Thursday April 25th, 2019.
Our second full day in Talamanca looked like getting up and getting ready to visit our second home for a house visit.
Something I love about our mornings in Talamanca was we always did worship and a devotional before our food. It’s so nice to get up and as soon as we all come upstairs we worship God. There’s no stress of prepping breakfast or being completely ready for the day, we just get to sit and rejoice in the Lord, then do all we need to do.
After we finished worshipping, eating, cleaning and getting ready we got into the truck and zoomed into the jungle!
We got dropped off in the middle of nowhere and I just figured we were hiking the rest on the road to a house but we actually ended up going up. We hiked upwards for awhile in the jungle until we reached a house. It was stunning. We were surrounded by beautiful tropical flowers and luscious trees.
The home we came into had an old women living in it. She is the definition of joy. It radiated off of her and she was so loving and welcoming to each of us. She hugged and kissed each of us saying “Bienvenidos!” As we entered into her household. Her animals were welcoming us too! Coming to the house there were sounds coming from all over- geese gawking, roosters crowing, dogs barking, birds talking… all welcoming us in!
She shared a little of of her story about how her husband died 20 years ago. Then she moved to the country where she has lived alone since. After telling us how it was like living alone she said she was never alone because she has God, the true fulfillment. It was so beautiful to hear her say that, to see her intimacy with God in her life.
She has so many animals on her property I lost count, everything you can imagine, even a giant pig! She has four children who all live in the city and come around once in awhile. She lives off her land and doesn’t leave mostly because she has no need to but also because she lives in a lot of pain. She has so much it hurts to walk for long periods of time making her unable to come to church. Thus, we came to her!
As we all sat she wanted to know about each of us. She was so ready and eager to give instead of receive. It got me thinking, it’s so easy to be loving when you have all your needs met. When life is good. This lady lives all alone and probably needed human interaction more than we knew. Yet, she put aside her pain and her feelings to hear about each of us.
Continuing in her generosity, after our home church, she brought us to the back of her property where she eagerly gave away SO much fruit to us. Fruit that she lives off of. It almost brought me to tears because this woman has nothing compared to American standards, yet, she was so willing to give so much away to all of us. It really showed me what true hospitality looks like because Jesus was shining out of that woman. It feels almost like a necessity on how one should act when inviting people in to their homes.
It brings me back to the teaching we had at Mini – Debrief on what it looks to have an interruptible spirit. Being open and willing to let Jesus shine through you in things like hospitality.
It was such a fun morning filled with so much light. Thank you Jesus for showing all of us what a true light looks like and what it looks like to depend completely on you Father.
