so i’m sitting in a coffee shop nearby the base where my team and i live stressing about a blog post. from getting stranded in colombia to God curing my head lice, i’ve tried writing three different blogs but none of them fell through. giving up, but still needing to feel productive, i started praying over my squad’s time here in guatemala. i prayed for a deeper sensitivity to His voice and for opportunities to witness His love. let me say, it did not take God long to answer that prayer. after a few moments, my music is interrupted by a gentle “hola!” i look up to see Gina, our waitress, with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. with a beaming smile on her face, she offers them to us. “how much?” we ask. and with yet another smile and a slight laugh she tells us that they’re a gift from her to us. me and the three other people i’m with were pretty much speechless. ever since the moment we walked through the coffee shop doors, Gina welcomed us with a motherly warmth and invited us to view this place as our home. every broken spanish conversation i had with her reflected her love for people and her excitement for life. but what stood out the most to me about her was her willingness to serve us beyond what was necessary. from constantly checking in on us to gifting us flowers, i couldn’t help but parallel her intentionality with that of Jesus. it is so easy to simply go about our lives doing what we do because we have to. but what both Jesus and Gina do differently is live beyond the “have to” actions. just as Jesus repeatedly goes out of His way to bless those who could never repay Him, Gina fully embraced a group of dirty, lice-infested teenagers with nothing but selfless love. this small act of kindness reminded me that even the most insignificant of things done with great love speaks volumes more than what i often realize.
i prayed that God would open my eyes to His love, little did i know that His love would look like a waitress and a bouquet of flowers. simple? yes. but God never said His love was complicated.
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i’ve only been in guatemala for less than a week but have been blown away by people’s kindness more times than i can count. always willing to lend a helping hand and open to forming relationships, the people here have shown me so much of Jesus’s character. it’s funny how i came on this trip to transform the lives of others with Love but constantly find myself transformed by the Love of others. just goes to show how big and loving God actually is! i can’t wait to see what else God has in store for these next three months!
