Let me tell you about a beautiful little girl. Her name is Marisol, she is 4 years old and has 3 older sisters. I have seen such a change in her, even in the short time we have been going to Los Jardines. When we first started going there she would not come near you. She would look at you and then turn and run away. She wouldn’t hold your hand and she pretty much didn’t pay us any attention. Growing up with three older sisters she has become very independent and a real go- getter. On the other hand, she was extremely shy. She is so cute though I just had to try and get to know her. She has a little bit of a violent streak, as demonstrated the other day when she ripped a headband off anothers girl’s head. Granted it was hers, but the force she used was unnecessary. Ruby, who has been coming down here since September says she used to punch and slap and pull hair. This poor girl is called China by her sisters and all the kids in the community, which is essentially calling her a dirty Chinese kid, because they think her eyes make her look Chinese.
Today was the culmination of the past few weeks of getting to know her. More recently she would begin to hold my hand, and actually come over to me sometimes. Today we had a real Marisol lovefest though. She wanted to be picked up, and to hold me hand and to follow me around. Part of her shyness made her never speak to us. She never said a whole lot to anyone. Today after VBS I sat outside with her for at least half an hour with her on my lap, and she was talking to me, and playing with me, and we were just having a great old time. At one point when all of the other children were coming to give kisses as they were leaving to go home she snuck one in there real quick, like maybe I wouldn’t notice. She was just so precious,
This evening we went to go to Pastor Nestor’s service, but apparently at some point his service was changed to more of a Bible class with workbooks and all that good stuff. So instead of participating in that, since we really couldn’t, we took the children outside to play with them. I got to play with Marisol and her sister Rosario for an hour or more. I learned how to tell her she is beautiful in Spanish, and the first time I told her she hid her face from me, and her other sister Patty said no, ugly. This is why I think she must have a really low self esteem. I just kept telling her over and over that she is beautiful and that I love her and eventually she was telling me that she loves me and she was saying “si” when I said she was beautiful. The most heart warming part was when she sang along to Jesus loves me. She and Rosario and I just kept singing it, and then she let me have her sing for Tammy and then David. She knows the words and sang them out loud. This from the girl who 3 weeks ago would run away when you looked at her. It was just such an awesome and beautiful day.
Thank-you God for this special little girl. You love her so much more than I do, but I thank you that I have been allowed into her life. Please bring blessings and all good things to her and her family.
