Passing By

Lately I’ve noticed how much I tend to just pass by things in my rush to do whatever it is that I am doing. Being in a culture that seems so relaxed and slow moving at times makes me realize how much I still try and live in a fast paced world.

I just started taking Burmese lessons… I finally came to terms with the fact that taking Thai lessons probably wasn’t the most practical since I was starting to really focus on Burma. You would think that since I am spending time in villages in Burma that I would be practicing my Burmese with the kids and mommas who have stolen my heart, unfortunately I haven’t been. When I’m in Burma my brain is constantly attempting to stay ahead of whatever is happening, my focus is on the team that I brought over and how smooth everything is going. My head is so full and moving so fast it’s nearly impossible to slow it down long enough to remember one of the half a dozen phrases I’ve learned. If I’m spending the money on lessons to learn the language so that I can build deeper relationships with the people I’m here to serve, than I need to slow down long enough to at least attempt to tell them hello and ask how they are doing in their own language.

A couple of weeks ago we were taking a team down to the border to spend sometime in prayer. I love having teams come to the border, it often makes it easier to pray when you are looking at the people and places you are praying for. Plus life on the border is so different than anywhere else in Thailand or Burma, it’s a real eye opener for those who’ve never seen real poverty before. The last couple of teams that have been here for a week or two have been able to not only pray at the border but also build relationships with a few of the street kids. Again, my focus is normally the team, making sure that they aren’t to overwhelmed with what they are seeing and that they have direction for prayer when they get stuck. But this last time a couple of staff came with me and our contact was there as well, so I did something different…

There is this woman that I often see sitting in the shadows of one of the parked vehicles next to the border. She sits there, begging. The thing about this woman is that she has the most incredible smile. When she smiles the atmosphere around her brightens. You can tell her smile comes from the inside out. So this time, I didn’t pass by her. I grabbed my contact, told the team to go ahead and start without me as I squatted down to learn more about this woman with an incredible smile. It was easy to see she had leprosy at one point and I knew she wasn’t living in the leper village that we regularly visit. I learned that she is 28, her husband left her, she has two kids, and she loves Jesus. We laughed together and I got to see more of her amazing smile. I got the chance to pray for her and felt like I made a new friend. Since that day I’ve seen her one other time, it again resulted in smiles, prayer and hugs.

It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, or what you are doing… we all need the reminder to slow down every now and again or we’ll miss the opportunities and the people around us.