Yippie Kay Yay and Yesu

It takes a lot of commitment to be a friend to me, Jacob McGowen. With all the mood swings, med changes, anxiety attacks, forgetting things, one often has to be rather patient to stand me. There are many people: friends, family, doctors, etc who all pour into my life regularly, on a day-to-day basis. Yet, I rarely can say that I do the same for them. After all, I can’t drive them places, cook them meals, or help them with as many things that they do me. I am far too often restrained by my “Jimmy Neutron” sized brain.

Yet, last weekend, Yesu revealed a chance for me to give back and a specific family to love. I was in my room, weekend before last, when I heard a knock on my door. Colton, a 5th grader at an alternative school, who lived the floor above me with his grandma, asked if I could help him set up their Vizio TV.

Since I had a Vizio TV of my own that I had received for graduation, I said could help. In reality, I knew next to nothing about setting up tvs. Yet, that did not stop me from going upstairs.

After a collaborative effort, I along with a man from a lower floor, helped Colton and his grandma get their TV fixed, their basic cable working, and we then watched my copy of The Avengers to end the night.

This weekend, I heard another knock on my door. It was Colton again, this time asking me to help set up his Wii. Once again, I knew next-to-nothing about video games. And yet, we were able to get the Wii set up. Then, in the same holiday weekend, we were also able to fix the color setting on their TV and watch Die Hard 5, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Fury. Not all in the same day, of course. 🙂

These may seem like simple procedures and lazy activities to many of you. To me, however, I see them as divine opprotunities. For so long, I have missed Uganda. I know that I could not be a leader. I know that I could not do the heavy lifting on a farm. I know I could not handle groups of college volunteers or numerous other stresses.

But I miss what I was able to do. Being able to love people, to read kids stories, to toss soccer balls around, to dance to pop songs on the radio, to help Doreen and the ladies whenever they needed me.

That is why I loved getting to hang out with Colton and his grandma so much. It is because, for the first time, in a very long time, I have a kid and a family to invest in, simply by loving them as only Jacobo, the Mzungu Warrior, can do.

Until Next Time,

Jacobo