I remember sitting in the office of my college prof advisor picking the schedule for my first semester of undergrad. It was time to select which foreign language I would study. I had taken 5 years of French in middle school and high school but suddenly I heard the sentence "Sign me up for Spanish 101," come out of my mouth. I remember the look on my parents face when I told them my decision. I think they were confused as to why I would begin a new language at a time where I'd have a lot of other academic transitions ahead. I also, remember the tone in my Dad's voice when I called after a semester of Spanish to ask if I could drop it for a semester. (I didn't end up dropping). Learning a language is not easy for me. I had to work hard for every B, I squeaked by with during those college semesters. But somewhere, deep in my heart I knew that there was a reason I wanted that base knowledge. As a high school senior I remember spouting off the phrase "wanting to do mission work."
It's part of what influenced me to make the language switch in college. Never could I have known the sweet faces that would embrace my small amount of Spanish years later in a small hillside community in Guatemala. For the first day with the children I spent a week with, all I could say over and over again was my name. I wanted them to at least know, they could call me by name and I spent the day working hard to memorize each of theirs...Axel, Kimberly, Jorge, Oliver, Juan, Mary, Deena, Adelita, Archely, Clara, Diego, Diela...the list went on and on as the numbers of children grew over the week I spent in their community. We were tied together by each others names. Although, I would often lack the sentences I wanted to say to them. I could wrap them into a huge hug or pull them into my lap to say "Bueno, Deena" after receiving another crayon drawing or handmade rubberband bracelet. They taught me Jesus Loves Me in Spanish and I taught them Deep in Wide in English. We would skip in a circle with the parachute and they'd just yell over and over "Estefania, Estefania!"
What these sweet children taught me over and over again last week is that love doesn't require many words. Affirmation sometimes means the most through a smile or the look of gratitude from one set of eyes to another. I couldn't say everything I wanted to say to the children, but as tears streamed down my face as I prepared to give final goodbye hugs on the last day, they huddled around me wiping my cheeks and hugging me. They knew how much I had grown to love them. Isn't God's love such a beautiful gift? He ties us together no matter what the barrier between us when we strive to love others in His name. He bridges our differences. Suddenly, Indiana and Guatemala don't seem so far apart & a piece of my heart remains with each of the sweet faces I know and match with a name in my daily prayers.
No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
