I know we are in Tananarivo, Madagascar right now, but let’s take it back to Swaziland for just a minute. Each Monday, we would attend the staff meeting at the AIM office in Manzini, then would spend the afternoon asking the Lord where he wanted us to go and who he wanted us to meet. On our first Monday out and about in town, I met a man named Sundai.
We had ventured to the Pick and Pay, the local grocery store where we ended up spending much of our time and money. It was nice and had all the things we could need. Including Oreos, chocolate bars and apple juice (this is important to the story, I promise). This first Mondy, we had asked the Lord where we should go and he landed us there. We got to check out this nice coffee shop, get to meet some wonderful people and see where some other important things like the post office and internet cafe. After, we were sitting outside at some picnic style tables when I saw a man sitting on the corner, with his shoes off, looking like he had had a rough day. As the Lord called me to, I walked over, introduced myself and asked him how he was and whether he worked there, etc. He did happend to work at the Pick and Pay and was on break. With that, I mentioned that we would be there for the next 3 weeks and would probably see him again. Pretty basic interaction right? That’s what I thought, no big deal.
The following week, I had decided to word fast (meaning I was not speaking) on Sunday and Monday, along with my weekly food fast on Monday. So Monday rolls around and I am not eating NOR speaking… Let that sink in a second. Of course, when we went to ask the Lord where he wanted us to go, we struck up more conversations and more people asked me about me then ANY OTHER DAY… but I wasn’t speaking…
Then, we ended up at the Pick and Pay coffee shop, like we had so many times before, and I went into the store to get some apple juice. As I was looking in the refrigerator case, I heard a simple “It’s OK” prompt from the Lord. “What’s OK?” I asked, “I’m just getting apple juice,” when suddenly from a few feet away I hear Sundai’s voice, “Dacey?” That’s right, 7 days later, after a simple hello and a hand shake he remembered my name. From there, the conversation was pretty basic. He asked how I was and told me he was glad to see me. I asked about his day and how work was going and 2 minutes later we went about our day and I went back to not speaking.
In that moment, the Lord had shown me: if a hello and a handshake meant enough that he remembered my name 7 days later, how much MORE important were the rest of my words? And if my words are that important, I only want my words to be His words.
“The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever had understanding is even-tempered.” Proverbs 17:27
Just one of many lessons the Lord has taught me this year… More to come soon!
