Many years ago I bought a small purse/wallet. I bought it from the camp store at Camp Timberline. I still have it (at home not on the race). It’s made of hot pink fabric. On the front is embroidery that says “Enjoy the Little Things.” When I brought it I thought it was a cool but peculiar phrase. Little did I know how that little phrase would follow me around, even years later.
In my last blog, I neglected to mention the wonder and beauty found in little things. It is the little things that make life so beautiful. There is great meaning in even the smallest moments. Often we never know the impact of these things, and it is easy to think these moments don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but they do.
It has been hard for me recently. Don’t get me wrong, I love Costa Rica, how could I not? But living here is not like a huge vacation, which I always knew. There are ups and downs, and hard things. Last week, I was having a bad day, for no reason at all, and I was struggling being around people. When we met our ministry host, she asked us to introduce ourselves and tell her things we are good at, so that she could help us use our skills in the ministry. I panicked, I didn’t know what to say. In that moment, I felt like I had no talents. Comparison and the lies of the enemy overwhelmed me.
Our ministry for this month and next month is with refugees from Nicaragua. Half of my team is with the kids, and the other half, myself included, is with the women and teenagers. Some days there is a teacher that leads crafts, yoga, or dance, and some days we lead. One thing the woman expressed interest in is learning English, so we thought it would be fun to have a craft decorating composition notebooks, that could then be used for English notes.
The day after meeting our host, we were leading, so we got out the notebooks and whatever random decorative supplies we could find in the craft closet. One of the random things we found were big sheets of sparkly pink and purple foam. The language barrier is always a struggle, so at first I stood awkwardly wondering how to help. One of the women asked me to draw her a flower and hearts on the foam. As I made the hearts, I noticed the two teenage boys awkwardly staring at their notebooks. I assumed the teenage boys would not want sparkly purple foam on their English journals, but I didn’t want them to be left out, so I asked anyway. One boy said he wanted stars, and then the other boy whipped out this pinterest picture of a unicorn. He asked me if I could draw it. I laughed and was like I dont know, then I looked up the word for “try” and told him I would try. I drew that unicorn! Everyone was impressed and wanted unicorns after that. It was such a silly but beautiful thing, and it was so cool to bless them by cutting shapes out of craft foam. God reminded me of my talents, and I was able to use them to bless others, which felt really good. It made my day.
These little moments may not seem like much but they can mean everything. Sometimes I wonder what the point is, but when I’m present in the moment I get to rejoice in all the little blessings of life.
Let me tell you about all the little things that I have gotten to enjoy.
In Thailand,
There were the Songthaew rides, where I sat with my hair whipping in the breeze. There was the road that speed past as I sat with Thai tea in a bag. There were precious little kids who we got to play with and chase around in an adorable game of tag. There was the jump rope game that went along to song in Thai that I used to have memorized. There was rock twice to three times as big as my head that we dug out of our trench so we could tilt a drainage pipe. There was the door my teammate had to paint again and again because we forgot to sand it. There were selfies with our friend from the women’s house. There was the girls night we had with our very first hosts where we baked cake for our friend’s birthday at the coffee shop/ lunch place. There was the the man who owned a jewelry shop that we got to talk too and I got to laugh about my terrible Thai (truly terrible I still can’t properly produce the few words I learned). There was the man who sat on the side of the road who said “everyday is a good day.”
In Malaysia,
There was ultimate frisbee in a flooded field. Random invites to people’s houses. The afternoon rainstorms. Praying on the roof right before sunset. All eight of us in our good friend’s car. Late night hangouts on our mattress couch. Asking our hostel-mate to kill the cockroach. The fire alarm I slept through (don’t worry there wasn’t a fire)( it was still going when we left).The meals shared with lovely friends. The 24 hour restaurant and all the tea and roti. The adventure to the dentist that we happened to know?! Running into random friends at the metro station. Exploring with the community who took us in. When I actually was able to get someone the whole uniform and they didn’t have to come back in December (a rare feat).
In Costa Rica,
Tomales at our host’s house. The village in so many ways. The many different parts of San José. Handing out flowers. Trying to find cookie dough. Talking to little kid who was sad. Praying with the lady with a cane. Figuring out how to say things in Spanish. Random conversations with neighbors. The plate with a sun on it. The teapot! Paint instead of a sim card. Giving directions to the uber driver in Spanish. Asking the woman how they are. Their smiles when I actually remember their name. Holding a baby. Staring out the window as we drive trying to memorize peices of the city. The buses that turn almost into the gate we stand outside of. Eating sour skittles while walking around the track in the park. The pile of trash in front of the sign that says ‘no trash.’ The 3D paper letters, got to love them. That one graffiti that says Bienvenido. My handy dandy Spanish Dictionary App. The 100 colones coins. Mangos from Fresh Market.
I truly could go on and on. I can’t even express the vivid color and feeling of these moments in so few words, if at all, but all these moments are precious to me. They are pieces of stories, of very different places, and almost different lifes, of the last few months. They are little fractions of time. These little things – they count, more than I can know.
So I have a few words of wisdom that I got from a little hot pink purse long ago, that friends, family, and experiences have taught me over and over: Enjoy the Little Things.
