So there I was..
Sitting. Watching. Blown away by what I was actually seeing.
Her name is Patig. She is 19 years old and has a 9-month-old son.
She traveled 13 hours to work at the Stone Age Bar. She traveled to Patong so that she could earn money to be able to provide for her little boy.
So there we sat.. Across the bar from each other, sharing glances, and smiles here and there. I could see the hurt in her eyes when we made eye contact.. I could feel her pain, and the emptiness, which was looking to be filled.
What was I supposed to do? Here I am, a 24 year old American who is still searching for herself.. I know nothing about her life, or the struggles that come with it… I grew up in a family, where my mom and dad provided for me. I never had to go to work until I choose to. My life and all I knew was of no comparison to hers.
How could I help her? How could I ease her pain? How could I give her just a glimpse of hope, and let her know that there is more to life than what she is going through?
“Tell her I love her.”
That’s all I kept hearing.
“She needs to know I love her.”
“She needs to know that she is worthy of the love I have for her. Regardless of her situation, she is still worthy to be loved.”
She began to walk towards me… she sat down beside me and asked me my name.. Asked me what I wanted to drink.. and then we started to play connect four. We shared life stories. We talked about good things that have happened and hard things that we’ve conquered. And then I left.
On a napkin beside my soda I wrote her a note that said, “You are beautiful. You are loved. You are worthy to be loved. No matter what, you are worthy to be loved.”
When I went back to the bar later that week, Patig was gone. I found out that she was in a motorcycle accident on New Years Eve, and got pretty beat up. The bar mom wasn’t sure when she was going to be able to return to work, if she ever would. The driver was a client of hers who was taking her to a hotel for the night.
I wasn’t really sure how to feel when I found that out. I wondered and questioned why God started a relationship only to end it, in a sense. Again, like every night, I asked Him where He was in all of this, and why He placed Patig and I together, only for one night…
“I was there in the 30 minutes that you talked with her. I am still with her and still there. That 30 minutes that she talked with you, was 30 minutes that she didn’t have to worry about dancing in front of a guy, or having a guy try to buy her drinks so that she is forced to sit in his lap and entertain him. That 30 minutes, I was able to tell her I loved her through you. She heard that she was beautiful and worthy.”
This past month in Thailand has been a tough one.
I’ve never looked into ones eyes and shared the hurt and pain as I have this month.
It opened my eyes to everyone around me, both inside and outside of the bar, and helped me to realize how often the pain and hurt of those around us is overlooked.
It also opened my eyes to the truth, that no matter who is it, or who you are looking at, they are worthy to be loved. The homeless man on the corner who no one wants to talk to and we avoid, he is worthy to be loved. The outcast at school, who no one wants to sit by at lunch, they are worthy to be loved.
God loves us all. Point blank. End of story.
Our job, as His followers, is to make that known and spread His love.
My 30 minute conversation with Patig was to let her know of her worth, and to remind her that no matter what, she is and always will be worthy of the love of our Father.
What conversation will you have next to tell someone of their worth?
Because no matter the circumstance, or the person, we are all worthy to be loved.
