My first week going to our Ethiopian church, I sat next to the sweetest old lady. When we walked into church, everyone was praying with their heads down. After prayer, she sat up and smiled so big at me. She pointed at my shirt because it said, Hope Ethiopiaon it. She then went on to explain in Amharic that she was an outside sponsorship of Hope Ethiopia. One of my hosts named Daggie translated for me. After that, she sat and held my hand and laid her head on my shoulder for the rest of the 3-hour service.
At that moment, I thought it was really cute, but didn’t think anything else of it. However, thinking back now, I noticed that this is the way my Heavenly Father wants me to see Him. He wants me to lay my head on His shoulder, tell Him how happy I am for His love, and understand the gift He has given to me. The old lady in church understood what Hope Ethiopia has done for her and she expressed it in such a beautiful way. She accepted the gift of sponsorship, understood it completely, and expressed every bit of gratitude.
I have not been able to see her again since that day, however, I have talked to Daggie about doing a house visit to see her and other outside sponsorships. That little old lady has such a big heart for God and she has brought me deeper into my Father’s love through the way she expresses gratitude for gifts given to her.
