…“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.." [Acts 3:6]
Some days on the Race don't make much sense….from an earthly perspective.
One day in Romania we walked for a couple hours around our village, Stejeris.
We were looking for something, as we are every day here.
We don’t know what it is we’re looking for, but we look and we wait and we pray every single day.
As we walked down the snow covered street we laughed about the fact that whoever we were hoping to run into probably wouldn't be outside, because anyone in their right mind would have been inside, bundled up by a fire.
We passed by a house where the most precious old woman was outside sweeping the snow off of her steps. She saw us and immediately dropped her broom and started moving towards us, pointing at her leg.
We realized she wanted us to pray for her.
We did, and we sang her a few songs that brought the most precious, wrinkled smile to her face. After a few more minutes of charades and laughter, we thanked her and moved on.
That moment stuck with me. This sweet old woman in a Hungarian village in Romania saw a bunch of young Americans walking on her street (we, as Racers, are typically quite loud everywhere we go, so I don't doubt she heard our laughter and English) and remembered the pain in her leg and immediately thought "Oh! They'll pray for me!"
Sometimes, it gets exhausting being "on display". Because we choose to spend our time with the impoverished, we also have the experience of constantly being asked for money or food from people on the street. While it absolutely breaks my heart that my small amount of money can't fix their problems and I can't offer them a million hot meals, I know I have something better to share with them.
And this old woman saw in us just that.
What do I have to offer? I have hope. I have words of life. I have healing. I have the Father's love.
I have Jesus.
"…In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." [Acts 3:6]
