't want all that "stuff". That pressure. That not wanting to get involved with someone again. So that night I called him. I asked if he was OK. He said he was. I imagined him thinking I was some kinda crazy girl. So I went out on a limb and asked him if he'd like to spend the day with me the next day. The next morning he came over and we never spoke of that little incident again.

I didn’t want to spend the next couple days doing nothing, so I asked if we could go to his village and work on the rain harvesting tank project. So we did. And sometime over the next few days there, I fell in love. But I didn’t tell him. The night before we left the village, he asked me to marry him. I thought he was losing his mind. What kind of guy meets a girl one night, spends time with her, kisses her, tells her he loves her, gets ran away from as if he's on fire, spends more time with her, and then asks her to marry him? We didn’t even know each other that well. Of course I said no. I mean, I was excited but I didn’t know why. And who cares about my excitement…WHAT WAS THIS GUY THINKING???

We were set to leave in just a few short days. I was beginning to fall apart. I was begging God to give me any reason to reschedule my flight. After all, I didn’t have a job. Well, I kinda did. I was caring for my niece. And that was enough reason to go home. I sure didn’t want to though. A couple days before we left, George asked me to go into Kampala with him. I had no idea what we were doing, but I went. On the way, he told me that he wanted to buy me a ring. I was certain he’d lost his mind. I wore myself OUT trying to talk him out of it. He was really hurt. So I went along with it, thinking that if God wanted him to buy me a ring, nothing would stop him. But something did. He went to withdraw money from his bank and his card wasn’t working. I was saved!!! Well, until he asked me to borrow money. SERIOUSLY? What kinda guy asks the girl to borrow money for her ring? Oh, man! We STILL laugh about that one!

He’d already had my card in his wallet from all the times he’d had to withdraw money for the tank project, so I told him he could go ahead and use it again. I was kinda afraid it wouldn’t work because his didn’t. I knew he had money because I’d been to the bank with him already. So I had butterflies as we stood at the ATM at the mall. It worked and the money came right out. So there we go into the mall. I can’t even describe to you what kind of place this was, but rest assured that I’d never step foot in there unless I was with him. My brain was screaming “HE’S GETTING RIPPED OFF” and even before we walked in the door, I begged him to not go in there. But he did. And he came out with a smile. And a little blue box. But I couldn’t open it. Until I said yes.

My time was coming to an end and my heart was breaking. Remember the unhealthy relationship I had just ended when I arrived? Well, I had a layover planned in Detroit (where the guy lived) because before I had left, we had planned to spend the weekend together. What is it about ending a relationship but wanting to still make one more attempt at it? Anyways, after talking to George more in depth about it, he begged me not to meet up with him there. It was a wonder I even remembered the guy’s name, huh? But I did. And I was supposed to meet him in Detroit. Although I shouldn’t have wanted to, I did. So I emailed him 2 nights before my flight left. And he didn’t respond. George told me that he’d prayed the whole time that if we were meant to be, that this guy wouldn’t show up at the airport. I told him that I hated to be the one to break it to him, but since I was from Alabama and this guy lived in Michigan, and we hadn’t seen each other in 9 months, there was NO way he wasn’t going to show up. I’d been with him for 3 years and well, there was just NO way.

He responded to my email. And it was shocking. He told me that something had come up and that he wouldn’t be able to spend the weekend with me. I was crushed but something came over me that night as I paced around the front yard talking to him. I let him know, matter-of-factly, that I had just met and was falling in love with someone. He seemed upset but knew when I left that my life was about to change. He gave me little hesitation and I knew then that it was over. I went back inside to tell George what had happened and he wasn’t at all shocked. He reminded me of his conversation with God. He KNEW that he wouldn’t show up. I was speechless. And I fell more in love with him as he told me about how God had called me there for far more than a 3 week trip. He even told me that he was certain I’d be moving back there. I asked him how he knew. He told me that God shows him things and, although he might have gotten mixed signals about our roles in each other’s lives in the future, that I would definitely be back serving alongside him in his village. He was certain about that much.

Stay tuned for part 3 of our story...