The other day I saw Jesus, and he was only three years old!
Summer break has hit us, the kids are now having way more time on their hands than Mom & Dad would hope for. This means finding things to keep them from being on each other’s nerves, not an easy task in a place where the pool and beach are the only past times…
We have or I should say that Astrid has been very hard at work in the office, aka (our room) getting everything lined out for our registration and upcoming ministry events. Bless her heart; she is so good at admin and planning!
This means that I am on daughter duty… It is my job to try to keep the girls occupied long enough so that Astrid can focus on the work at hand. It is not so hard, Nani & Zoey are old enough that they come up with all sorts of things to play and keep themselves busy, only once in a while do I have to intervene and pull them out of boredom. Jasmin & Yaida are at that stage where they love to run around and play but also love to do stuff they should not be doing. This means that I am keeping a little closer eye on them. They have in turn become daddies little traveling buddies. Because I am the one to do most of the running around in town and take care of the majority of the shopping, Jasmin & Yaida are my side kicks, oh man do they love it! The car cannot start without them running out to join in the adventure, or at least that is what I believe it is to them…
As we live in Burundi, which is considered to be the third poorest Nation in the world, you can only imagine what we are surrounded by from day to day.
As me and my two traveling buddies are busing around town, I can help but to snicker and laugh a bit as I am picking up on the conversations that are taking place in the back seat between my two three year olds. I begin to ask myself what does this place look like through the eyes of a three year old? What does the poor, maimed, crippled, and blind, look like through their eyes?
I hear things like, “Oh my gosh yaya, (Yaida) look! This poor boy has no legs! He’s sitting in the dirt!” or “Jassy (Jasmin) Look this lady’s arm is weird! Every where they turn it is “look at this, oh my gosh that!” Yet with every statement there is compassion in their voice… Then the questions come… Daddy what happened to them? Why is he look like that? Why does she walk like that? I try my best to explain in a way that a three year old would somehow understand. All of a sudden the questions stop but the statements continue, always drawing one another’s attention to the next big sight. This happens day after day. The girls started asking me for money so that when they come to such poor people they can help them.
Jasmin has been growing in her compassion for the poor and the needy, every time we step out of the car and there is a crippled or someone with withered hand or deformity, she is there… One thumb in her mouth and with the other hand she is greeting them and touching their Ouchy… Yaida is usely right behind or beside her.
One day I had to go to the main market place…. The only way to explain this place is crazy city!!! If you don’t have a problem with Closter phobia then when you’re done you will… almost every beggar in the city is there, pick pockets galore, etc. etc. I usely send one of our local workers so that I don’t need to bother with the insanity. But I really needed to go myself for some reason that now escapes me, anyhow Jasmin and Yaida are with me and I am telling them how crazy it is and that they must hold on to Daddies hand the whole time. As we start in through the small, skinny, overcrowded isles I am having the girls hands and walking as fast as I can (I am focused on where I need to get to...) I feel that I am almost dragging the poor girls so I look down and I see little Jasmin in her own little world, walking as fast as she can to keep up with her fast pace daddy and trying to touch and see all the poor crippled people that are all around us. I tell her to stop touching everybody and just follow me. Ok daddy is her reply. The next thing I know I look over and I don’t have two kids any more but three…. Walking next to Jasmin as fast as he can go is this cute little boy about three or four years old. He doesn’t have any feet, only two little stubs that stop at the knee. He doesn’t have any hands earthier , his arms stop about at his wrist. Yet this little guy was keeping up with us, walking along side Jasmin and jassie had a hold of his little stumpy arm. I almost started crying right there in that crazy market.
A day or two later we are out and about in town again and I park somewhere outside a shop to wait for something. Of course as soon as the car stops the people start coming. (If you stop, they will come…) I see a young boy leading this older blind Muzee (old man), they approach the car asking for money and I try to ignore them. But what do you know jasmin’s window comes down and immediately she is telling Yaida about the poor man who has no eyeballs. The man approaches close enough that Jasmin reaches out to touch where his eyes should be. I stop her and tell her to sit down! Her reply is daddy this poor boy has no eyeballs, what happened? The Lord then spoke to me and said pray for him! I said “ Jassie do you want to pray for the man,to pray that Jesus will heal his eyes?” She was quite a bit with thumb in her mouth then said “yaya (Yaida) you pray for him…” Yaya response very quickly no thank you. Then Jasmin puts it back on me, You pray daddy! I refused that offer and after felt horrible. Did I grieve the spirit of God? Did the Lord want to do a miracle there? I guess I will never know!
Summer break has hit us, the kids are now having way more time on their hands than Mom & Dad would hope for. This means finding things to keep them from being on each other’s nerves, not an easy task in a place where the pool and beach are the only past times…
We have or I should say that Astrid has been very hard at work in the office, aka (our room) getting everything lined out for our registration and upcoming ministry events. Bless her heart; she is so good at admin and planning!
This means that I am on daughter duty… It is my job to try to keep the girls occupied long enough so that Astrid can focus on the work at hand. It is not so hard, Nani & Zoey are old enough that they come up with all sorts of things to play and keep themselves busy, only once in a while do I have to intervene and pull them out of boredom. Jasmin & Yaida are at that stage where they love to run around and play but also love to do stuff they should not be doing. This means that I am keeping a little closer eye on them. They have in turn become daddies little traveling buddies. Because I am the one to do most of the running around in town and take care of the majority of the shopping, Jasmin & Yaida are my side kicks, oh man do they love it! The car cannot start without them running out to join in the adventure, or at least that is what I believe it is to them…
As we live in Burundi, which is considered to be the third poorest Nation in the world, you can only imagine what we are surrounded by from day to day.
As me and my two traveling buddies are busing around town, I can help but to snicker and laugh a bit as I am picking up on the conversations that are taking place in the back seat between my two three year olds. I begin to ask myself what does this place look like through the eyes of a three year old? What does the poor, maimed, crippled, and blind, look like through their eyes?
I hear things like, “Oh my gosh yaya, (Yaida) look! This poor boy has no legs! He’s sitting in the dirt!” or “Jassy (Jasmin) Look this lady’s arm is weird! Every where they turn it is “look at this, oh my gosh that!” Yet with every statement there is compassion in their voice… Then the questions come… Daddy what happened to them? Why is he look like that? Why does she walk like that? I try my best to explain in a way that a three year old would somehow understand. All of a sudden the questions stop but the statements continue, always drawing one another’s attention to the next big sight. This happens day after day. The girls started asking me for money so that when they come to such poor people they can help them.
Jasmin has been growing in her compassion for the poor and the needy, every time we step out of the car and there is a crippled or someone with withered hand or deformity, she is there… One thumb in her mouth and with the other hand she is greeting them and touching their Ouchy… Yaida is usely right behind or beside her.
One day I had to go to the main market place…. The only way to explain this place is crazy city!!! If you don’t have a problem with Closter phobia then when you’re done you will… almost every beggar in the city is there, pick pockets galore, etc. etc. I usely send one of our local workers so that I don’t need to bother with the insanity. But I really needed to go myself for some reason that now escapes me, anyhow Jasmin and Yaida are with me and I am telling them how crazy it is and that they must hold on to Daddies hand the whole time. As we start in through the small, skinny, overcrowded isles I am having the girls hands and walking as fast as I can (I am focused on where I need to get to...) I feel that I am almost dragging the poor girls so I look down and I see little Jasmin in her own little world, walking as fast as she can to keep up with her fast pace daddy and trying to touch and see all the poor crippled people that are all around us. I tell her to stop touching everybody and just follow me. Ok daddy is her reply. The next thing I know I look over and I don’t have two kids any more but three…. Walking next to Jasmin as fast as he can go is this cute little boy about three or four years old. He doesn’t have any feet, only two little stubs that stop at the knee. He doesn’t have any hands earthier , his arms stop about at his wrist. Yet this little guy was keeping up with us, walking along side Jasmin and jassie had a hold of his little stumpy arm. I almost started crying right there in that crazy market.
A day or two later we are out and about in town again and I park somewhere outside a shop to wait for something. Of course as soon as the car stops the people start coming. (If you stop, they will come…) I see a young boy leading this older blind Muzee (old man), they approach the car asking for money and I try to ignore them. But what do you know jasmin’s window comes down and immediately she is telling Yaida about the poor man who has no eyeballs. The man approaches close enough that Jasmin reaches out to touch where his eyes should be. I stop her and tell her to sit down! Her reply is daddy this poor boy has no eyeballs, what happened? The Lord then spoke to me and said pray for him! I said “ Jassie do you want to pray for the man,to pray that Jesus will heal his eyes?” She was quite a bit with thumb in her mouth then said “yaya (Yaida) you pray for him…” Yaya response very quickly no thank you. Then Jasmin puts it back on me, You pray daddy! I refused that offer and after felt horrible. Did I grieve the spirit of God? Did the Lord want to do a miracle there? I guess I will never know!
All I can say is lately I have been seeing Jesus in a three year old!!
My prayer recently Is lord help me to be more like my three year old!
My prayer recently Is lord help me to be more like my three year old!
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