Sweet faces

Last night Rick and I hosted some friends for dinner. We had the opportunity to show our Honduras pictures and share our experiences.

The pictures above are just a few of the sweet faces we fell in love with. What is so amazing is how happy these children are. They laughed and played and hugged the entire time we were there. And they bickered with each other, argued and were consequently disciplined. It was one big family, with all of it's positives and negatives.

Now that I've had some time to process all of the emotions associated with the trip, I have some regrets. Mainly, I wish I had been more physically open with the children. They were so needy of physical affection. There wasn't a moment that went by when they weren't grabbing at my hand or wanting to be held or hugged or something. And some of the little girls LOVED to brush our hair. Just like normal little girls.

I had hesitations. I tried to indulge them, but still remained pretty reserved with the "touchy-feely" part of loving on the children. Sure, they bathed, but there were not clean by the standards we are accustomed to. And some of them were being treated for lice. That was scary.

So allowing the girls to brush my hair was something that I had to draw the line at. But now, in retrospect, I regret being as restrained as I was. So what if I had gotten dirtier than I already was? So what if I had gotten lice (horrors!) It's treatable.

Am I not called to love these little children in a language that they can understand? And since I couldn't speak their Moskito language... that leaves the universal language of physical touch.

I've often thought about how Jesus would be with these children. They are so dear and precious to God, and I think Jesus would get "down and dirty" with them loving them in their language. He wouldn't care about broken fingernails or sweaty, stinky residue...

I did my best, with what I knew at the time. And it changed my life. And now, I want more. I want to go back and give more of myself.

To be available. I guess that's one thing I'm learning. When I say YES to serving, I might put myself in uncomfortable situations. Sometimes REAL uncomfortable situations. But I come out the other side with a new perspective, a changed heart, and a desire to do it again.