We met Jose on our scavenger hunt for dinner supplies.
We needed enough to feed 12 people, and Jose’s small vegetable stand seemed up for the task.
My normal demeanor around all Guatemalan vendors is to barter them down to their lowest price….
And then some.
The bartering beast within me emerges.
For some reason I believe in the depths of my soul that they are supposed to pay ME to take these grocery items off of their hands. I mean, I’m all about charity and what not… but with bartering, I’m straight cut throat.
I began my usual bartering routine.
They say 8 Quetzales (1 US dollar) and I say 2 Quetzales (26 cents).
They say 7 Quetzales (91 cents) and I say 3 Quetzales (39 cents).
We settle somewhere around 5 Quetzales (65 cents).
In the midst of our back and forth banter, Jose began slip what I’d like to call to “little nuggets of truth” into the flow of our conversation.
He began to explain how when people feel loved, it makes them want to love others.
He said that people are more important than money.
Then he proceeded to give me 2 passion fruits to try.
For free.
The beast inside of me began to shrink back from all of the shame I felt from arguing over 13 cents. I was mortified by my mindset of taking rather than having a heart of giving.
We thanked him for the passion fruit, but he wasn’t done giving just yet.
His eyes began to spill tears of joy as he spoke of the love of his God; who saved him from the miry bog and set his feet upon the rock on which he now stands. He spoke of how God generously gave him his life, so in return he will turn around and give his life back to Him.
So each day he wakes up and gives.
The bartering beast within me retreats.
________________________________________________________________________________________
A few pictures from last week….
Jose’s wife, Paulina, is a strong woman of the Lord. Her and her husband have been married for over 20 years and they have 5 children. Every day, they seek to spread the love of the Lord to the people of San Marcos. She found out that we were Christian missionaries and she became really excited because there are not many Christians that live near the lake. Yesterday, she told me that she had a surprise for our group and she pulled out a bag of bracelets that she made and gave one to each of us.
Los Niños de Guatemala. Que preciosas!
