The Friday following our last Monday vist with Maria we went back to see her. Needless to say she was ecstatic to see all of us again; the previous talk of food and buying her her much needed medication may have had something to do with the excitement. As we walked through her door she greted us with hugs, kisses and smiles. I can speak for the entire team when I say there was genuine love in the atmosphere.
As we gathered in Maria’s quaint home and all found our seats we presented and served her the fried chicken we had brought. It was such a blessing to serve this woman in a way as simple as bringing her a plate of fried chicken, her favorite food. Together we sat in silence for a moment eating our chicken, and it was in the silence I realized something, something simple, yet it hit me hard. We, a bunch of North American teenagers, were eating fried chicken in the middle of Honduras with this sweet elderly woman who has become like a grandmother to us. God brought all of us together and it was oddly perfect. We began making small talk amongst ourselves in English and as I was glancing around at everyone I noticed that smile of satisfation that Maria held on her face. I could see instantly she felt the love, the community, and the fellowship that has been absent in her life for many years.
After we had all finshed eating I handed Maria the medicines we had bought for her. She clasped her hands over her mouth and with an expression of surprise, stared at her medicine. No words were even needed; her eyes said it all. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes became more apparent making obvious the smile that was hidden behind her hands. I could see the overwhelming joy, surprise, and love she felt in that moment.
We spent a bit more time just relaxing and conversing as our time with Maria began dwindling to an end. Before we said our goodbyes, again we prayed over Maria blessings, healing, and for an abundance of love. As we came to the end of our prayer Maria began to cry and started praying along with us. At first her prayer made no sense to me as it was all in spanish, but then Sarah, our team leader, translated for the rest of us who could not understand. Maria was thanking God for all of us and the hearts that He has placed in us. Over and over she said thank you for these beautiful people, speaking of our hearts. She then began to tell us how she has realized we are God’s means of anwsering her prayers. She said she would have never imagined God bringing us, a bunch of white kids, into her life, but she was sure glad He did; we were family to her now. It was all I could do to fight back the tears that began to well up. To think for years on years this woman was praying for healing, for some sort of miracle and God decided to send us, to use us as the answer to this woman’s cry.
How powerful is the love of God! We did nothing spectacular for Maria, we did not heal her or perform some great physical miracle, but we loved. Love is the greatest blessing of all, the biggest miracle. Love is the reason we are saved, the reason we are free. What power rest in this one emotion. What transformation and restoration lies in this one action. Love conquers all.
Sometimes its in and through the ordinary that God will do the extraordinary.
“We love because He first loved us” 1 John 4:19 NIV
“My Thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says The Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
