Over the past 5 months I have met a lot of people all over the world. I have been extremely blessed to do what I love and just sit with people and listen to the stories of their lives. I love when people get excited to share things. Sitting and watching there body posture and facial expressions change as they lead you through the events that have shaped them and made them who they are.
But I will say out of all of the people that I have met, some of the most rewarding and most monumental moments of this journey have been sitting in complete silence with the people that go unseen.
Over the past 5 months I have started to learn how much our world is constantly in motion. It is often said that we are creatures of habit, (which I have recently learned is not always a bad thing.)
Back in September, our squad got the opportunity to go Greece for a little over a week and partner with a local church in Thessaloniki. I was super excited to go to Greece for obvious reasons but had no idea what truly awaited me there. While exploring the city I quickly discovered the quickest route to get to the water front, and soon it became a habit to take the same route everyday. As this route became my routine, I started to notice the same man everyday sitting on a stoop and begging for money.
One thing that is extremely important to me even before I left for the race is to always look homeless people in the eyes and to smile at them and say hello. To me this is communicating to them that no matter there situation they are worth being seen and worthy of being known. They are people just like the rest of us and there is no reason to be afraid and no reason to avert my gaze. I may not always have something physical to offer them but I can always give them something (better in my opinion) than food, clothing or money, the fact that they are a person worthy of being known and that they are seen by me and by God.
When I first saw this man in Greece I smiled and waved and as I continued to walk by he gave me the biggest and probably one of the best smiles I have ever received in my entire life. From that moment on I made sure to walk by him everyday and it quickly became one my favorite parts of everyday. As days went on, as I would approach the stoop that he sat on everyday and called home, he would start laughing and smiling with his one tooth. He knew me and I knew him and we had never exchanged any words.
As the week went on I felt the urge to take this one step further and to sit and share a memory with him. So one night my sweet friend Erin and I went down to the water front, bought four gourmet ice creams from a local restaurant and brought them to him and the woman that was sitting with him. As we all sat and enjoyed our ice cream it amazed me how many people walked by and did not even notice us. Two american woman sitting on a stoop sharing ice cream with two homeless people laughing and enjoying life together.
That was the first night that I heard the Lord tell me that he wanted me to continue to see the unseen. To do more than offer money, food, or clothing or even a smile and a greeting. But to offer my time and to share my life. I may not have been able to communicate clearly with these two people but I left that night knowing more about them than I had before, even with the language barrier.
In Cambodia I had a similar experience in Phenon Phen the countries capital. While walking on yet another water front, I met an older woman that was sitting on the ground watching people go by and begging people for money. The moment I saw her I felt the Lords nudge to go over and sit with her, and the moment that we made eye contact this nudge was confirmed as she embraced me with a huge hug and smile. That afternoon I got to sit with her and pray over the ailments of her body and just sit and watch as people walked by. I got to sit in her world of being ignored and it pained me to witness it. The next day as we made our way back to the water front, my only thought was to go and find my new friend again. As we approached the place where we had met her, it was discouraging to not see her there. We went on with our day, met some more people but all I could think about was her. As we started to turn around to walk back, I saw her out of the corner of my eye and was so excited that I started to run to greet her. The best part of this whole scene was when she started to run and greet me as well, as if we were two friends that had known each other for years and were just seeing each other for the first time in a long time.
I could not speak to this woman. All I could do was give her my time, but for her that is all she wanted. Just to be seen, and to have someone show her that she was worthy of time. That afternoon I sat with her again and held her hand as she sat and watched the people pass her by. I held her hand and felt an overwhelming peace that she had been waiting for me but that I had also been waiting for her.
These two experience were two of my favorite moments on the race. They were moments when I got to slow down and allow the Lord to show me where to go and who to be with. I did not have to start a conversation, all I had to do was be. I would encourage whoever is reading this to do the same thing. To slow down and experience what it is like to not have to rush off to the next thing. Sit across from someone and offer them what we all truly need, time and the chance to be truly known. You will leave feeling more alive, I know I did.
Psalm 46:10
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