The Great Commission

I’m the man on the street holding a sign,

I know what it says but look in my eyes,

I need more than money.

I am the single mother of three,

I know how it looks but please don’t condemn me,

I need you to reach me.

Will you pray for me, will you speak to me, be moved by compassion for me.

Help me I’m falling, does anybody hear me calling out,

I’m calling out for help,

I’m in too deep to save myself alright,

Save myself oh I need someone to help me.

I’m the lawyer you met in the coffee shop,

I know I seem fine but really I’m not,

My life is crashing.

I’m the city you drive through on your way to work,

Can’t you hear my streets crying full of pain and hurt,

Send me a preacher.

Will you reach to me, please preach to me, there’s not much time!

Help me I’m falling, does anybody hear me calling out,

I’m calling out for help,

I’m in too deep to save myself alright,

Save myself oh I need someone to help me.

Will you pray for me, intercede for me,

Reach down to me, be God’s hand for me,

Preach it straight to me, show God’s word to me,

Fight hell for me, save my sinning streets,

We need a hero!

Help me I’m falling, does anybody hear me calling out,

I’m calling out for help,

I’m in too deep to save myself alright,

Save myself oh I need someone to help me,

Someone to pray for me, someone to reach for me.

Help me I’m falling, does anybody hear me calling out,

I’m calling out for help.

Hearing this song tore at my heart so much I wept! I wept for how much we pass broken hearts on the street and not reach out for them. At how people need someone to reach out to them but we’re too busy going for Bible study, church conference, or even Sunday service to notice. We’re too busy caught up in our own world we’ve forgotten The Great Commission to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, . . . “! God commissioned us to go to the nations but we are focused on our small lives and trying to get to heaven. The only way God will receive us and say, ‘well done thou good and faithful servant,’ is when we win souls. Did he not say, ‘for I was hungry and you gave me meat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came unto me.’ Have we forgotten what is really important? That the salvation of souls is more important than any programme our church might have? James 3:15 – 16: If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit?

Let’s take a second look at our purpose and our focus. Will we walk by the ones that need Christ the most? Will we condemn those we think are sinners and stick our noses up? Lord help us fulfil our commission!

The Invention of Lying

I watched this movie recently. It’s called ‘The Invention of Lying’. Basically, this guy lives in a world where everyone is extremely honest, they only speak the truth regardless. And then he tells one lie and well, he starts to lie easier. So he invents a story about the afterlife at his mother’s deathbed and well, the lie escalates because the doctors hear him and believe him. What irked me however was when he decides to invent more lies to pile up on the lie and he created a ‘Man In The Sky’ who controls everything and he needs us to be good so that we can go to these mansions in heaven and all of that. He in fact comes up with 10 rules pasted to pizza boxes kinda like Moses and the Ten Commandments. Now the thing that was really disturbing was the fact that this was the only guy in the world who could lie. Everyone else was truthful but he brought this lie about a Man in the Sky and rules on how to live right including mansions when you die.

There is something about truth that cannot be corrupted. Truth stands on its own. No matter how much people try to pervert it and make it out to be fairytale, the truth remains. I just hope that people watching this movie will not be lost. That they will not use it as an excuse not to live right. Oh how people are lost! I know I should be mad but instead I was sad. I was so burdened for the lost souls out there that are doing whatever they can to find ‘truth’ only to find lies. I’d better get to work telling people the Truth and it’s up to them whether to believe it or think it’s all fairytales.

Culture Shock

The other day I was in a taxi on my way to work and there was this Asian (by Asian I mean East Asia, not India) couple at the front. You know, the seat where the conductor sits. I had only been in for a couple of minutes when the taxi driver stopped and picked up a lady and her baby. Now this lady was a real African lady in size. She squeezed in next to the Asian couple and they were practically sitting on top of each other. Not only that, she entered the taxi with lots of migugu and a bunch of 5 litre budomola tied together with a piece of string. So she sits and places her luggage on the kameeme, she sits her baby on her lap and carries the jerrycans too. Now these Chinese looking folk get comfy all squeezed up to the side of the taxi and we move on. About 5 minutes into our journey the baby starts to whine. Well, she wasn’t exactly a baby in the real sense of the word, about 2 years old I could say. And as she whines, her mother reaches into her dress and pulls out a breast to give her! My eyes popped!

Now you must understand, this lady was a Muslim lady. Fully wrapped up from head to toe with barely her ankles and knuckles showing. I was more surprised that she could just show her breast so freely when she’s been brought up to cover herself up than anything! See, having grown up in this lovely country, such things don’t surprise me at all. Mothers nurse anywhere, anytime and it’s ok. There is no indignity in feeding your child when they’re hungry. But for a Hajati to plonk her entire breast out of her dress like that kind of jarred me. Then I noticed the Asian couple right next to her sneaking looks and giggling. The lady laughed so much she was covering her mouth and almost smothered herself. The funny thing is that the baby kept playing around. She’d suckle a little bit and then start playing with something else. And the mother kept saying, ‘baby, beere,‘ so that she could remember to suckle. And everytime the baby moved to play the breast would be hanging out for the whole world to see. Even the conductor was a bit uncomfortable and kept his head out the window.

If I was a stranger in a foreign country I’d definitely tell this story to my friends when I went back home. It must have been shocking for them. But I believe they thought it’s ok for everyone to do this in Uganda so it didn’t really bother them. But it bothered me. Like I said, the whole hajati look and then exposing your privates is what bothered me. It wouldn’t have taken much to cover it a bit with her veil as the baby suckled so that when the baby moves, the veil drapes the breast hence retaining her dignity. Or maybe breasts aren’t really ‘privates’ in our culture. I mean, the breast was given to us to feed our young right? So it’s not really something that can turn on men since they see them everywhere being suckled on by babies. Hm, I’m in a bind here.

We were born on the same day

I stood for a long time at the teller’s in the bank yesterday. Usually it’s the queue that’s long and once you get to the counter, you’re done. But I got to the counter and it took me almost thirty minutes to get my business done. I had to fill in a form with a bit of personal information like my date of birth and whatnot. So the teller takes his time entering this information in the computer and then he looks up and asks me, ‘What’s your date of birth?’ I look at him bewildered and say, ‘It’s on the form, right in front of you’. He looks down and says, ‘Oooooh. Ok.’

Tap, tap, tap into the computer. ‘Eh eh, we were born on the same day.’ I look up. ‘What?’ ‘We share a birthday,’ he says. ‘Really? Same year too?’ ’Yes. So we’re triplets’. Looking around I didn’t see anyone else but us two so I was wondering whether triplets meant he was a twin or something. Anyway, I started tapping my fingers on the counter cuz I was impatient with this guy who wasn’t finishing with my transaction. I was sending money to my brother using moneygram. Then he got to my brother’s information.

‘Excuse me. Is this his first name?’ I look at him crazy because I had filled that information in the part that says First Name but I patiently reply, ‘yes’. ‘Is it an English name?’ ‘No it’s not.’ ‘Eh, how can his first name not be an English name? I’m also going to give my son this name.’ At that point I was really irritated and started filling in another form since I was going to do another transaction anyway so he could see that I was busy and he also gets busy like he’s supposed to. I like getting business done as soon as possible so that I can get on with my day but this guy was quite chatty and it was irritating the people in the queue.

Someone was telling me about the service industry in Uganda being really crappy because we don’t have a tipping culture. Because our waiters and barmen receive salaries and don’t rely on tips, they’re not obliged to be nice to us. They can be rude, give bad service, take their time, and we have to stand for it because we don’t really tip anyway. But what about bank tellers? They wouldn’t get tipped anyway but some of them seem to be learning on the job. I think banks should hire people with a minimum typing speed of 50wpm. Because if you type fast enough then the queues won’t be so long. People would be at the counter for maximum 5mins! After spending so long at the counter of this bank I did not want to ever be slow in any sort of work I do. It can be annoying!

New Beginnings

There’s something about the new year that brings a resolve in us to be better. We resolve to do better by our bodies (in my case my vegetarianism lasted until dinner on the 1st of January), to do better by our families (I didn’t even call my dad to wish him a happy new year cuz I thought he was too busy), to do better by God (I didn’t pray more than I did the year before, in fact it’s only getting better in my prayer the older the year gets), and to do better in our lives in general (I’m still looking for a better job but then again the year’s still young). But as the days go on we realise that maybe we don’t really want to change that much. Afterall, I’m not overweight so I can still enjoy my steak right? Exercise? What for? My health’s great! I had a good 2009. Let’s review the end of it:

I met Maurice Kirya. Yes Cheri, I be there hanging with your man. So it was only for an interview but I was so psyched I was doing cartwheels inside. On the outside I was as cool as a cucumber! I hope. The best part about it? I got his Misubbaawa album free and autographed. If you haven’t yet heard the beautiful melodies go purchase it immediately! During the interview he mentioned how he’d read about himself on my blog. I was awed! Who reads this old cobwebby thing? Superstars that’s who! [Can y'all totally tell I'm grinning so hard my cheeks hurt?]

My friend got married. Well, almost. They did the traditional thing. But before that she had a very beautiful baby. And I know she is ecstatic about that. I am happy for her and wish her and her fiance all the best in their marital home. While at her gusaba however I met a young man that proclaimed his love for me. Honest! He said he fell in love with me on my blog. I was both flattered and bewildered. What do I write (when I do write rarely) that warrants random men falling in love with me? He opened a couple of posts on his phone that made my heart melt too and I developed a kind of respect for him. He’s a cool guy. Thank you to all my fans (yes you Mr. Anonymous) out there in the past, the new year has a lot more where those love inducing posts came from!

By the time the year had ended, the Lord had tested my faith to the maximum. The 30th of December was in fact the hardest. But I suspect I passed the test and I still praise Him. No matter what, in all my circumstances, I still praise Him. He still deserves to be blessed. There were many additions to the clan as a whole. We welcomed three babies (that I know of seeing as my family is large) and three in-laws. God seems to bless in threes. The beginning of the year was a bit rocky for my family but we pulled through and by the time it had ended we were rejoicing more than mourning. There’s a preacher that says that God is not there to make us happy, that as much as there is good there is also bad. So despite all the bad, the good triumphed.

My personal life is still in limbo. I am still getting to a point where I am tired of living for me and want to live for God with my entire being. Every breath I take, every step I take, everything I do should please God. I am tired of me and what I want because it’s gotten me nowhere. So this is the year of new beginnings. Beginning to give God everything! All my thoughts, and dreams, and wishes, and plans and just let Him take care of it. Even if I started the year determining to be a better person, I know that only God can make that happen. I still haven’t jogged one day in this new year and it was one of my resolutions! No matter what I resolve, I give it all to Him to fulfill.

All I Want For Christmas . . .

. . . is more of you Lord. For You to stir up the gift of God that is in me. That you give me a child-like faith. Dorky and child-like, kinda like this:

Ink Summer Vac

I’ll transcribe here for those who can’t read her handwriting.

My Summer Vacation!

My summer went way better than I planned because of 2 special reasons!

Reason #1: On Monday 13th, I got the Holy Ghost! Reason #2: On Sunday 16th, I was babtised. What I really planned to do wasn’t as exciting as getting babtised. I Had planned a lot of reading and swimming and writting to my new penpal. I was so busy that I only read 30 books and I visited the library 3 times. I went to the pool more times than I can remember and my penpal and I exchanged only 2 letters. Camp was the best thing I did and I’d really like to go back next summer!

My Birthday Plans!

For my 11th birthday, I was planning on a trip to “Chuckie Cheese” with Linda, Akaliza, Vera, and of course Paula and Junior and Kuchi and Susan and Mommy! As a gift I would like an alarm clock to help me wake up on time and a sticker maker! That was mainly planing to do!

Please open the original document because there are pretty cool drawings of her birthday plans.

This Christmas I want to go back to a realisation of what is important. It is not how many books we read, or how many times we go to the swimming pool, or how many people we poke on facebook, but rather the unexpected blessings we receive when we are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes we miss out on blessings because we were too tired to make it to church camp, or we decided it’s not worth it waking up early to go to church. This one Sunday at church people received the Holy Ghost and I was sad for those that didn’t come and yet were always praying to receive from God. All I want for Christmas is to place myself under His supervision. To receive a new revelation of Him and to set my priorities straight.

My sister commented on how dorky she was when I showed her this. What 10-year-old asks for an alarm clock?! At 10 all I wanted for my birthday was a party at Nile Hotel with bouncing castles and cake. Ok, I also wanted a new bicycle since mine was getting old and too small but still, an alarm clock?! So this Christmas I want to get an unexpected blessing from God by placing myself in the right place at the right time.

My other sister's birthday party

I wasn’t there for her Chuckie Cheese birthday party but I was there for my other sister’s at oba All That! I forget what this place is called. I reckon it was that same year though. Oh the innocence of childhood! How I want to go back to a world where we have no worries and our plans are simple enough for God. Lord may I have a child-like faith!

P.S. Y’all need to get babtised if you haven’t. Heh. The spelling errors of a 10-year-old are cute, not like a creepy adult’s.

When Did You Fall In Love . . .

Chris Rice – When Did You Fall
From the album Amusing

You’re all smiles and silly conversation
As if this sunny day came just for you
You twist your hair, you smile and you turn your eyes away
C’mon, tell me what’s right with you
Now it dawns on me probably everybody’s talkin’
And there’s something here I’m supposed to realize
‘Cause your secret’s out, and the universe laughs at it’s joke on me
I just caught it in your eyes, it’s a beautiful surprise

Chorus:
When did you fall in love with me?
Was it out of the blue
‘Cause I swear I never knew it
When did you let your heart run free?
Have you been waiting long?
When did you fall in love with me?
When did you fall in love?

Make your way over here, sit down by this fool, and let’s rewind
C’mon, let’s go back and replay all our scenes
You can point out the hints, the clues, the twists and the smiles this time
All the ones that slipped by me
I bet my face is red, and you can hear my heart poundin’
Well I guess it don’t matter now that I realize
‘Cause baby I missed it then, but I can surely see you now
Right there before my eyes
You’re my beautiful surprise

Chorus:

Was it at the coffee shop
Or that morning at the bus stop
When you almost slipped, and I caught your hand
Or the time we built the snowman
The day at the beach, sandy and warm
Or the night with the scary thunderstorm
I never saw the signs
Now we’ve got to make up for lost time
And I can tell now by the way that you’re looking at me
I’d better finish this song so my lips will be free

Have you been waiting long, when did you fall in love
I kept you waiting so long, when did you fall
Have you been waiting long
When did you fall in love with me
When did you fall in love?

I don’t remember when I fell in love but I remember when I decided to tell him. It was after he told me he didn’t care what baggage I came with and that he still cared for me. When did you fall? Does anyone remember an exact moment?

I’m a nice person

I really am. Many people think so. But being a nice person does not mean I lay down like a rug so everyone can rub their dirt all over me. Tindikurek’abantu kundibatirira aha mutwe. Hilarious story coming up.

I put up a picture of my sister as my facebook profile picture. She is very beautiful. This is her picture.

The Profile Pic

So of course random creepy guys will ask to be friends with me on facebook thinking I am the girl in the picture. And I enjoyed the attention for a bit until it just got irritating. I think it would have been nice if someone decent had asked to be my friend. But this is what I get:

Subject: gretin’z.

hey carlo morni’n hw iz ur lyfe ? try en u get 2 know me. nyce tyme

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to get to know this person. I mean, why? What benefit will it be to me or him for me to be friends with him online? I will instead just burst a capillary if he tries to chat with me and this is how he spells. So I told him so in fewer words:

The fact that you can’t spell makes me not want to know you at all. Have a lovely day.

He did not give up on this beautiful girl who seems haughty so this was his reply:

come on carlo, stop being rude gal. u never no remember a friend iz a gift 4rom G’d .nicy day gal.

If I was not a nice person, I would have ignored him totally. But I had to explain myself. I had to tell him why he was wasting his time. See, I’m nice. I talk to people. I explain to them why they are of no interest to me whatsoever.

Unfortunately I can’t be friends with someone who can’t spell. It says something about your character if you’re too lazy to write words in full. It also shows me that you probably received minimum education hence we have nothing in common. The fact that you’re insistent on friendship with me shows me that you’re either lonely or idle enough to pursue internet friendships. It says something about your work ethic and social conduct. So by the time I say no to you, I have my reasons. Please respect that and move on.

Am I not nice? You know, laying down reasons for him and all that. Also, I thought it would be funny to antagonise him a bit. Hey, can’t I have my fun, it’s my facebook page! I will write what I want and I will burn as many bridges as I want. Of course this really got to him and he replied spewing venom:

hey gal u wrote alot of stuff on me thanks . likewise u never no i waz wrong 2 write 2 a person like u coz ur beautiful face now haz melted 2 nothing . what a fackin heart u have ! keep on advertising ur self u may get da one u need en also educated as u coz ur of a high class .{keep on showing who u a hv a nice fackin time gal}

I’m still trying to figure out what a ‘facking time’ is but I will not stop. I will be persistent and have it. You guys might look at me and think I am mean and cold hearted but I was laughing so hard at how funny this all was. I can be a bit anal about things and one of them is dirt but the second is language related. Grammar, spelling, sentence construction. I get irritated when I see notices in small shops saying, tutunda amaazi. Seriously?! Try reading that out loud. I did not learn Luganda in school but even I know that the word should be AMAZZI. The emphasis is on the Z. I digress. Yes, I can be anal. So unless we’re going to be friends who sit and have coffee and talk without smsing, then you can have bad diction. But if you plan on being my internet friend then it is futile our impending friendship.

See? I told you I was nice. He he he.

Choices

Should I do what everyone is telling me to, no, willing me to do or should I follow my dreams? What if my dreams are becoming expensive for me to follow, then what? Do I give up on them and settle for something that will feed me? So many things to choose from. One thing I did not have difficulty choosing was a life for God. He’ll take care of every other choice I have to make.

The Power of Prayer

There are times we get on our knees and ask God for something and all the while we’re thinking, ‘yeah right, my neighbour will never come to the knowledge of Christ, he is too hardheaded’ and then God surpises us and grants our prayer requests. I was very surprised when I prayed and fasted for one week for something I thought would take months or even years to be fulfilled but it happened in the week I was praying!! I was so ecstatic I cried my eyes out over it. Not sad tears, happy joyous tears where I wanted to jump up and down and not stop. I now believe. God listens and He’s willing to give us our hearts’ desires, we just need to ask him. That’s all it takes, asking. And boy am I glad I can pray!