Bubblegum Joy
With a grin that lights up the world, she opened up her hand with such awe, I imagined she was opening up a clam shell to show me her pearl. One this day, it was a 100 shilling coin, not even near 1 cent and it was then that I realized she was inviting me into her joy. When that same little kindergartner, named Mercy by the way, decided to run out of the school grounds, to the nearest stall selling wares, and buy not one, but two little round balls of gum with her special coin, I realized Jesus was inviting me into a holy moment. She ran back to me with glee as she shyly held out the little balls of gum, one red and one yellow, and offered one to me. Mercy bought me a piece of gum, #pearl. Can we just pause for a moment to process this?? Well, the only logical thing to do next was choose my color, then of course grin back at her with delight, hug her close while thanking her and YES!... teach her to blow bubbles.
We sat knee to knee and eye to eye while she studied my contorted mouth so closely trying to imitate me, until of course she fell off her seat laughing at me. This was due to the fact that when I tried to blow bubbles with this tiny ball of gum, mostly I just spit at her. Yes. She stared at me with wide eyes of wonder and amusement that a grown woman would succumb to the likes of the little people world, which of course I did with reckless abandon. We soon gathered quite an audience for our bubblegum show, and eventually all fell out of our chairs laughing our heads off. Herein lies the subtle reminder that one must not take themselves too seriously…please.
To give you context though, this day was the end of the quarter, and the school day had long been over. Many children had already gone home to begin their well earned break. However, Mercy, and the rest of our bubblegum pals were lingering as if they never wanted to leave. Imagine a world where school is, many times, the happiest and safest place you have. Such is the case for so many at FNC. The teachers often have children in their classrooms well after the day is done, and the school yard is always full of students running around. Sam, the security guard eventually shoos them away like little chicks who have scattered from their mother and they reluctantly begin their trek home, not knowing exactly what will await them.
It turns out, blowing bubbles was our holy moment for the day. Jesus always shows up in these simple little interactions to pour out love and joy on weary hearts. May you find joy in the bubbles of your day today as well, as you soak in this promise from Jesus. "But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life.”
John 4:14
With big, bubbling, Brave Africa Love…
““Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” ”