It was Wednesday afternoon, June 19th. I had been sitting inside our little bedroom for most of the day wracking my brain trying to figure out what I should preach on and working on my sermon for the following day. The team had done to do some door-to-door evangelism, but with nothing yet prepared for my sermon, I opted to stay back to prepare. Around noon team arrived back at the house and we all chatted for a bit before lunch.
While we chatted, Glass was hard at work in the kitchen preparing the food for us. Glass has been with us since day one and it didn’t take long before all of us were in love with her. She’s so joyous and funny and she selflessly serves our team day in and day out. She helps prepare our food, helps us wash our clothes, and she’s always willing to lend a helping hand. On the first day I met her, she started rubbing my arms and legs and told me my skin felt like that of a baby. Not long after, she found out that I was only 21 and she joyfully proclaimed that I was a baby. Since that day, she always calls me baby. It’s one of the sweetest things ever. She often tells us to say “goodbye America” because she wants us all to move to Rwanda.
After preparing lunch for us, she then cleans up the kitchen and washes all of the dishes. It’s her typical routine. Shondra, Laurie, and I walked outside to sit in the sun for a little bit and get some fresh air. While we were sitting there, Glass walks up with a bucket of hot water and a bar of soap and proceeds to wash Shondra’s feet. It was a moment, I’ll never forget. She carefully rubbed soap all over her legs and feet and proceed to clean them.
Once she was done with Shondra she went and warmed up more water and cane and washed my feet. She sat there for several minutes messaging my legs and feet, getting all the dirt out from under my nails, and making sure my feet had no dead skin. With a bar of soap, she repeatedly cleaned my legs and feet with the soapy warm water. Once she was done, she gently dried them off and placed my shoes back on my feet for me. Only to go heat up more water to wash the next girls’ feet. One by one, she washed our entire teams’ feet that afternoon.
It was the very definition of selfless. It was a beautiful picture of the Gospel and the love of the Father. It was a precious reminder of how much my Heavenly Father loves me and serves me.
Glass didn’t under a word. She just simply said “I love you”. We exchanged smiles throughout and then we hugged, but we didn’t talk much. She doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak French. But it was okay, in the moment we didn’t need words. I know that she could see the gratitude in my face and I could see the love through her selfless sacrifice.
I’ve had my feet washed before at various things like church summer camp, youth group, and even World Race training camp and each time it meant something different too me. But this time was different. No one asked her too. It wasn’t an organized thing was planned out. She just saw us sitting on the steps in the sun and lovingly wanted to wash our dirty feet, covered in dust from the dirt road we travel every day. Not that the other times have meant less to me, but her act of love and sacrifice hit me in a new way.
Glass never takes a break. She works tirelessly from sun up to sun down and always does it with a beautiful smile on her face. Seriously, the woman is so joyful. In that moment, she easily could have taken a break. She could have sat in the sun with us or laid down and just rested. But she didn’t. In love, she grabbed water and washed our feet. She chose us over herself. She chose to serve us over herself.
I remember being in D.C. before coming on the race, thinking that it’ll be so much easier on the World Race. In D.C. I was interning and talking multiple online classes to ensure that I would be done with school by launch. I was working on fundraising for the race and volunteering for a local church. Not to mention, cooking, cleaning, working out, and spending time with friends. I found that my planner was always full, and so often it was full of things for me. Things that brought me joy, helped me get closer to my goals, finish my degree, made me money, etc. I was busy and truthfully, I enjoyed it.
Yet, I stopped myself a lot thinking about the fact that I’m raising money to go serve people across the world and I’m serving very few people in my own country. I pass by so many homeless people every day on the streets of D.C. and fail to meet their needs, fail to show them love, and keep going without stopping to share the Gospel. Not necessarily because I didn’t want too, but because I was too busy. I had something planned for that night. I had a deadline to meet. I had an assignment to turn in. The list of excuses could be a mile high.
Yet, I somehow convinced myself that when I got on the World Race that it’d be easier. When my only goal is to serve others, it’ll make it easier to die to self. I convinced myself that I’d think differently, respond differently, and love more in a different context. But the reality is, that is far from the truth. Sure, it looks different, because ministry is scheduled for us on most days. We’re given task and assignments and jobs to complete. But on most days, it’s not much different. It’s still a choice Sacrifice is always a choice. Loving others is always a choice.
I’d like to think that I’ve done a good job of that on the race. I like to look back on my time and see the scarifies that I’ve made to serve others and love them well. I like to think that I look less like the Lauren who planned her days so much, that there was no room to stop and serve others. I like to think that I’m more interruptible. & in a lot of ways, I know I am. But then I look at Glass and realize I have so much more to learn.
It’s her job to cook for us. It’s her job to clean. It’s her job to help with laundry. She doesn’t have to do it always smiling and with so much love, but she does. & as a result, she does her job so well. Yet, Glass doesn’t just do her job, she doesn’t just do what’s expected of her. She does so much more. She washes our feet. & while I often do my job. I try my best to do what’s expected of me, and often like Glass I do it with joy, because I do truly love it. Yet, unlike Glass I far to often fail to see the ways I could do more. The ways I could look even more like Jesus and serve people like He did.
So, here’s to be more like the beautiful woman, my team has grown to love so deeply. Here’s to loving and serving and being just like Glass.
