I saw my World’s best support, anchor, confidant and fan fading away. Day by day, I would wake up to a nightmare. It was very painful to watch my mother who had fallen sick deteriorate each day. Among the people I have ever met in my life that I considered strong, was my mother. She would be the first to wake up and last to sleep. She would work none stop. She had answers to every challenging question. I wonder how she always knew so much.
As life went by, she fell sick and was ever admitted in hospitals. I was the one there by her side to nurse her. Truth be told, the hospitals became my second home. We were always in and out of different hospitals. I would sleep on the hospital floor on a mat whenever she was admitted. I learnt to hate the hospitals because of the night wails from patients who would cry in agony and worst of all, the smell of medicine that rented the hospital.
My mother was a midwife. She had served in the Government hospital in Entebbe Grade B for some time of her career. To our relief, whenever we got admitted, her fellow colleagues would recognize her and would offer us a private wing room for their former colleagues to spend in.
I remember moments when I was in my S4 class. That entire year I assisted as the caretaker to nurse her from the hospital. I operated from the hospital to school to attend classes and then back to the hospital in the evening. I always knew she would be fine and get well. My heart was always at peace despite the challenges.
God Heard My Prayers:
At one time, she went into a comma. I prayed while crying my heart out. God heard my prayer and saw my tears, and He answered my prayers. She recovered and we got discharged. We returned home.
I had forgotten the feeling of sleeping on a bed and was used to sleeping on the hospital floor. I found sleeping in the bed very uncomfortable. sleeping on the saggy soft mattress, felt like sinking in water.
As I type this article tears are not only rolling out of my eyes but gashing! These events of 1999 and 2000, come glaring at me as though they happened yesterday. I was glad to get another chance to have my mother back.
I chose, changed and cherished God’s embrace through his word. I read the Bible and also wrote down songs. I would always sing my new melodies and compositions to her, and she was always ready to listen.
“Richard, God will give you an opportunity to serve him but never play around with his alter/pulpit”, she told me. It is as if she had foreseen that I would serve the Lord someday.
My Mother’s Friend Became My Friend
The Bible says in Proverbs 18:24; A person who has friends may be harmed by them, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. My mother had a friend whose name I shall never forget. She was always there. She always encouraged me in those moments of despair. Brigadier General Rebecca Mpagi, is her name. Every morning and evening she would visit and show so much concern and care. The family friends were there but she was a stand out among the many family allies.
One day, I visited my pastor, Bishop Charles Kaisali, at Faith Power Centre Entebbe. I told him to pray for us about the condition of my mother. “Worry not, all will be okay”, is all he told me. Those words were priceless to me. All I needed was comforting words of hope.
In April of 2000, she passed away. I received the news at around 9 PM in the night, while at home. My fingers felt numb. It was shocking. I could not believe it. All in all, my heart was at peace. I was very sure she had gone to a good place to be with the Lord.
Brother and Sister, I don’t know what you are going through, I have no clue whatsoever. A thing I know for sure without a shadow of a doubt, is that, God loves you so much that he was willing to give up His only son to die for you. No matter the pain, the despair the troubles you are in, look up to God. He always makes a way, even where there seems to be no way.
I Learnt To Trust God
I saw God’s care for me in those moments when I sat for my O-level final exams while nursing my late mother in the hospital. God was so good to me that I passed my exams. My family thought I had no chance considering the troubles I was going through. I passed my exams well. That I say was a miracle.
I thank God for all that I went through because it taught me to trust Him each day, draw closer to Him and confide in Him. The Lord’s prayer says, “Give us our daily bread…”. Always take each day at a time.
In Mathew 7:7, the bible says, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
All you have to do is to ask Him.
May God bless you all.
Till next time; choices, chances and cherishes.
