I’ve always loved hammocks, and today I passed by a shop full of the most beautiful hammocks I have ever seen.
Immediately, something inside of me said to stop, but because we were prayer walking, I thought my motives would be selfish.
So without saying much, our team continued on down the street and made our way to the bank.
Again, while waiting at the bank for my teammates to pay for their visas, I had a strong desire to go back to the hammock shop.
After voicing my opinion and being laughed at because we weren’t supposed to shop, I put my feelings aside and continued to follow the group.
It’s funny how God works.
If he really wants you to talk to someone, he’ll walk you in circles until you give in and do it.
Funny, he began to walk our team in circles around the hammock shop, and I being the one drawn seemed to be the only one who noticed.
Finally, the final time to pass the shop came, and still, although I really wanted to stop I continued to walk right by.
But this time was different, the hammock shop owner called out to me, surprisingly in English.
And I stopped, turned around, and finally began to talk to the owner of the shop I was being drawn to.
Because I speak very little Spanish, I have been having a hard time having quality conversations with people.
Luckily, Alex, the hammock shop owner spoke English.
He was a very humble man, able to create intricately woven colorful hammocks.
He grew up here in Chiapas, and was able to come to the United States for two years to work at a company in Nebraska that paid him ten dollars and hour for his work.
During this time he worked very diligently and saved most of the money he made.
This is how he was able come back home and start the shop he has always dreamed of having.
He has now owned the shop for two years.
Although I didn’t get to minister to this man, and I don’t have an amazing story to tell, I now have a friend that I can speak to, and to me that means a lot.
Often in America, surrounded by our comforts, and people that speak the same language as us, we forget what it is like to be lonely.
We walk right by a foreigner, or immediately put up a barrier to the people that are unable to speak our language.
Often, these can be the moments in which we have our most meaningful conversations.
I know that God was drawing me to the shop for this very reason.
To learn a lesson, to make a friend, and to teach me that whenever I may feel lonely and helpless, there is always someone out there.
We are never alone.
In the future, my eyes will now be open to those around me who may be lonely, those who may need a friend, or those who may just need a familiar voice.
It’s amazing how God works, how when we are expecting something huge, he chooses to teach us a lesson in the tiniest ways.
It’s not about how many people you can save, or how many miraculous things we can do.
God is in the small things, the conversations, the smile from a stranger that touches your heart, and the love you can pass on with each person you meet.
