Girly-Girl
Ophelia and her mother were best friends. Like, in Gilmore Girls.
I was not expecting her mom to be so excited, or so beautiful.
We went to visit a sponsor child today. We’re going to call her Ophelia to protect her privacy.
I realized that I know – back at home, you can see pictures of your sponsor child – but before I came here, I had no idea what she was actually like. I had no idea how she moved her hands. When you write to her – you just see the mug shot sent by FH. But, in person, she was so expressive and moved her hands with a little flourish…graceful like a dancer. When she stood in front of the class, she was calm and confident at the same time.
I had no idea that she was so…girly. She reminded me of my cousin Jenny.
You could tell that this visit was so important to her…..she wore these high heels shoes like I wore to my high school graduation. The heels were clear, and there was glittery bling on the straps. Her feet were dirty because she was walking outside with the pigs and the dirt and the dogs…but she wore these shoes. And they shone – just like the smile on her face. She wore earrings, and her mom wore a gold watch. The mom kept playing with it…it was obvious that she wasn’t used to wearing it. I wondered if maybe she borrowed it. Just for today – because was special.
We were touched at how we were treated – like guests of honour, while I was afraid of intruding on their privacy, Raquel kept trying to give us things.
I was expecting the yard and the pigs and the mud. The houses are bits of brick and plywood thrown together with whatever scraps the owner can find when they buy their land and need shelter. The kitchen floor was made of dirt. It reminded me of the sodhouse at Heritage Park. Their house was the size of your average hotel room.
And a family of 6 lived here.
It humanized it. It humanized the people, and their story. They have a real, beautiful story to tell – they just need us to listen.
It reminded me that this was a person, with a personality and opinions and dreams and a voice. A voice that she was willing to use.
This is a kid that is going to grow up to be something.
–
Water: anything that God uses in and through us to make the world better. How are you bringing water to your world today?
Heather
This is a terrific example of what happens when people pull their head out of a book and get out of the stands and on to the field and play the game. It makes it real. It makes people real. Then you kind of forget about the ridiculous rules that some of those people in the stands think the game should follow.
– Brad
Sent from my iPod