This morning was a beautiful reminder of how relational this culture is. I woke up with my mind swirling with the details of the busy day before me -- Language study, details for the upcoming trip to the States, more details regarding a full month of teams and visitors in October that need to get done BEFORE our visit to the States. Before I could even fix my morning cup of tea, I hear that the kitchen and grounds crew are going to go visit one of the cooks who has recently had knee surgery - do I want to go? The first thing that grips me is a little bit of fear because I am still so unsure of my language skills and heaven forbid I sound foolish! But I decide to go and jump in the van to go visit Lucila.
We head out toward the mountain range that is across the valley from the base. I have never been in this area before and it is a beautiful drive. We leave the main road and travel roads that are narrow, gravel, and full of pot holes. We have to dodge a horse grazing by the side of the road and the occasional chicken that runs into the road. We pull over to let a hay laden truck that is traveling the other way go by. They smile and wave.
As we go, I love listening to the friendly, joking banter between Mili, Carlos, Joan, Fico, Juana, Rudy, Hans, and Wilian. And I find that I can actually understand most of what is being said and can laugh along with their jokes. I remember a year ago listening to the same banter and wondering if maybe they were laughing at me and my futile attempts to communicate. They may have been but I have come to know them well enough to know that they are not malicious - they just love to laugh!
As we enter the community that Lucila lives in, Angela, another one of our cooks and Lucila's sister, comes out of her house to wave us in for a cup of coffee. Now I'm sure you are different from me but honestly, if a van load of nine people that I knew drove by my house in the past, I'm not sure that I would have done the same thing. I mean, is the house clean, do I have enough coffee creamer, do I have the time? Somehow those questions don't seem to matter so much anymore.
We drink our cafesita (a small cup of Dominican coffee with LOTS of sugar), leave the van there and walk down a few houses to see Lucila. We sit and talk for a bit, well, I sit and listen while they all talk about her surgery, then we head back to the van and drive back to the base.
As I sit here ready to get busy with my Spanish "tarea" I can hear the guys working on the grounds. I'm sure that Mili is busy in the cabins, getting them ready for our fall visitors. I love how willing they are to stop their busy schedules to go and sit for a minute with a friend so she knows that they are thinking about her. I think back to the many times that I should have put my friendships first and let my business go for a brief hour to be sure that that friend knew how important they were to me. I purpose in my mind to do that more.
Thank you Lord, for the gift of this morning and for reminding me that you created us to be in relationship with each other. Thank you for these wonderfully, warm, loving people that we get to walk along side of, who extend so much love and grace. Thank you for laughter and "cafesitas" that help bridge the language gap. Thank you too for bringing us to this place in our lives, to this country, to these people, to serve You in this way. We pray that we represent You well!
