Attachment to people we come in contact with didn’t even cross my mind when I signed up for the race… A month seemed like such a short amount of time since there were ELEVEN to conquer by the time the race was over. Boy was I wrong. A month is long enough to not only get to know your contacts and people surrounding you.. But also get attached. (If you don’t know, world racers pack all of their belongings in one big hiking backpack for the year…) My team and I have a joke that when you just can’t get enough of someone… you can just “put them in your backpack.” The backpackers are the ones that you can’t help but weep when you have to leave them. The ones you who want to come back and if not kidnap, visit for sure. I have picked someone up every month. Here are the three that are in my backpack currently:
Baskar. I have blogged about him before. He was my India baby. He lived in the special needs
orphanage we worked at and I cannot even begin to explain the out of control light i saw in his precious little eyes. The first day that I met my little sunshine I taught him how to do the “I love you” sign with his thumb, index and pinky fingers. The last day we were there when we were frantically hopping into an auto to get home I saw his little smile and his little hand through the gate saying I love you. Naturally I was weeping… thinking “what did I get myself into.” Good news about this little boy though! He was taken to Hyderbad to get a full examination to diagnose him better now that he is getting older and turns out the ONLY thing wrong with him is that he can’t hear!! In the past few years they have thought that he may have had some mental issues as well but turns out his brain is perfectly fine! Praise the freakin Lord! His responses are a little delayed but that is just because he can’t hear. Baskar stole my heart.. he was the first one in my “backpack.”
Grandma. I didn’t think any more attachments could happen! Turns out I was wrong. We arrive in Nepal and immediately get introduced to the family we will be staying with. There was this little old lady who immediately caught my eye with the light in hers. It is had to decipher if hugging is appropriate around the world but I didn’t even hesitate with her…
I could tell all she really wanted was love. Every single glorious day of Nepal I had a 90 year old women running to me with open arms… sometimes 3 times a day. She was so beautiful. She could barely even talk but we had this out of control bond. The best part about this is not only would just hug me but when I walked away she would give me a little love tap on the butt. HAHA my life was absolutely complete. She would creep into our window sometimes just so grin and wave. The last day we were there she was sobbing. She broke my little heart. She came downstairs and just basically fell into our arms and was so distraught that we were leaving. It showed me how much the Lord used even something as petty as a hug to bless her life. Lets just say grandma is taking care of baskar in my backpack.
Miheala. I arrive to Romania with the idea that my backpack is full. There is no way to open up my heart -backpack if you will- to another. BOOM roasted. Our ministry this month has been staying at a former orphanage called Casa Shalom. Some of the older girls that used to live here stayed when the Orphanage closed. As soon as I met one of the girls in particular I knew she would be in the backpack. Mihaela has changed all of our lives. She seriously has the most selfless heart and doesn’t even have a clue how baller she is! Her smile in general is just a canvas of how much the Lord loves. Not only that but she works so hard for everyone around her without even thinking twice. She is a testimony of how the Lord wants to use all of us. What better way to learn from her than to stick her in my backpack with Baskar and Grandma? My thoughts exactly.I would be crazy to think God is done blowing me up with people who will be in the backpack.
. I will keep you all updated on who else climbs in there with these three.
