Dancing

Dancing… everywhere we go, we sing, dance and enjoy fellowship with whomever God puts in our path. The truth always comes out, we love because we ourselves have been loved and love is contagious. We set out this day to love on a few people, take them some rice, some Jesus, and some fellowship. Stopping at jaja Vincent’s house, we walked up and my heart really wanted to see that our last prayers for him had been answered. You see, he had a stroke that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. His wheelchair is in essence a plastic chair on a cart. He is delightful in every way and I could sit with him all day long. We began showing off our Luganda and singing some fun songs for him, and then a miracle occurred. He began to twist and turn to the beat of the music as he sang along. We kept singing hoping for more, like getting up and dancing more, and though this did not happen today, we believe it will. His daughter then explained that he hadn’t danced since he had his stroke five years ago. Glory! So we will keep praying for him. After dancing, singing and laughing at our poor attempts to sing a new language, he looked straight at me for a minute, as if searching my soul, and he said these precious words… “when you smile at me like that, it proves to me that we are all one family, and that you love me.” I held back the tears at such a profound statement, but it made a mark upon my heart. There was so much joy and goodness of God in that little room with the dirt floor on this day. I glanced outside and noticed a woman across the path who had emerged from her house to sit a soak up some of the glory that was present, eyes closed, hands raised and singing with us and I just watched as God touched her in awe. Then before we knew it, a very intoxicated woman stumbled in from out of nowhere seeking a touch from God. She just wanted to be seen and known and loved… so we helped her know that was true, and that we longed for her to know it. Praying for her, we left her basking in love and acceptance. Where His presence is there is life. I don’t want to be anywhere without Him.

We have had so many encounters like this. Wherever we walk, children come and grab our hand and walk with us. They are so undemanding, just full of smiles and gentle laughter. Ugandans are not showy, boisterous or demanding. They are humble and tender in so many ways. I love them so much. We enjoyed time this week with all ages. I love the variety of activity we do. We went to a school to play games all afternoon, but there was a child in a polka dotted shirt who needed my full attention, aka, to soak up some Jesus love. So we sat in silence mostly while the others played. I watched as a sister who was carrying mamas baby on her back tried to join in the games of her peers, and finally gave in to her heart, putting the baby on her top shirt so she could play. The baby sat contetendly on the blanket as if it were perfectly normal. A chicken made a mad dash for the baby but at the last minute darted around it. Baby was unphased. Meanwhile I decided to sing to my silent friend. She liked it, and snuggled even closer.  What a simple act of love. She got love drunk as we say….heavy with his presence and did not want to move. It was glorious. Later I found myself covered in children on the ground as we enjoyed the tales of Peter Rabbit together. There was laughter all around as we read of his exploits. Thankfully these were older kids who knew English fairly well.

These were a few highlights of the week, even though I could write forever. So, I think I am going to keep smiling, singing, dancing and watching in wonder as he does the impossible… but for now, I am going slip into bed and dream of all the wonderful adventures ahead.