I cried all the way home, my tears hidden by the downpour of rain. How sweet it was to love someone that made saying goodbye so hard.
I think I met the most joyful lady in Thailand. Her name is Nok and she owns an adorable smoothie shop. I pass her everyday on my way to ministry and she always greets me with a beaming smile as I walk by. We blow kisses back and forth and wish each other a good day.
I’ve been buying smoothies from her for a week now. She always makes them so special and delicious, but I honestly think I would come here even if they weren’t delicious. Her joy pulls me in everyday and just being around her makes me smile. I want so bad to tell her about Jesus, but I feel the Lord telling me to be patient. Instead, I ask her how to spell her name and tell her that I’m writing it in my prayer journal. She says thank you but I can tell she doesn’t really understand. It’s okay because right now I just want her to know that I care.
I have so much fun talking with her. After two weeks of getting smoothies from her I learn a little bit about her life, family, and smoothie business. Some things were lost in translation, but from what I understood she is divorced, has 2 kids, and a sister that lives nearby. She shows me pictures of them, which gives me the perfect idea!
The day before I leave I go and get a print of the photo I took with her the other day. I write a note on the back telling her who she is and how much I love her and how much Jesus loves her. After lunch I walk to her stand and tell her I have something for her. She reaches out her hand and as soon as she sees what I’ve given her she squeals with joy and hugs/kisses me frantically as tears roll down her cheeks. She can’t believe the gift. I think it shocked her how much I cared about her. She excitedly showed the photo to her daughter then they get back to cutting fruit. I can hear her still sniffling from crying which makes me tear up as well. Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to my precious friend.
I walk up to her stand for the last time and she quickly says hello then points to a small little picture on the front of her stand that every customer will see. Now I’m taken by surprise. I didn’t know she cared so much.
On my last day she made me THE BEST mango passion fruit smoothie (no seeds) and the whole time I sat there drinking it I was trying to hold back the tears. It starts down pouring rain so I wait it out as long as I can before I must leave. The time comes and I walk up to her window to pay and say goodbye. I tell her again how blessed I was by her and how much I’ll miss her. My eyes start to water as I ask her if she knows who Jesus is. She confusingly shakes her head no so I try my best to explain the story. I honestly doubt she understood me because at this point I was balling. Jesus gave me His love for this woman and it wrecked me more than anything else I’ve seen or experienced on this trip. As I speak to her she says. “Tessa, you making me cry.” (Well, Nok, you were making me cry!). The last thing I say is that Jesus sees her because he sent me to her. She hugs me tightly, then sends me on my way with a plastic bag to protect me from the rain.
I hope I made a difference in her life. I hope that she saw the Jesus in me. I hope it showed her how loved she is. I hope I planted a seed.
I cried all the way home, my tears hidden by the downpour of rain. How sweet it was to love someone that made saying goodbye so hard.
There is a song by The Lumineers called Nobody Knows that I believe captures this story. It goes something like this:
Nobody knows how to say goodbye
It seems so easy ’til you try
Then the moments passed you by
Nobody knows how to say goodbye
Love is deep as the road is long
And moves my feet to carry on
Love is deep as the road is long
Nobody knows how the story ends
Live the day, doing what you can
This is only where it began
Nobody knows how the story ends
Nobody knows how the story ends
The truth is, I don’t know how this story will end and that’s hard. I hope I can see her again but I’m not sure if that will ever happen. I have to trust that the Lord is going to continue to work in her life. It’s hard not being there for Nok, but I have faith that the short time I had with her was all part of a greater plan where the Lord is slowly revealing Himself to her.
Who knows, maybe I’ll meet her again in Heaven. After all, this is only the beginning of her story.
