dirty little hands

Over the past two days I have been reading "Kisses from Katie" by Katie Davis, a young woman serving the Lord through her ministry to children in Uganda.  I have been loving this book because Katie is doing exactly what I want to do in India once I graduate--minister to orphans, bring them into my home, love on them as Jesus would.

Reading this book got me to thinking about my time in Mexico in November.  I only went for about 24 hours total, but I just loved my time at the orphanage there.  Children are so eager to love on anyone who comes their way, and these kids were no different.

In the very first chapter of "Kisses from Katie", Katie recalls an experience she had with a little boy who hurt himself, and how she was able to comfort him.

On the second day that I was in Mexico, I tried to get to know a little boy named Arian.  I had a really hard time getting the pronunciation of his name right, and I could tell he was frustrated with me.  He was quiet, and not very eager to get to know me.

I went outside with the kids to watch them play, and while I was out there Arian tripped and fell, making his nose and lips bleed, as well as scuffing up his hands so that they bled.  He sat there for a moment crying inaudibly until I rushed over to him, hauled him up off the ground, and took him to the bathroom to clean him up.

There weren't any tissues in the bathroom, but I'd brought some with me on a whim (thank God for that whim!).  Arian stopped crying as soon as I started taking care of him, but my heart just broke for him as I cleaned him up.  His eyes held such sadness.  I gave him a wet tissue to hold to his bleeding nose while I gently wiped the blood off of his forehead and lips.

Arian's poor little hands were scuffed and bleeding, and I couldn't help but kiss them as I cleaned them up.  Now you have to understand what a huge step this was for me.  I was in Mexico.  I was terrified of getting some sort of disease or something from germs or contaminated water.  And I kissed this little boy's hands.

And then we went and watched a movie with all the other children.  Arian let me put my arms around him and hold him the entire time.  And I gave out two entire packs of chicle to all the kids.  Chicle = gum.

I worry a lot about my plans to serve in missions after I graduate.  I'm too young, too inexperienced, too uneducated, too single, too naive.  But the Lord has been teaching me that He has made me exactly who I am so that I can do the work He has for me.  As I've been memorizing 1 Corinthians 1 He's really been driving that home: "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world, and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God."  He has given me a desire to serve children.  And I'll kiss 1000 more dirty little hands to help show God's love to those kids.

And He holds all of them, including Arian, closer than I ever could.