So when Sunday morning came and we were heading to the church to join the children’s Sunday school class I wasn’t as thrill as I should have been! Obviously…I love working with children and feel very comfortable engaging with them but for some reason I found myself praying that God would give me the energy I was going to need.
Sunday School was fine, there were a lot of kids and they enjoyed the silly songs we taught them and the stories of Noah and the Ark and David and Goliath. They were as adorable as always saying Hello and giving us hugs. But my heart was still not all the way and I was mad at myself for feeling this way and for the fact I didn’t really know what was going on.
We went back to the house and I took some time for myself. I needed to get focused and try to listen to what God had to say. I read a little, watched half of a movie and tried to prepare myself for our afternoon activity which was playing with all the neighborhood kids….but I was still in a mood.
4pm hit and as I was walking across the street, I saw 15+ kids eagerly waiting for the Americanos to play with them. My heart started to melt as they could barely control themselves as they saw us walking over.
We sang silly songs like Oh-lay-lay, Rise and Shine and If your happy and you know it. We danced to music; acted like animals, played four-corners, follow the leader and Red light, Green light. During one of the games I noticed a little girl maybe 3ish who wanted to play with the other kids but couldn’t keep up, so I held out my hand and we became instant buddies. I had the best time with her! I had almost forgotten about the funk that I was in. At the end of our time, we passed out candy and watched the kids run off with smiles on our faces. We had a blast with them.
Later that night we went to our church service. We sat in our row and waited for the service to begin (and in the DR…no one knows when things start!) A little girl about 8 or 9 years old who we had met on our first day in Comendador walked into the church, she smiled and sat right next to me. She has beautiful blue eyes, lighter skin with hair that has blonde streaks in it. We tried to communicate but ended up laughing at each other because neither of us understood what we were saying. Half way through the service she crawled into my lap and fell asleep.
Nothing else mattered at that time. It was just God, her and me! The service got a little crazy (which will be explained later) but God really protected me and I needed that time with this little girl. It was like time had stopped and I didn’t want to let this little girl go, I wanted to protect her from everything around her.
God was showing me that just as I wanted to hold this little girl, He wanted to hold me tight. He wanted me to cuddle in his lap and hold me and make me feel protected. He wanted me to give Him my thoughts and fears and worries and whatever else that was causing the funk I was feeling and trust in Him. As I am away from home and from my comfort, God was showing me that I can still find that comfort in him wherever I am.
It’s a process I am learning but excited to know God is waiting with His arms opened wide!
