the little things

A very interesting thing happened to me this morning. I was heading to the Humanitarian missionaries flat to send a fax and as I entered through the gate I saw the gardener in the front courtyard. His name is Isaac and is a recent convert. He is maybe 17 or 18 and has the goofiest grin when you talk to him. I really enjoy him. Anyways, we chatted very briefly and our conversation went as follows: “Hey Isaac how are you?!” “Your welcome, I’m good.  Where is your wife?”  “Oh, she’s in Mokono district today doing work with schools.”  “Oh, is that hard, you miss her?”  “It is only 6 hours or so, not too bad.”  Our conversation about died right there so I turned to head up the stairs and as I turned, he said “Thank you for loving each other.” He said it in such a sincere and respected way that really hit me. It was a moment that made me want to chuckle because the way he said, which was not equivalent to my American English, but the solemnity of the moment got the better of me…and a few steps later it sunk in: “That boy realizes more about the sacredness of marriage and loving someone than I do!”

That simple sentence definitely caught me by surprise. I have been dwelling on it the whole day. It caught me by surprise because I would never have heard that in the States or any other Western country for that matter (where the family is truly under attack). It made me think about the Ugandan culture and more so the Christian culture which is obviously very conservative when it comes to marriage and moral truth. I’ve been impressed with the people here, their kindness and generosity, even just saying a simple hello while passing people on the roadside. Apparently, Isaac’s goofy grin is contagious because I sure did have a goofy and very happy grin on my face walking away from him. Now I know that love and companionship IS such a sought after thing!  I’m pretty sure I’ve always known that but It just took a Ugandan boy to get me to understand it in such a simple and clear manner; just as was his simple and clear remark.: “Thank you for loving each other.”