As many of you know, i keep a few small journals in which i write small passages and quotes that inspire me as I read different books...and, many have been given me by family and friends. All are included in those pages and I go back to them again and again for inspiration or to help my hand express what is in my heart. in my life, I have tried to live by a quote by Mother Theresa which says "spread Love everywhere you go..." While here in Africa i have been greatly inspired by her simple message of Love and her many words on the subject:
"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody...I think that is a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."
"Do not think that Love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary...What we need is to Love without getting tired."
"It is not the magnitude of our actions, but the amount of Love that is put in them that matters."
Last Thursday I began the project of creating a new volleyball net for the school. the old net was nowhere to be found, so i would be doing some guesswork for the dimensions. Thankfully, i have had a lot of experience with knot work from working with Hemp and so, the actual "weaving" of the net was not a big concern for me!
And so, with Tom, Charles, Patrick and Dennis (students who had arrived early for school) as my helpers, and armed with many rolls of nylon chord...we began. Once started, the boys learned quickly but the task seemed endless and we worked all day!
The posts for our net were made from two lean, straight tree trunks set into deep holes in the ground that were dug using a panga (machete) and scooped out by hand. During this process Charles cut his finger. I immediately took him to wash the wound, disinfect it, add some polysporin and a band aid...by the wonder on his face while I took care of that cut, i could see that any such care had been rare if not completely absent in his life. All fixed up...we returned to our net.
By evening, of all my helpers, only Charles remained dedicated to our project! Eventually, the sun set but still we worked...until we could no longer see the chords we were tying and our hands were sore. We would have to continue in the morning...
Up early, Charles and I continued to work on the net until breakfast and beyond...finally around 1 o'clock on the second day, we tied the last and final knots, raised the net, and stood back to admire our work! Smiles spread across our faces...we had succeeded!! before us hung a beautiful electric-blue volleyball net...God had truly blessed he work of our hands!
I had noticed as we worked that the shirt Charles was wearing (a Barcelona soccer jersey and his favorite) had several seems that had worn out and opened - along each shoulder and at the collar. i asked him to bring me that shirt...I found my handy little sewing kit and spent some time that afternoon mending his jersey. Now, i am not that good at sewing - but I have to say - that that shirt looked almost as good as new when I had finished!! The smile that lit up Charles' face was priceless!! he put it on right away and declared, "Now I look smart!"
"Yes, Yes you do" I replied, smiling.
That night Charles came to me and said, "Lola, you give good care...and do you know what that means?" I asked him to tell me. "You have taken care of me, and that means I am now your son...and I will cry and cry when you leave and miss you so much." I smiled and told him that I was honoured, that I would miss him too, and that my tears would fill the water tank when it came time for me to leave this place.
Those small, small, things we do for people in the spirit of Love can change the world around us. i marvel at the pure joy of a returned smile, the giggle of pure delight from a wee child who find s a "Werther's Original" in their outstretched hand instead of a coin...the warm gratitude and deep dimples of a boy who never had a band aid lovingly placed on a scuffed knee. I think it really is those moments....little by little, added on to one another...Love in action - that can affect change.
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great Love."
-Mother Theresa
"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody...I think that is a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."
"Do not think that Love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary...What we need is to Love without getting tired."
"It is not the magnitude of our actions, but the amount of Love that is put in them that matters."
Last Thursday I began the project of creating a new volleyball net for the school. the old net was nowhere to be found, so i would be doing some guesswork for the dimensions. Thankfully, i have had a lot of experience with knot work from working with Hemp and so, the actual "weaving" of the net was not a big concern for me!
And so, with Tom, Charles, Patrick and Dennis (students who had arrived early for school) as my helpers, and armed with many rolls of nylon chord...we began. Once started, the boys learned quickly but the task seemed endless and we worked all day!
The posts for our net were made from two lean, straight tree trunks set into deep holes in the ground that were dug using a panga (machete) and scooped out by hand. During this process Charles cut his finger. I immediately took him to wash the wound, disinfect it, add some polysporin and a band aid...by the wonder on his face while I took care of that cut, i could see that any such care had been rare if not completely absent in his life. All fixed up...we returned to our net.
By evening, of all my helpers, only Charles remained dedicated to our project! Eventually, the sun set but still we worked...until we could no longer see the chords we were tying and our hands were sore. We would have to continue in the morning...
Up early, Charles and I continued to work on the net until breakfast and beyond...finally around 1 o'clock on the second day, we tied the last and final knots, raised the net, and stood back to admire our work! Smiles spread across our faces...we had succeeded!! before us hung a beautiful electric-blue volleyball net...God had truly blessed he work of our hands!
I had noticed as we worked that the shirt Charles was wearing (a Barcelona soccer jersey and his favorite) had several seems that had worn out and opened - along each shoulder and at the collar. i asked him to bring me that shirt...I found my handy little sewing kit and spent some time that afternoon mending his jersey. Now, i am not that good at sewing - but I have to say - that that shirt looked almost as good as new when I had finished!! The smile that lit up Charles' face was priceless!! he put it on right away and declared, "Now I look smart!"
"Yes, Yes you do" I replied, smiling.
That night Charles came to me and said, "Lola, you give good care...and do you know what that means?" I asked him to tell me. "You have taken care of me, and that means I am now your son...and I will cry and cry when you leave and miss you so much." I smiled and told him that I was honoured, that I would miss him too, and that my tears would fill the water tank when it came time for me to leave this place.
Those small, small, things we do for people in the spirit of Love can change the world around us. i marvel at the pure joy of a returned smile, the giggle of pure delight from a wee child who find s a "Werther's Original" in their outstretched hand instead of a coin...the warm gratitude and deep dimples of a boy who never had a band aid lovingly placed on a scuffed knee. I think it really is those moments....little by little, added on to one another...Love in action - that can affect change.
"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great Love."
-Mother Theresa
posted by Lola | 3:07 PM
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