This morning I woke up and didn’t want to move. I went to bed too late, I didn’t sleep well and my body was sore from sleeping on the floor. Well, from sleeping on a mattress on the floor. But who’s counting.
I sat up, wiped the sweat from my brow (…and back. and arms. and legs. Hey, it’s hot in Cambodia) and decided that it would be a good day. Last month I had a problem where I would wake up and dread most days, and now I really regret that. It’s no way to live.
So now I’m determined to wake up and anticipate greatness. In the words of the Black Eyed Peas, tonight’s gonna be a good night. Or, in my case, today’s gonna be a good day. This month’s gonna be a good month. This year’s gonna be a good year. Get it? Goooood.
At 8:00 a.m. my team hopped into a van and made our way to a government housing relocation center. We spent the morning doing house visits, and before I knew it I was helping a family cut loose threads off black pants. The pants come from a nearby factory, and the family gets $1 for every 100 pants. On an average day they finish 50 pants; on a good day they finish 100. So their income is fifty cents to a dollar a day. If they cause a hole in the pants they are charged $5, and if they lose a pair of pants they are charged $10.
All this being said, I was doing my best to handle the pants with extreme caution when I noticed the tag.. It said…
For some reason it struck me as odd. Probably because I’ve seen this label frequently in my shopping endeavors, and now it was staring me in the face. In Cambodia. These pants really were made in Cambodia. I wondered where in the world they would end up. And then I saw this…
Buwah!? That’s only one of my favorite stores. What if the pants I was de-threading were shipped to a Target near me, and what if they ended up once again in my hands. Or on my legs. Around this time I found out that they were, in fact, children’s pants. But like I said…who’s counting.
Then I looked over to the woman next to me – the women who cuts loose threads off dozens of pants day in and day out – all for a few cents so she can feed her hungry kids. I can’t imagine that when she was a kid and her teacher asked what she wanted to be when she grew up she answered with, “I want to spend my life cutting threads off pants!” Oh wait, she probably never had a teacher, because she probably never went to school. I wanted so badly to rip the scissors and pants out of her hand and look her in the eyes and and tell her that everything would be okay. But I couldn’t. Because it’s not true.
But then I remebered that Jesus says “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The kingdom of heaven belongs to this woman who cuts threads off pants for hours a day.
As we were walking, we passed through a market, where we bumped into a small girl. She was 7 or 8, and she was caring for her younger sister, who was probably 2 or 3. She seemed happy enough, and was posing for pictures with her younger sister.
But then, when we asked if we could pray for her, she hung her head low. “I want to go to school,” she told our translator. “But I can’t. My mother is in the HIV hospital, and I have to take care of my sister.” Ughhh I wanted so badly to lift her head up and look her in the eyes and tell her that everything would be okay. But I couldn’t do that. Because it’s not true.
Instead, I told her about Jesus. I told her that he always hears our cries. I told her that he won’t necessarily give us everything we want, but he has a greater plan in store. I wondered if she could even comprehend anything I was saying (I wondered if I could even comprehend what I was saying). But then I remembered that Jesus says “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
The kingdom of heaven belongs to this little girl. The kingdom of heaven belongs to the woman who cuts off loose threads. The kingdom of heaven is moving on Earth, and I am privileged enough to be there as it happens.
All in all, I’m glad I got out of bed today. It was a great day.
