“So, what do you want to do [in life]”, is one of my favorite questions to ask people. It shows me a bit of their heart and gives a glimpse into the things they hope for. It uncovers a truth about us as humans – that we all
hope and
long for certain things. I’m a dreamer and an idealist, admittedly to a fault. I’m getting better at being realistic rather than dreaming all the time, but there’s something about dreaming that I can’t get away from.
Two years ago I was in Panama with an AIM Real Life team. We were serving on the Kuna Islands off the coast of Panama for two months. In addition to language differences, we dressed differently, ate different foods, worked different trades, served different gods and spent our days doing different things. It was rich American culture crashing with the 3rd world.
One of the things I clearly remember was a girl of 17 years old named Marta. She didn’t have shoes and often interrupted our women’s bible study with her teenage rebellious antics. But Marta was the one who opened my eyes beyond the world of Me. Through the use of a translator, I asked her what she wanted to ‘do’ or ‘be’ someday, mindful of the fact that they don’t have the choices like we do back in America. She answered that she hoped to find a man to marry someday. She desired to fall in love and have children. She thought about clothing styles, wearing perfume and travelling into the city and what it would be like in different countries. Through our conversation, Marta broke through my naivete and I begun to see how much we were alike. Two girls, growing up small in a huge world, sharing similar dreams and desires. We were sisters growing up a world apart.
There is a girl at my work who just lost her sister in a car accident. She was in a coma for three days before the doctors advised the family to take her off of life support. It has been two weeks now since the memorial service and Jessi has returned to work. She and I were talking a couple mornings ago and I asked her the question: “What do you want to do?”
Jessi turned to me with a look of exhasperation.
She answered my question, but I already wished I could take it back. Instead I wish I could just hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay. I remember the hard times I have gone through and how all I longed for was someone to hold me and say “everything is going to be okay”.
Jessi still has dreams and desires. And God most definitely has a plan for her.
Sometimes listening to the answer is more important than asking the question.
Please pray for Jessi. She is so broken, but fighting through it one day at a time. She is so dear to me and would be to anyone who met her. Remember Marta too.
I wonder if she ever married. If she’s running amongst children and chickens in a little hut on the island of Mamitupu.
