We hopped in one truck, with hundreds of presents strapped to the top. Driving through 12 rivers and a very mountainous terrain, we finally arrived at our destination on top of the mountain 3 hours later. Small villages filled the area, with small communities of people who all know each other well. “This is life for them,” I thought. “This is all they know of life.” We walked into a building filled with hundreds of children eagerly awaiting Christmas gifts that they knew we brought.
Gracie, our host, gave a message first about Christmas. She presented it like this: “Imagine it’s your birthday. Everyone plans a huge party filled with balloons, gifts, a cake, friends, etc. They spend hours making tamales and goodies for the special day. It’s going to be a huge event and such a special celebration. BUT, you aren’t invited. You aren’t invited to sing cheerful songs. You aren’t invited to feast on the delicious birthday cake. You aren’t invited to spend time with family and friends in celebration. WHAT! That doesn’t make sense, right? Because it’s YOUR birthday.” Although this is a great illustration that paints a picture for kids, I think it hit me pretty hard as well. Don’t we do that so often especially during the Christmas season? I find myself excited to watch ELF, play Christmas music, and bake cookies – that I forget who I’m celebrating and who this celebration is for. We all need to be reminded of this, not only the children.
After the message, each child received a special gift. All gifts were donated, and included a small prize such as a balloon, a race car, or a bouncy ball. Although it seems like a small gesture, these kids were on cloud nine. Something so small completely made their day, and will probably be remembered for the rest of their life. We handed all of the gifts out to the kids who were present, and then piled back into the truck. We headed back down the mountain for another 3 hour journey. But this time, as we drove down, we stopped at house after house, village after village, yelling, ” Ninos! Regalos por Navidad!” We watched from the truck as little curious heads peaked out of small windows wondering who was shouting from the road. As soon as those tiny eyes made contact with a gift, their legs began moving faster than ever before. Out of breath from running down the road, each child’s face began to beam and light up as they took the gift that was prepared just for them.
The thing is, although it was such a special day seeing the joy and laughter it brought these children, I think I learned something more important. These children live so far up in the mountain, that all they know of life is what’s right around them. It’s easy to feel alone or hidden when you really ARE alone and hidden. What Gracie taught us that day is that you have to go searching for the lost. You have to seek and find those that need Jesus. You can’t sit in your house and wait for people to come to you. Jesus went after the one lost sheep, and he told a parable of searching for the one out of ten lost coins. Jesus sees the ONE. He sees and he cares about each person that may feel forgotten.
Later the next day, Gracie shared with us a devotion about Spiritual Radar. She told us it’s important to always have discernment about who God wants you to speak with or talk to – it might be someone who others don’t see or who others don’t take the time to notice. She told two separate stories that really changed my way of thinking, and I want to share them with you.
Walmart Lady: In the states, Gracie was shopping at Walmart the week before Christmas. As you can imagine, Walmart gets extremely crazy and overwhelming around this busy season of the year. She noticed all of the cashiers were scanning item after item, quickly to get through the line of eager and impatient customers. She entered her line to check out, and noticed that her cashier was scanning items slowly. “Beep……..beep……..beep.” Gracie knew something was not right, so she asked the woman when she got closer. “Is everything alright?,” she asked. The woman said that everything was okay and that nothing was wrong. But Gracie could feel her spiritual radar, her discernment, and the Holy Spirt prompting her to dig deeper. So she placed her hand on the lady’s hand, and said, “The Lord is telling me that you are not okay. Please tell me what’s wrong.” Tears began streaming down the ladies face, and she said that her mother was in the hospital. Right there and then, Gracie prayed over the lady. She didn’t care who was watching. She didn’t care who was standing behind her in line waiting impatiently. She only cared about the lady standing before her who needed a word from the Lord and encouragement to push through. Weeks later, Gracie saw the woman again at Walmart. It was then that she heard the rest of the story. It turns out that this lady was a single mother. She is the sole provider for her family, her own children, and her mother who was sick. Her mother was having surgery that same time for a very serious operation, and the lady was thinking of quitting her only job at Walmart to go be with her. It only took a small act of faith for Gracie to encourage the woman. It’s stories like this that remind me to slow down and to be still. Sometimes God is speaking to us, and we are too busy to even notice or listen.
Car Guard Guy: Gracie was at another village doing a gift distribution and there was a certain man there who was causing a scene. He was clearly drunk, and he would not leave Gracie alone. He continued to follow her around and around, not leaving her alone. He was bothering others, and causing chaos. This man was seeking attention, and it would have been easy to yell at him to go away and stop bothering her. Instead, she asked for his name, and asked him if he would guard her car while the event was going on. She told him he was special and she knew he would be a great guard for her car. He out of no where pulled out a hat that made him look like a guard, and he stood tall and proud by the car. When little children would pass and rub their fingers against the side of the car, he stood firm and yelled at anyone who came close. He took his new job very seriously, and did everything in his power to protect her car. See, Gracie didn’t need her car guarded. It was already locked. But this man needed to be acknowledged. He needed to feel important and have a purpose. He didn’t bother anyone after that. He was seen and someone showed that they cared.
Wow, both of these stories really smacked me in the face. I started thinking of all the times that I have ignored people or didn’t take the time to notice someone sitting in the corner or feeling alone. Sometimes I feel like I’m the person who is nervous the people in line behind me might get mad, or the person I’m speaking to might think i’m weird. But God is calling us to step out in faith, and talk with his people. I encourage each of you as well to start thinking the following question: Who does God want me to SEE today? Look around you. Sometimes it’s as easy as a smile, a look, a “hello.” But sometimes, it’s a conversation, or an invitation to coffee. Listen to God’s voice, and allow him show you the ONE who needs to be acknowledged.
Gracie’s husband, Lee, spoke after Gracie in our devotion. Before we even got to this ministry site, Lee knew every single one of our names. He looked on the World Race website, and read our bios and saw our pictures. He began praying over our lives before we even met him. He is a prayer warrior, and dedicates a LOT of time in prayer. During the devotion, he pulled out a journal. He opened it, and we saw name after name listed. He said that every name of past world race teams that he has had the opportunity to know, he writes their names and prayer requests down. He told us also that when we leave, our names will also go in the journal. He does this because he says that we will never be forgotten. Even though we will be gone, he will dedicate time to pray over us. We will always have Poppy Lee’s prayers to cover us throughout our lives. How special is that?
My mindset began to shift. Earlier in the devotion, I was thinking of all of the people who I had passed on the street or did not make time for. But after seeing Poppy Lee’s journal, I was encouraged to stop and remember all of the people who I HAVE taken the time to see. Who have I been intentional with? Who has God spoken to me about to notice and acknowledge? I don’t want to ever forget those people. I want to keep their names in MY journal and to remember to pray over their lives as well. One story came instantly to my mind, and I also want to share that story with you so you can join me in prayer.
Peaches: It was my sophomore year at Southeastern University, and I was a part of a club called CKI. The club was a volunteer group that did a variety of service projects around the community. Every Friday, we would volunteer at the homeless shelter and soup kitchen. I remember my first time ever going to this homeless shelter. I was excited, full of life, and wanted to make a big impact. I got in line, waiting for my assignment of what food item I would be serving. I wanted to serve the delicious meat or the tasty desserts to really make this meal the best these people had ever had. I was determined. But then, they handed me a spoon and told me I would be serving the peaches. “THE PEACHES?”, I thought, “Who is going to want PEACHES?” But, if I had to serve peaches, then I was going to make these the best dang peaches anyone has ever had in their life. Person after person walked through the line, and all I wanted to do was make someone’s day. Many of the other volunteers were plopping meat, potatoes, etc. on each person’s plate worrying about the portions and who had skipped in line. Instead, I LOOKED UP and met the gaze of one of the men. He looked at me, and I smiled brightly. I said loud and proud, “I have been WAITING to give you these peaches. I’m telling you, they are the best things you have ever tasted! This is going to make your day!” I’m pretty sure he thought I was a little crazy listening to such enthusiasm over a peach, and I also got a few strange looks from my fellow volunteers. But, I didn’t care. The man smiled, laughed a little, and kept going through the line. I watched him as he sat down, joining others, and finishing his meal. To my surprise, the man got up and came back in line for seconds. He walked right past the juicy meat, right past the creamy potatoes, and guess where he stopped – at the peaches. We both looked at each other and laughed hysterically. I filled that guy’s plate up with more peaches than you could imagine. He took his plate of peaches to his seat, and ate every last bite. THEN, he came back a THIRD time for, you guessed it, ….. More peaches. From that point on, week after week as I came back to that shelter to visit, I nicknamed that man “peaches.” He loved his new nickname, and that became a gateway for me to ask about his life, his family, why he was in the spot he was in. You know, it wasn’t about the peaches in reality that he was coming back in line for. He was coming back in line to be noticed, to be acknowledged – because I looked in his eyes, cared, and wanted him to have joy. I don’t know where Peaches is today, but I will always remember him, write his name in my journal, and pray over his sweet life.
This is what it is about, whether you are across the world in a foreign country or walking down the street that you grew up on. Jesus is calling us to put on our spiritual radars, to be alert to who he is calling us to speak to, and to keep our eyes off of ourselves. This is extremely important to remember this time of the year, as it’s easy to become distracted by the busy atmosphere. Take the time to LOOK UP, see people, look into their eyes. There are people who are hurting right around us, even in our own families, our own workplaces, and our own communities. All people need is for someone to care. Be the person who cares and takes time and effort to seek out the ONE:)
