sent

Last week I sat and watched Triniti and 30 other kids as they ran after the soccer ball, pushed and kicked each other, and listened to Darbys kind, firm and silly instruction. I met a sweet lady in her 60's who was there watching her grandson, age 6, whom she has full custody of along with his sister who is 3. She brought oranges every day for all the kids. For two days I listened to her story. She told me that she KNOWS God is real and that there is a place called heaven because she had been there. She drowned when she was 9 years old, and what she remembers vividly is the amazing place she went to..... where for a long time she sat petting a lion, and saw her great grandmother. Her life here was difficult at the time, she was being abused and so she didn't want to come back, and was angry at her brother for rescuing her.

She mentioned the challenges of raising the two kids, the little one wakes up every night with nightmares of abuse. The older one is angry, and doesn't understand why his mom left.

Her own son's kidney failed when he was 15. He had a transplant which saved his life and then it failed when he was 27 and he died.

Her daughter had a massive stroke, thats why she can't take care of her children.

Her other daughter had her third baby, a beautiful chubby boy with an angel face....he died at birth. She held him for hours.

She told me all these things as if she were talking about yesterdays weather. It was her normal, to her it wasn't shocking or even that interesting. But it changed me. I thought, goodness, why do I try to protect myself and my children? God gave us an amazing resilience. We can make it through just about anything.

Part of being sent is listening to peoples stories. Not talking, just listening. And caring about what they've been through and where they are. And sometimes, part of being sent is gaining a new perspective....about learning a little from those to whom you are sent.