I have been known to be cheesy and corny and perhaps this is my M.O … I stopped fighting it and embraced whatever it was I was being called. I just hated the gag looks I got and the ‘shoot-me-now’ thoughts I could see bouncing back and forth in peoples brains as they read my cheese!( FYI, it is really hard to hide those thoughts)

I was going down the spiral of self-discovery and trying to figure out what I was about when my life took a sudden turn.   You see, as a young man trying to fit into society after countless battles lost and worn within me, I had found a semblance of identity in the arts. I was getting the hang of singing,(though there were those better than me) I had subdued the art of acting( few matched me, I must say) and had masterfully hidden my insecurities behind an array of niceness, amiability and courteousness based on no other foundation but impressions. Yes, I made sure that if you didn’t know me, I would leave an unforgettable mark when I walked away from you – and by “you” here, I mean the ladies. I didn’t care much for the lads.

That afternoon, I had done the first show of what would later be called the epic start of our church’s Easter productions. It was that day that changed it all. She met Yours Truly on the Stage. I was acting as Jesus our savior. She came up to me after the production and we exchanged pleasantries. Being the celebrity I was, It didn’t mean much meeting new faces. But hers, I couldn’t forget.

Later on, along the corridors of the university halls, on the stone walks, we met up and there was a way she called me “Jesus” that didn’t register as the master of old. No. It sounded different every time she hollad out my Lords name… yet calling me!   I finally really took note of her after a prayer meeting under the mango tree near the chapel at the university. She had her nails done and her smile brighter! Her personality expelled fresh and unconventional humor. She was the moon on that starless night… and many nights after that!

I visited her room later that semester as we had grown to be acquaintances. She had invited me to come up to see her. She lived in what seemed like the top of a tower, which after climbing 10,000 flights of stairs felt like I had battled a fiery dragon and endless booby traps…

Months later, I am looking at her seated in my little car and I cant believe she feels this way for me. You see, in her unconventional geek like life, she had opened my eyes to a world of possibilities. Most importantly, she made me feel like I didn’t have to change a thing to be noticed by her. I discovered that I could be whoever I was and it was ok. She loved me.

Years later, with a few hiccups in the way, the principle still is the same. The girl still is the same! And today, I celebrate another one of those important days. I look back at the first time I celebrated that day and I am in awe…

What she saw in me that I never thought I had, I see now. She peeled back the layers of my niceness and courteousness (sometimes painfully) and revealed to me exactly Who God had purposed me to become. She saw right through the lies of my personality and saw the reality (sometimes frightening) of what I was.

To the woman that saw the King in me, long before I knew my royalty,

To the woman that Honors my passion and purity,

To the woman that puts the grays in my black and White,

To the Woman that knows me…

To Lynn Kirabo
Happy birthday.