Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Joy

This entry was taken from the Blog of Alice @ http://itsawonderlandworld.blogspot.com/2011/08/joy.html

Monday, August 8, 2011

It's a beautiful, muggy morning in Haiti...the electricity went out last night and so our precious fans that are our ac were out too. The 15 minute period seemed like an eternity but boy was it a blessing when the power came back on. 

Moments of joy made up my afternoon yesterday. We went to Jimmy Bono's Home for Street Boys. As we pulled into this house, we were immediately swarmed with little hands and arms reaching up to us for hugs. All 50 or so boys live in this one house. Hours and hours passed as we played and learned creole and took over 300 photos. God bless my camera battery....  

So many moments jump out as moments of joy. One little boy named Sebastian caught my attention early on. He was quiet and very gentle and very much an observer. He would look on as I talked with the older boys and would smile and look away. Such a flirt! We became fast friends. One of the older boys, Richie, was asking me the regular questions of how old are you, where are you from, do you have a husband, and then do you have babies! Jokingly, I  asked 13 year old Richie if he had babies, and he replied with a big grin "yes, Sebastian is my baby...do you want him?" I laughed and asked him if he became a father at 7 since Sebastian is 5...He chuckled and said uh huh...and then admitted it was a lie.. The whole conversation was riddled with laughter and giggles. So much joy...  

These same two boys when meal time arrived ended our UNO game and took me back behind the house to wash our hands. Richie picked up the cup of water and poured water over my hands and then handed the cup to me to wash his hands. It reminded me of the beauty of foot washing..a humbling shared gift. 

When the boys all sat down to eat, they all squished into a long table and elbow to elbow bowed their heads to pray. A perfectly sacred peaceful moment.  

I am so thankful for the joy of these boys, for their attitudes, and for the gift of laughter and love they shared with us. The example of love they shared with us is one I hope to bring home. What would our world look like if everyone was greeted with a hug and a smile? What if everyone no matter who you are, what you look like or how old you are was welcomed with open arms. I hope to do that in my life.