I am currently in month 6 of the World Race. This is the first time on the race I have spent a whole month working with kids. The reality is that most of the kids that I hug and kiss on a daily basis are not clean by American standards. They don’t bathe regularly or wash their hair with shampoo. Most of them brushed their teeth for the first time 3 weeks ago and they usually have on dirty clothes. Some of them have lice. They have cuts and scars and dry, cracked skin and they have the biggest smiles. They love to cuddle and be hugged and held. They love… love and they don’t even know that’s what they are getting.
I found out last month that I have lice. Now when someone gets lice in America it’s pretty inconvenient, but you can get rid of it with shampoo. On the World Race, lice shampoo is hard to come by so we use any home remedy we can get our hands on… for me that is putting Listerine in my hair to kill the bugs. Then having a teammate comb through my hair and pick out bugs and eggs. This process is a daily thing and I still have lice after 5 weeks. When I found out I had lice I was honestly kind of upset… there is a shame that is associated with lice. All I could think about was bugs crawling on my scalp. Lice is a part of the reality of the race. Most people will get it and it sucks, but you can actually learn a lot from having it or at least I have.
My view of lice associated with shame and being dirty was me looking at it through a small lens. That was me worrying only about myself and how I looked to other people. However, when I started looking at having lice through a larger lens and looking at the bigger picture this is what I found…
I can’t get rid of lice alone. I have to rely on others. Real friends are those that literally pick bugs out of your hair. It’s hard for me to rely so heavily on others because I don’t want to bother them. Real talk it takes true vulnerability to ask someone daily to check your head for bugs.
Ridding yourself of lice also takes a lot of persistence; it’s a daily process and you have to stay on top of it.
Those are great lessons that I am daily learning, but this is the real big picture… if the alternative is to not let kids hug all over me and vice versa then I’ll take lice all day every day. Why should I feel shame for loving fiercely? Lice will stay or it won’t, but loving on sweet nuggs can have a lasting impression on me and them. Viewing lice through a small lens is me getting in my own way of bringing Kingdom in whatever country I am in. God didn’t invite me around the world to be clean… He actually invited me into the dirty and the hard and the uncomfortable. He invited me to be all in.
So I have lice… big deal. I get to love, hug, kiss, and cuddle with kids everyday and it’s totally worth it. Being all in is worth it.
We’re doing the thing, lice and all.
Much love, Carson
