God Made

I was born on a Saturday. My mum tells a story of how she was in the garden planting sorghum with my uncles when the birth pangs struck. She was then rushed to a nearby home that had a midwife and hours later, I had a grand crying entrance. I was told that my dad held me and was overwhelmed with joy. He said “akaana kangye”-my little child. He checked to make sure that all parts of my body were intact. Mum suggested that they name me “Kaconco” which would directly translate to “small gift” in my language. Dad protested and said, “This is a big gift from God” so they called me ‘Kiconco’ -a great gift. Dad also named me Sharon but my Ugandan people have their own variations of its pronunciation. Shalon. Sha-llon. Shaloni. Anyway, I digress.

By the time I was born, my parents were both teachers and they were taking care of most of our relatives so no, I wasn’t put into a car seat and driven home to a baby crib. On the contrary, my mum tells me that all they could afford were two nappies. You know nappies? The washable cotton cloths which are wrapped around the baby’s bottom and fastened with safety pins? Yes, those ones. Moreover, Kabale rain is the kind that will start in the wee hours and stop in the evening so I do not even want to imagine what would happen on days when both nappies did not dry after washing them.

Almost 40 years later, it recently hit me that the circumstances surrounding my birth fade in comparison to the fact that God had me in mind before I was born. By the time God manifested me in the physical in January 1983, he had been thinking about me and could not wait for an opportunity to bring me into this world. Jeremiah 1:5 confirms that before I was formed in my mother’s womb, God knew me.Before I was born, he sanctified me and ordained me a prophet to the nations. Imagine that at the time of my conception there could have been a chance of a Y chromosome dominating and turning me into another gender. This would have been wonderful too but God intended it to happen the way it did. Sometimes we go through life reliving the memories of how we were ushered into the world. It could have been a one-night stand, a result of incest or an unplanned conception — who cares? That’s what happened but God knew you and wanted you, otherwise who would you expect him to pour his love on? If you were not supposed to be born, trust me it would have been different.

Refuse the temptation to tag your current circumstance to the way you came into this world or to what happened to you when you were a child.

The thought that God intended for me to be here makes me walk with a bounce. I am always reminded of his ending love for me.

I am greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved.