Abre mis ojos oh Cristo, yo quiero verte!
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you!
One of the promises God gave me, before I launched on the World Race, is that He would bring me Life this year; I would experience His life-giving joy in the simple things. He would bring a fascination with life and a joy in living that would be so abundant, it would be hard to contain. In doing so, He would open my eyes to His very life since He is the Way the Truth and the Life. God did just that in so many ways in Honduras. He filled me up with gratitude and joy in living this life He has called me to in ways, big and small.
I was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. I came to the US when I was 18 years old and have not returned home for longer than 2 weeks in any year since I’ve been gone. As for most of us, there are memories from our childhood and things about home that in themselves bring us renewal. On this journey, God has blessed me with experiences that remind me of Trinidad and growing up there that bring amazingly deep joy and life to my soul. From the rhythm of the music in Honduras to the way people greet each other in the street with “Good morning”, “Good afternoon” and “Good night”, to basking in the warm weather, to admiring the beautiful landscape and chewing sugarcane and eating mango chow, they call “mango verde”; the hospitality and richness of the people and culture in Honduras have filled me up and brought me such life.
The familiar has been coupled with the wonderful challenge of learning the language and connecting with people on a deep level. I am learning that love has no language barrier. A smile, a hug and a kiss on the cheek go such a long way. On our last day in Honduras as I stood and reflected on the month, the cook, Maria, came up to me and locked her arm in mind. We said nothing. We simply stared off into the distance as our eyes welled up with tears. She speaks no English and I speak little Spanish but our bond was so strong that my heart ached at the thought of leaving her and the toddler Nanny, Carla and all the others I became so close to in Honduras.
I am learning that there is so much life in having open eyes. There is life in walking through villages, approaching fences and asking people if we can pray for them. There is life in being approached by the homeless woman, Lydia and her mute daughter, Sylvia on the street at the Honduran-Nicaraguan border as they asked us to pray for them and as Lydia told us how much she loves to sing and she sang to us about the love of God. There is life in the tears that stream from the Martha’s eyes as we stand at her gate in the village during village walks, because God gave me a mental picture of her house hours before we laid eyes on her home and I told my team we needed to go there when I saw it. There is life in her story as as she tells us that she had been praying that someone would come and pray with her for her family. Her family has moved away from God, her daughter has abandoned her faith, and now Martha is left to care for her grandson alone. She was so grateful to have her “spiritual sisters” agree with her in prayer as she released her burdens to the Lord.
God continues to open my eyes to the life all around me and the abundant life He wants to give me right now. A life filled with wonder and newness, love, fun and laughter. I embrace this life with open arms and open eyes!
