divine appointment

i love divine appointments. the most recent being with my students, Maria and Gustavo. both are from Mexico. both have been in the US 10+ yrs. Gustavo is a friend, renting a room in Maria's trailer. (photos coming soon)

its kinda funny how i even met Maria. i was loading groceries into my car a couple wks ago, when i heard holy spirit tell me to ask her if she needed a ride. at first she was hestitant, but after a few long seconds, accepted with a smile. i drove her and her daughter, Ruby, home and from there we ended up sitting in the car talking for an hour. she poured her heart out to me about how much she misses her family, how much she doesn't like her husband (i'm not sure if they're actually married), and how much she wants to learn English so that she can get a job.

i decided that i could help her out with 1 of the 3, so i offered to teach her English. i've been going to her house every evening since.

today's her birthday. instead of having class, we ate tamales, drank cherry kool-aid, and laughed our full heads off. just the 3 of us. i only understood about 75% of the conversation, but i had so much fun!

Gustavo is always laughing, smiling, joking, and telling stories. tonight we called him the clown and joked about how he needs to stop eating so much chocolate. he thinks it gives him joy :) after an hour or so of talking and laughing, Gustavo turned serious. tears filled his eyes and he said, "you know why i'm happy on the outside, because i am sad in my heart!"

Gustavo left his job herding cattle and riding horses on his ranch in Veracruz to come to the US so that his daughter could go to college. yes, he had a job but it wasn't enough to pay for an education. instead of staying with his family and watching his children grow into adults, he made the dangerous trek north. he's now mowing lawns, trimming plants, and doing other landscaping jobs to put his daughter thru college.

he misses his family terribly! the last time he saw his children, they were exactly that. children. 10 and 12 yrs old. theyre now grown. Gustavo never got to watch his children grow up. he has never met them as adults.

my own heart is filled with sadness when i see the sadness in their eyes. yes, theyre here illegally, but before we judge them, we need to take a walk in their shoes. we need to know the desperate circumstances that led to such drastic measures.

i put my hand on Gustavo's shoulder, as he wiped tears from his eyes, and told him that i read the bible when i'm sad (which is like everyday!). i prayed for him and Maria, then left.

i drove home in silence. praying and wishing there was more that i could do. but at the same time, thanking God for the divine appointment and for allowing me to be Jesus to them. for allowing me to play a small part in what it is that He wants to do in their lives.

following Him is so much fun. you never know where it's gonna take you!