Of Lice and Men

This week has flown by! I can't believe tomorrow is Thursday already. We will do our last distribution tomorrow at a mountain village and we will have home visits... I can't wait to tell you all about that. Back to today though. It started at the warehouse, as normal, where we loaded the bus down. Then we headed to a pretty far off village that was up a mountain, but was near the main road, so we were able to take the bus to get there (most mountain villages cannot be accessed so easily). It was clear that our efforts were against Satan's will and the radiator hose on the bus busted. So we spent two and a half hours on the side of the road waiting for our team leader and the ministry leader to return with the part to fix the bus. The odd thing was, nobody complained, we didn't whine about the heat...too much :), and we actually all came together as a team and got to know one another better. We played a lot of games and tried to stay in the shade. It was definitely hot, but we stayed hydrated and sat under the tree line to keep from being cooked by the sun.

Naturally, we arrived to the village about 3 hours late. And this is what amazes me about the Honduran people; they didn't act like Americans, who would have left LONG before an hour had passed. They didn't grumble, cuss us out when we got there or even show an ounce of discontent. They were actually some of the most loving people I have ever met. As I made my rounds to say hello and thank them for having us, I made my way towards a group of older women sitting in the back. EVERY single one of them, no matter how old, how much pain they were in, or how long they waited for our arrival, stood up to greet me, shook my hand and pulled me in for a hug and kiss on the cheek. They all thanked me profusely (as if I were responsible for our arrival). I have never experienced feeling so welcome. Coming from a culture that would have cast us as inconsiderate, lazy people for being three hours late, I was certainly not expecting such a sincere and warm welcome. The more time I spend in Honduras, the more I realize that we've got a lot to learn from them.

I had so much fun at our distributions today. The lot where we held the first distribution was BEAUTIFUL. It was a flat area, great for playing, but also completely surronded by mountains. It was a beautiful sight. We had a lot of fun dancing and playing with the children as well. It's funny, when we're having our devotion time with the team, we talk a lot about how a child or  one of the people at the distributions will choose you. Whether you are seeking them or not, they choose you. And it never fails, it almost always happens. It happened twice today. At the first distribution one of the girls was set on dancing with me. She sought me out in a large crowd, just to bounce around with me. We just held hands and jumped around like fools, really, but it was so encouraging to just hold her hands and watch joy pour out of her. She was thrilled and frankly, so was I. At the second distribution, just another village over from the previous, we set up at their school building. It was tight quarters, for sure at this place. so much so, that I was holding a sweet little girl so she could see over the crowd of people. She would have no part of me trying to put her down either. She stayed with me for quite some time and really wasn't even interested in the show that I was trying to lift her to see. Soon, she just layed her head on my shoulder. She hardly spoke to me at all. She'd never say her name when I asked, or how old she was, she simply held on tight. Here's where it gets a little interesting. Remember, I said she chose me. One of the other team members mentioned that a lot of the children in this village had lice. Naturally, you'd think people would steer clear, but no body did. I wasn't sure if this little girl had it or not, but two minuntes into holding her, it didn't matter. She was content with me and for whatever reason, she chose me. I'm not sure if I actually got lice, but I treated myself just in case. I definitely didn't want that to be my souvenir from Honduras. :) I guess I learned something from holding that sweet little girl, though; I learned that comfort and love should have no limits. It certainly has none with God, so why should we extend any rigt to decide who we should or shouldn't love and show compassion to? I thank God more and more each day, for tiny things that I barely recognize when I am caught in my busy day-to-day life.

Thank you, God, for loving me, comforting me, honoring me, when I have done nothing to deserve it, when I have been spiritually filthy, with lice, and looked so unlovable. Thank you, for loving me with no restraint.

Beyond blessed,
Delilah