A Word From Jaaja

Jaaja is Luganda for grandmother.

This is a picture of my mom when we drove down to hang out at the Equator. You know…just a typical day, hangin’ at the Equator. She flew last-minute, halfway around the world, to help me with the boys while in Uganda.

She wrote a few thoughts down the other day, and I thought I’d share them with you…

On Wednesday, February 9, Joseph and Mathew will OFFICIALLY be Jobes and US citizens- all in one swift rap of a gavel. And they will officially be our grandsons. But, they have been ours for over a year.

We began praying for our grandchildren in January 2010. We didn’t know who they were and were not even sure where they would come from. But we knew they were ours.

As the year progressed, we learned they would come from Uganda, and then we finally learned they were Mathew and Joseph. And in early October, Shannon (our eldest) and Colleen went to Uganda to begin the process to bring them home. We knew that Shannon could stay for only two weeks. As her departure approached, it was evident that Colleen would need help until the boys could leave the country. So, being THE MOM (as I always refer to myself), I went. Wouldn’t you? Of course you would.

What an adventure! I saw baboons (along the road, mind you), crossed the Nile River AND the equator, and ate avocados every day. And everyone called me “Jaa-ja”. Ah, Uganda, where Jaa-ja (Grandmother)  is revered and welcomed. America, get a clue! And that is where I first met Mathew and Joseph.

They were adorable…..and unhappy and tantrum throwers and belligerent. And I loved them greatly from the very first moment-not because they were lovable, but because they were mine, and they broke my heart. They needed parents and grandparents and a home…and that is what Colleen and Lucas and all the extended family would give them.

Two weeks later, Colleen and I brought them home, all of us crying most of the way (the boys did NOT like seat belts). That was the last day of October. And now it is February, and in these few, short months Mathew and Joseph are happy and obedient (mostly) and well-adjusted three-year-olds. And, most importantly, they are adopted. They are sons. They are chosen. They are secure.

Hmmm. There was a time when I was a tantrum-throwing, unhappy, belligerent  lost soul. But now, but now I am adopted. I am a child of the Father through faith in His son, Jesus Christ. He loved me before I knew Him. He loved me when I was unlovable. I broke His heart. And He has made me his child forever.

I look at pictures of the boys, or see them in person and squish them (because they are so-o-o squishable) and always remember that I am adopted, too. Praise God.

Praise God indeed!

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Colleen and Lucas are parents of four children – two girls by birth and two boys who were adopted independently from Uganda. The boys are unrelated (by birth) and are virtual twins. Lucas is in the Air Force and Colleen is a stay-at-home mom who also has the privilege of being a partner at Wild Olive, a Christian t-shirt company for women. Colleen’s adoption ramblings can be read on her blog.