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This is 2 in one- aren't you lucky!!
Humbleness and Gratitude
At the moments I am most humbled are when my selfishness, lack of gratitude, being too busy- when a 6 yr. old comes to lunch minutes after the song/prayer and no sooner than when she plants her petite little body in the chair- her hands are folded and her head is bowed- thanking her Father in heaven for such a wonderful meal- for the food on her plate- for her forgiveness and His grace and for life. She does it so fast- she doesn't even think once about not praying- she hardly gets sat down- she's not told or reminded to pray- she does it on her own accord. Oblivious to everything around her- she is there at the throne of her Father- showing her gratitude before taking another breath or bite.
When she returns home what a beacon she will be- the simple act of prayer and so sincere- not because she has to but because she desires to give thanks in everything- this little girl SHINES for Jesus! Dancing for Jesus So a couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to go participate in an evangelical concert put on by my friends in Makati (a team whose focus is in street ministry). I had no idea where this concert was going to be held- it was across town in Tondo- near Smokey Mountain- in the poorest areas of all of Manila. On the way we saw this little boy under the semi- I wish I'd had my camera out- he was literally standing up under the bed of this truck- looking for something. The locals said this area of town was bad- and there was a lot of stealing- it was common to see people and kids up under the trucks looking for chains or extra batteries- and then they would run off with them- they would even take extra fruit and food! There are thousands upon thousands of very poor street children down in this area. A little farther down the journey we came upon a street that completely flooded- the water was too deep for the car to pass through! They said this flooding happen during every high tide- can you imagine your house being flooded every-time there was a high tide? When the weather is always HOT and Humid here- there's not a chance it would ever be dry- and I'm sure there is an overwhelming amount of mold and mildew- considering the water flooding this area is contaminated with trash and human waste- it's more green colored than it is blue. Yuck! -what a way to live huh? We arrived and walked into where the concert was. They had put a stage up in the middle of a "squatter town". There were shacks all around- a river that was full of trash and smelled hideous- with shacks and "homes" on the other side- with our stage in the midst. At first there weren't many kids or people around- and I wondered why they had put so much work into something for only a few- little did I know it'd be a packed "house" by the end! There were the local law 'enforcers' or baraguay police- and hundreds and hundreds of children. What a sight it was- I loved it! The smell was overwhelming- and I continually thought how in the world do these people live here? The houses were filled with rice and rancid dogs- houses.. did I say? I mean the one room shacks made of plywood and maybe a bit of broken concrete. But the children- Let me just speak for the children here-I bet there were close to a thousand kids there that night- none of them spoke english- but I had several that stuck close to my side. All the way through the service as I planted my bum on the concrete floor- we watched the performance- and you could tell they were loving it!This one little girl all of about 8 years old- and I don't even know her name- was like my shadow- when they started dancing at the end she jumped up and grabbed my hand- insisting I go and dance with her. I wondered- does she know why she dances? Does she know there is a better life out there? She is SO happy here with NOTHING- with dirty clothes- and bathing in water that smells worse than sewage- does she know Jesus died for her and loves her? She smiles so bright and dances so freely- but is it because she is happy to have fun- does she understand why we are dancing- to celebrate the one that saved us? Does she know true joy? Yet then I stopped again- holding back tears and realized- I needed to learn joy and happiness from her- even when life gets tough- I should have joy- I have no excuse- my life will never be half of what hers is- yet even at the smallest of dissatisfaction- I find it so easy to get down and show the world only a frown. When we got ready to leave- a little earlier than the rest- she never lost track of me- even though I wove back and forth through the crowd from one side and then another- this little girl somehow would find me time and time again. She's a special girl- with a beautiful smile- and Joy- when saying goodbye she only said, "I'll miss you". I knew her such a short time- how could she miss me? Was it the first time she'd been shown love and attention in days, weeks or even years? Was it the first time she'd been able to smile- and felt free to get up and dance? "I'll miss you"- wow- three little words- from such a little heart- if only she could understand what she taught me that night- and that of all kids here in this country- our short time together will never be forgotten and I'll miss her too.
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