Amazing Story #1

Not that there hasn't already been a string of these and that the whole thing isn't one in itself, but THIS is an amazing story! When I landed back in the U.S. on March the 3rd, I caught a shuttle van service from Atlanta to Birmingham (about a 2hr trip) before being picked up by a friend in Birmingham and driven to Huntsville. A guy called Jess was driving the shuttle van, and his wife, Denise, was keeping him company. They asked me where I'd been etc, and I told them. They were REALLY excited about it all, and we talked for the whole trip. At one point Denise asked me "What kind of dresses do they wear for weddings in Uganda?" and I told them that for a lot of weddings there, they wear the same sort of wedding dresses as we're used to. She said that she had a beautiful wedding dress that they had bought a year or so ago for their son's fiancee, but the engagement was called off and they'd been wondering what to do with it since. They said to find out what Aggie's size would be, and if it was a match, they may be able to help us out in some way. In addition to that, they asked how they can go about supporting us financially! WoW!!! My feet had barely touched the ground in the U.S. and God was already showing me that He was at work! If nothing else came of it, I thought, I'd made 2 new friends.

Back in Huntsville, over the course of a few weeks, I gathered some information, called a bridal dress alterations place, and emailed back & forth with Denise. It "turned out" that the size that was estimated Aggie would wear was the same size as the dress!! Wow! I emailed Aggie some photos and she loved it! It also just so happened that it was very much like a dress we saw in Uganda that she really liked, only way nicer! So what was left to find out was how much Denise & Jess were prepared to part with it for. I wasn't sure what they'd meant by "we may be able to help you out in some way" - it ocurred to me that they might even give it to us, but I didn't want to assume or expect. They came up to Huntsville this past Saturday so we could catch up and spend some time together, and they asked if they could bring the dress to show me (even though I'd seen it in the photos - being a guy, that was enough for me). The 1st thing they did when they got here was to get it out. It was phenomenal! Not overdone, yet ornate & amazingly beautiful. I could picture Aggie in it - she would look incredible. "So..." I said, after exclaiming how beautiful it was, "I have to ask...how much are you guys willing to part with it for?". They said "Well we've prayed about it and we'd like to GIVE it to you and Aggie". Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan! How amazing!! I called Aggie and she was over the moon and got to thank Denise & Jess in person over the phone. Jess & Denise left the dress with me - it's now hanging up in a massive bag in my room (it looks like I'm marrying a giant!).

Aggie and I both agree that this is 100% a God-thing. One thing we had planned was for me to try and find a dress for her here, since they're even more expensive in Uganda. My feet had literally barely touched the ground back in the USA, and there it was! Wow! Thankyou Denise & Jess, and thankyou Lord! The photo for this blog post is of Jess, Denise, and the dress. I have more photos but we'll save the full glory for the wedding day!

Stay tuned for Amazing Story #2!