Monday Morning

I have to take a few minutes to describe my morning before heading off to lunch. We set out to visit one of our patients, an older woman who lives with her daughter and toddler grandson, Glory. We drove down a small dirt road, parked the car, and looked over to see all two feet of little Glory run to the gate and quickly turn and run away. We follow him into the house, quickly realizing he has shoes on that squeak with every step, much like a dog toy. Our patient smiles big when she sees him running around, its evident he brings her joy. As we sat and started chatting (through our translator) I took a mental step back and looked at my surroundings. Sitting in a house with no door, a few scattered chairs and cool cement floor, I smiled at the simplicity. Across the small street two lizards chased eachother up and down the walls, and further down Christian (french) music blared from a stereo we in the states would refer to as "totally 80's" in style. Glory ran in and out, squeaking and throwing random pieces of plastic all over the room, a piece of a cell phone here, a baby toy there. Towards the end of our visit our translator read a Psalm in French. Glory ran in as he was starting and I scooped him into my lap. I put my mouth next to his ear, making kissing noises, rocking back and forth gently. The feisty toddler calmed and melted into my arms for a few brief moments. I closed my eyes, mouth still at his ear and prayed over his little life. I felt his warm forehead on my cheek and thanked God for the perfect moment, a glimpse of why I exist on this big huge earth, a real moment of complete human and heavenly connection, my current reality and the pure joy I find in it.

After the Psalm was read a train passed, probably less than 50 yards from where we were sitting. I laughed at my surroundings, the squeaky shoes and whipping around of plastic objects, the playful lizards, blaring music, deafening train passing, prayer in English and French, and then in the middle of it all bouncing Glory on my lap singing

Trot trot to Boston,
trot trot to Lynn,
Watch out little Glory or you might fall in.

So many times over the last week I have sat stunned at how fortunate I am to be here, that God actually saw something in me that was right for this job. I am honored and humbled almost hourly by all of this. We had good devotions this morning, I'll leave off with the verse that I was happy to hear first thing Monday morning:

Romans 12:3-8
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

And seriously now, who in the world said to themselves "I think we'll makes shoes that squeak for 2 year olds" and though that wasn't cruel and unusual punishment for parents. I do have to say that for little Glory especially, the squeaking doubles as a tracking device for the two foot maniac running around the neighborhood.