Going back to 2011; we had just adopted our Ugandan daughter Mirembe Esther Brewer. Life was moving and changing faster than I could change my mind, which felt like the speed of light and hitting like a bolt of lightening. When life gets crazy like that, it all blurs together for me, except for a few things that stand out like lighthouses. One of the things that stood out to me was my very private prayer in those days; prayers for a healthy Ugandan connection.
I was now a Ugandan mama, and loved everything I knew about the people and country there, but I didn’t “know” any people there. We had met some folks in Uganda and fell in love with some really special kids, but the bulk of what we saw and experienced was a lot of need. We knew a few adoptive parents, including my sister’s family; that was connective and helpful. But I was longing for something different, for something more, someone straight from the mother land. I didn’t know exactly what I was longing for; what I was praying for, and hadn’t told a single soul on this earth, but I know now, it was a cry of my heart.
Only God
As only God can do, He heard my heart, my prayer, that sounded a lot like silent groaning. I didn’t have the language let alone the words for what my heart was asking for.
During this time, I was at my regular women’s Bible study at Powell Butte Christian Church on a regular Wednesday morning. My leader and teacher was Bonnie Ward, she was leading that day, with grace and love, like she had hundreds of times before. God was right there in that group of ladies; He did many mighty works through those women, and all they had to do was show up right where they lived.
As we were transitioning from prayer and worship, to our Bible study time, Bonnie Liebl, a different Bonnie, with the same Jesus spirit, came up to speak to me. She said she knew of a Ugandan family staying in a community, within a 30 minute drive of where we lived. Those Bible study ladies had walked with us and prayed us through every step of the adoption process and she thought I might be interested to know about them. Bonnie asked casually and quietly if there was any chance I might want her to find out their information and get us connected. My heart lept; I knew this was an answer to the cry of my heart, my unspoken prayer request. Nothing about my response was casual or quiet, at least not on the inside.
Friendship
It wan’t long after that casual question, that this Ugandan family came over for dinner. We immediately got to know them and loved them like family. The father is Pastor Tucker, mom is Irene, oldest brother TJ, then Destiny is in the middle, and the youngest is Divine; that is also her name.
They came over to visit a few more times. We developed a friendship. We ate together, prayed together, talked and their kids always played with ours as if they had known each other forever. Shortly after those first few meetings they went back to their home country; they went back to Uganda.
We stayed in touch, we remained growing in friendship. Over the years we have stayed with them every time we go to Uganda. If you count the number of trips that each family member has taken and add them up, it comes close to 40 trips our family has made over the last 13 years. They have also traveled this direction and stayed with us, in our home. Our friends have gone with us to Uganda and their friends have come to stay with us this side. We live a world away from one another and at the same time we have done a lot of life together.
Answered Prayers
Just this morning, as I was getting ready to take Divine to the airport, so she can visit her family at home in Uganda, I realized something brand new. I had a new understanding of what my prayer was all those years ago, and how God was still answering it. I was praying for a friend all those years ago. Praying from the heart of a mother, to have another mother, from the same place, that I could call friend. I needed to visit the country that I loved so much and be able to call it home. I didn’t want to be a stranger, or a missionary, or a visitor, I wanted to be family, on earth as it is in heaven. Of course God answered and multiplied the answer, to the prayer that I didn’t even have words for.
We now have Divine, the youngest daughter of Pastor Tucker and Irene staying with us. She has been here for six months straight and will return, after visiting her family and friends back home. She lives with us because that is how intertwined our families have become. There is no crisis or lack or need on anyone’s part. Divine didn’t need more or different parents and we didn’t need another child, but we all desperately need all that God has for us, and he has us doing life together. We need each other in the best and worst way. We need to love one another and encourage one another in the Lord, and this is how he has us doing it.
Door Open
God has opened the door for Divine to live, learn and experience new things, here with us. He has given us the opportunity to open doors we didn’t know were closed. With hearts deepened, open arms, and the door to our home off the hinges, we are here for it. It would be strange if this wasn’t the norm. This is kingdom living and we are learning to live like kings and queens over here. I’m thankful and sorry to say this is as normal as we will get.
I had no idea this is what I was asking for 13 years ago when my heart cried for connection. God knew and went above and beyond time, country and especially my understanding. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know God who holds the future and gave us this life and brings us together in Love however He wants to. What an honor, what a joy!
