Christmas Lessons

This is a long, missionary rant with no pictures. So, if you are brave enough to read on, you might want to grab a big cup of coffee first!

• Yesterday our next door neighbor was so excited to give me a gift of maiz - corn kernels - for toasting. They have so little next door and yet she was so thrilled to have something to give. Sean regularly brings them gifts he has received from the jungle - yuca (manioc root), platanos (plantains), naranjilla (a kind of fruit they make juice out of), and, once, even a live chicken. Most of what we've given them were things we had no use for, but they are always so grateful for the things we've brought them. That was why Francisca was so pleased to return the favor by giving us a gift. Only for her, that corn was useful, it was food that she and her family could have eaten. I was very touched....and very humbled. We give out of our excess but she gave sacrificially. That bag of corn kernels means so much to me because of that.
  

• Today, another neighbor, Lupe, who always kindly says hello as she walks past our house, asked me if I might have some work she could do for me. I couldn't really think of much but then she mentioned ironing and all I could think about was the huge pile of ironing I haven't had time to get to. So, I said "sure" and she spent two hours ironing all of our clothes. (She even ironed some dirty clothes I had set out to wash! We laughed about that once she realized what she'd done!) In return I paid her a very meager - though generous by Ecuadorian standards - sum. Brooklyn spent the afternoon playing with Lupe while she worked and before she left she held Madison close and made over her like any proper grandmotherly type would. She talked to me a little bit about her hard life and when she left I mourned. I mourned that I couldn't and didn't do more. I mourned that I'd been missing out on her friendship all this time that she's been walking by. I mourned that life for Lupe was so hard that she'd gladly accept just a few dollars for a couple of hours of hard work while my biggest struggle is finding time to iron my way- too-many clothes.

• Also this afternoon, a friend of ours from church came by. She has been helping me babysit Madison while I go help at Brooklyn's preschool. When she babysits, Aide (who is 17 years old) brings along her little boy who is about 6 months older than Maddie. This afternoon she came by wondering if I might be willing to loan her a couple of dollars so that she can visit a doctor in Puyo. We have plans for her to babysit for us tomorrow night and she asked if maybe I could just take the $2 out of her pay tomorrow night. To me that $2 was spare change sitting around the house. Two dollars! I probably won't take the $2 out of her pay tomorrow night, not because I'm so charitable, but because I'll have already forgotten about those few coins I pulled out of our change basket. My heart breaks for this family. Here is this beautiful (and she is supermodel gorgeous) girl with a husband and a child and no money to see a doctor. I couldn't help but wonder - if she didn't have $2 to pay the doctor, how did she have money for food? I know they are struggling to make ends meet. Aide and Isaac are still kids but they are struggling to make things work for their family. They are trying to work - doing whatever they can with their limited skills and education. But their future, compared to mine, is very bleak.
  

My normal approach when faced with these kinds of situations has either been to play the ostrich and stick my head in the sand or to play the benevolent banker and throw money in the general direction of the needy. God is showing me that neither approach is right. I'm still learning what the correct approach with each of these precious ladies is. But as we get ready to do our Christmas shopping, I'm humbled and reminded that we already have more than most of our neighbors could ever imagine.

This isn't about taking a vow of poverty. It isn't about feeling bad for God's gifts in our lives or questioning, "why us and not them?" It isn't about refusing to enjoy the blessings that God has given me. We'll have Christmas presents under our tree and stuffed stockings and a Christmas Day feast with friends...but I don't want that to be the focus of the holiday for my children. I want this holiday to be about the Messiah who came and gave Himself ... sacrificially. I want my children to learn and appreciate what that Gift means, and why giving is better than receiving.

One of the greatest gifts that we as parents could give our girls this year and in the years to come, is the gift of charity and love for our neighbors. For us, that can be taken very literally. These past couple of days have shown me that I have held back of my time, my money, and my things when I should have been sharing. I've got opportunities at the turn of every corner in Shell, Ecuador. I'm challenged as Christmas approaches this year to first, be very grateful for the blessings God has poured out on me and my family. Secondly, I'm challenged to think of ways that we can bless our neighbors in some small way that reflects Christ. The scary thing for me is to realize that it may not mean we give them money or a gift but our time and our friendship.

As we enter this special Season, will you pray with me that we'll be able to discern how to deal with the poverty that surrounds us here in Ecuador? Will you pray that God will help us overcome our fears and break down walls where they don't belong? I have to admit, I'm afraid even asking you to pray this for us but I'm more afraid of the calloused, hard, selfish person I could become.

And I hope that by my sharing this, you will also be able to reflect on your own life and the many blessings that are yours. Perhaps you have seen a need that God wants you to fill - it could be giving money or it could be giving of yourself. I pray you have the guts to follow through on it just like I'm praying the very same for myself!