The night had arrived for Mayvia to make their appearance to the girl named Kelly.
The husband (who calls himself Smooth) had his documentation apparatus (we call this an iPhone camera) in hand while the girl we call Kelly looked on in curiosity to see just who this Mayvia really was.
As soon as the girls called Heidi and Tasha (or Mayvia...geesh, this blog is getting kind of difficult to write, ha!) took the first step out of the carriage pick up (yup, it's still the airport) they barely made eye contact with the girl called Kelly before the tears began spilling down each of their faces. But then, without any warning, the girl called Kelly quickly covered her face, walked right past them, refusing to make eye contact, and waved the girls called Heidi and Tasha to follow her away from the entrance where everyone was looking at these crazy women who are NOT locals (they like to call us Muzungus". Don't worry, it's not offensive.)
After gathering their composure, and luggage, they made their way to a nearby Inn (which actually is called Two Friends. It was BEAUTIFUL!) to rest for the night.
The entourage of giddy, emotional girlfriends we call Kelly, Heidi and Tasha (along with the husband that calls himself Smooth) hopped in the carriage (we will now call a carriage a car) and made the long trek to the distant place that the girl called Kelly, moved to (in Africa).
One very awesome surprise that the Heavenly Father orchestrated is that Mayvia's arrival just so happened to fall just days before the long-awaited court date of sweet Chloe Laiti. This is the very reason the girl called Kelly decided that moving to a distant land (called Africa) was going to be oh-so-difficult, but exactly what the Lord had planned for her life. Her story.
Mayvia (do you mind if we just refer to the girls we call Heidi and Tasha as the joint Mayvia? It's so much quicker to type. Okay, thanks!) had no time for Jet lag as they jumped into Nanny/Auntie role to get this court hearing underway with as little stress as possible. For they were put in charge of the girl called Kelly's ( and the husband who calls himself Smooth) small tribe of girls. Five to be exact.
Mayvia had some personal past experience with Court in such a distant land as this, so were prepared for the long day ahead. First things first, we had to get all fancy for the judge. He likes to see families who are put together.
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| Cana, Tasha, and Kayil waiting to head to Kampala |
Then we all packed into the Attorney's office to prep for the day.
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| The husband who calls himself Smooth explaining what court will look like to the girls. |
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| Heidi beginning project "keep Kaliyah happy" |
We finally made it to the outer room of the courthouse where we set up shop for the day. This is where many hairdo's were done, and more-than-I-can-count card games were played.
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| This girl called Kaliyah, will NEVER be bored with all the mamas around her to keep her happy! |
After what seemed like HOURS...wait, it actually WAS hours. TEN hours to be exact, of waiting, waiting, and waiting, the family was called back to the Judge's quarters.
Mayvia began immediately praying for favor and that the Judge would be compassionate for their long wait and actually hear them.
Not 15 minutes later the family began filing out of the Judge's quarters with very solemn looks on their faces. They had been told that it was too late and that they would try again tomorrow.
Now, 10 hours sounds like a long day for you, I'm sure. But have you ever just sat, waiting in anticipation of a potentially stressful situation for ten hours? With 5 small girls?
The girl called Kelly and the husband who calls himself Smooth held it together, gathered the large crew and headed to find some sustenance and any kind of Inn that would be open upon such late notice.
We all went to bed that night with very sad, tired hearts (and slept in our contacts and the clothes we'd been wearing all day since this was certainly not planned or expected. But getting ready time was cut in 1/2. Actually, climbing out of bed and rubbing the fog off my contacts pretty much did the trick.)
But praise the Lord for new beginnings. And new days. And sunshine.
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| Day 2 of court. Looking a little less put together and a LOT more exhausted and warn out. |
And STROLLERS that push a fussy baby around so you don't have to carry her for hours at a time (I'm pretty sure my biceps grew an inch on each arm after that 48 hours!).
Then, around 1:30pm this family was called back to the Judge's quarters again. Over two hours later they came out with great rejoicing from a very positive hearing with a very compassionate judge.
We decided to celebrate before heading back home and made an adventure to a nearby mall to eat dinner and visit the brown-skinned Santa in his hut. Because this is what Christmas looks like in a distant land (called Africa).
What an adventure Mayvia had already had.
But wait, it had just begun!
{TO BE CONTINUED...}
