This may be somewhat offensive in nature….Just a warning.
I woke up this morning having spent the night in the room with the girls here at Los Gozosos, on a top bunk bed that is a fluff mattress over the crossbars. "Llevanta" came Anna's voice in the room at five AM sharp. Not my finest hour, any day. I ungracefully fall out of bed and follow her down the hall as she supports Karlyn under her arm-pits. We walk into the little girls' room and the girls get a squirt of medicine shot into their mouths, it reminds me of how vets medicate farm animals, and then we all start the stripping process for their showers. Michelle (my teammate walks in looking as tired as I feel) and follows the order of "Andrea" and a pointed finger to indicate, "start getting her ready."
Nancy is nineteen and incapable of undressing and dressing herself, let alone taking herself to the bathroom. So when I pulled down her pants and the smell of shit hit my nose, I can't say that I was surprised,but still repulsed by the pungent oder, the nanny was uninhibited by it and started the diaper changing and wiping process. It took me a moment to get the gloves on, once snapped in place and armed with a wipe I joined in.
I have no idea how they wash them so fast, it's like a military shower for disabled kids. Clearly these nannies know what they are doing and churn these kids out of the shower every five minutes. Impressive doesn't even begin to describe it. As the girls are discharged from the shower dripping wet and trembling despite the warm room we are directed to dress them. Another process. "Llevanta" and touch Nancy's leg she raises it about an inch off of the floor and I get a fresh diaper on her, and the plastic cover to go over it (about three more "llevanta's") I think of clothing the manikins when I worked at Hollister, how both of these should be considered sports. There are no points given, but you do work up a sweat and there is resistance. After pulling her arms and legs through I send her over to get her hair done. Andreas is put into my arms and I begin the process all over again for him. I struggle to straighten out his arms that are almost always in a permanent shape of wings when "relaxed". I get a giggle out of him as I try to thread his legs through his pants. Then we heard them out to the table for breakfast.
Where is God in this you ask? Ann what's your point? Do you even have one?
Yes I do, patience is a virtue, especially in the early hours of the morning. You see, it was God that got me out of bed this morning. My body LOVES sleep, I mean L-O-V-E-S sleep. One of the things that I look forward to most on Sunday, after a good sermon, is a Sunday afternoon nap. They are the best. God is the one who woke me up this morning, who watched as the nannies squirted medicine into the children's mouth's and saw it as an act of love. It was Jesus who told me that despite my sore back I needed to be gentle with them. It was Jesus who made me look at the scars on Nancy's back and still see them as beautiful, because she is His. It was the Holy Spirit who gave me the patience to take the plastic diaper cover off, turn it right side out and put it back on, because that will be more comfortable. It was the Holy Spirit who made me tickle Andreas to keep him giggling throughout the changing process, because the Spirit knows, that did not make the process easier, but it did make it more joyful for both of us. Andreas and I share a love of sleep. God was there as Michelle and I peeled still hot hard-boiled eggs (the icing process takes too long) when we both started laughing at how mangled the eggs looked after having been peeled. (Michelle is just starting her coffee marathon as we speak, the standard is around ten cups a day).
There really is two ways to view things, through your eyes, or through Jesus'. Take it from me, this morning would have been a waking nightmare from hell if I hadn't chosen to put on Jesus' lenses this morning, and today will be intolerable if I decide that I can see the world through my own eyes. It's a choice in every moment, "how will I choose to see this?" This isn't one of those lesson's only applicable to the race. Like all truth it transcends the boundaries of time and space (yeah, that's deep, but you can take it to the bank). So give it a try today, while you're sitting in a traffic jam, your phone dies, your computer crashes, or you're just frustrated, worn out, losing patience faster than water between your fingers, take a moment and put on Jesus' lenses. Don't only look at the situation through His eyes, but look at the people around you with them, look at yourself through them. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made, clothed in truth and grace, covered in forgiveness and strength, loved. Really and truly, loved. For now I've got to dash and do some physical therapy with Chris, one of the few times that he's out of his chair all day. Time to put the lenses back on.
