I fell off the blogging wagon a week ago Thursday. So, now I'm dusting myself off and am going to get back on to finish posting about the Guatemala trip... We'll pick back up on Thursday...
On Thursday morning, I went with the team that was doing VBS in the landfill. We teamed up with some of the ladies from the local church and gathered about 40 kids into the small metal building the church had constructed in the landfill. As the kids were filtering in, I wandered around the building saying hello and talking to the kids as much as I could. During this time, I saw three kids whom I will never forget.
The first was Christian. He was eight, vivacious and quite talented at shooting marbles. He attempted to teach me to shoot two different ways and enthusiastically chased down each one of my misfires that ricocheted around the building. We had many laughs as he patiently corrected my technique and had me try again. After about ten minutes of this, he sidled up to me, placed his four precious marbled in my palm, closed my hand around them and whispered in my ear, "It's a gift!" And my heart broke over his generous spirit. As much as I wanted to honor his gift, there was no way I could walk off with what was possibly the only four marbles this kid owned. I stumbled through a reply of how I wanted him to keep them in broken Spanish as I placed the marbles back into his hand, praying that he would understand how much I appreciated the gift even though I could not take it with me. Sometimes generosity at its finest is in the smallest gifts.
Then there was Juan. He was ten, had a great smile and the eyes of one much older. David, one of our teens, sat next to him and they taught each other different words in English and Spanish. As I watched their exchange, I couldn't help but notice Juan frequently scanning the room with a watchful eye. It made sense when at one point, he sat down on one of the benches with three smaller children beside him. When I asked who they were, he told me that they were his two younger siblings and his nephew. As I watched them throughout the morning, it was obvious that Juan was responsible for all three and he took great care of them. At the end of VBS, he gathered them up with all of their crafts and headed home. The next time I saw him, he was once again taking care of the younger kids. Still watching and still smiling.
Lastly, there was a little girl - I didn't get her name, but wish I had. She was no older than ten and was of a slight build. Strapped to her back in true Guatemalan fashion was her younger brother. He must have weighed fully half as much as she did, but she carried him with a smile on her face. And as she sat on the floor making her macaroni necklace, she tended him with a smile. When he fussed, she bounced him on her knee and when it was time to go, still smiling, she hefted him up and worked, with the assistance of some of the church ladies, to bind him to her back once more for the trek home. Great love, it seems, can also come in small packages.
These three will forever have a place in my heart and I pray that they will come to fully know the great gift and the great love that Jesus has to give them.
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