“Be
imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and
live a life of love
, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up
for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2
She approaches
quietly, barely noticed until her timid voice asks, “
Pulseras
?
Cinco
Quetzales
para
uno
.”
The young boy at the table ahead of me instructs his sister, “Don’t look at
her…if you just ignore her, she’ll go away.”
They continue about their
conversation as though she doesn’t exist. She stays a bit longer…the stare of
her dirty face makes them uncomfortable. After another stern rejection, she
drops her head and turns to walk away. I can’t help but feel sorry for her. She
seems too young and fragile to be subjected to this kind of life, yet here she
stands, peddling beaded bracelets to tourists day after day. She is viewed as
an inconvenience, an annoyance, an intrusion by most. A battle begins inside my
head…should I do something? Part of me wants to get her attention. At the very
least exchange a smile…acknowledge her… show some form of kindness. The other
part of me is tired. Up at 5:45am to get to the orphanage, 4 hrs of screaming
children and dirty diapers, then straight to the church to teach English…I’m
tired. I’m here to have my quiet time, drink my chai tea, and enjoy a moment of
rest, not to strike up a conversation with a peddling child. Jesus wins, and I catch
her eye as she turns to leave. I smile and she just stares at me, but then
slowly approaches. She sets her basket on the table and begins her sales pitch.
I just smile.
“Hola chica, como estas?”
“Bien, these are
pretty bracelets, I give you 2 for 5.”
“Yes, they are very pretty bracelets. Did you make them yourself?”
“Si”
“Wow, that’s very impressive. What’s your
name?”
“Marina.”
Then she smiles, and something changes in me. She is no longer one of the
countless, faceless, nameless peddlers I meet on the streets everyday. She is a
person, she has value. I want to know her story.
“How old are you?”
Six years old.
Both parents are dead. She has no brothers or sisters. She lives with her
grandparents in Santa Catarina. Every day after school she walks 45 min. here
to sell her bracelets. This is all she’s ever known. Our conversation lasts about 10 min. before her attention returns to the bracelets on the table.
I ask her,
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Azul.”
“Ok then, I’ll
buy a blue one.” She smiles as I let her tie it on my wrist.
I want to see
her again. “Will I see you here tomorrow?”
She smiles again
as her pony tail bobs up and down.
“Amigas?”
“Si, amigas!
Adios!”
“Adios, Marina.”
I can’t help but
smile as she turns and bounces away with her little basket balanced atop her
tiny head. My tea is cold now…who cares. I don’t presume to think that we are
going to touch every life in Panajachel during our short time here, but if that
little girl was able to see even a tiny bit of Jesus’ love in me during our
short time together, then it was worth it.
____________________________________________________________________________________
I ran across Eph. 5:2 in my Bible the other day, and
those 5 words have been replaying themselves in my mind ever since.
Live
a life of love. Not few hours here and there, a couple days a month, or
even 11 months on a missions trip around the world…it says
a life. Our entire lifetime…every minute of every day. Loving
others is not something I can turn on or off when it’s convenient. I am called
to live a life of love without exception. It’s not my job to decide who or what
situations merit my love, I’m just called to love.
I’ve slowly begun to realize how different my
life could be if I truly applied this. Every moment of every day would be an
opportunity to impact someone’s life with the love of Jesus. Simple everyday
things like driving through Starbucks, talking to the checkout lady at the
store, or just walking down the street become opportunities to LOVE. I wouldn’t
have to go searching for “ministry” to do, it would just happen as a side
effect. Jesus is not only the definition of love; his life was the perfect
example of how to “live love.” He poured himself out day after day to thousands
of people who needed to be loved. He didn’t do it out of obligation. Even when
he was completely exhausted, he continued to love because that was the core of
who he was. LOVE
“The
only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Galatians 5:6b
