It has been a great few days here in Addis and I am not able to blog each day but something happened a few days ago that as a mother I will not ever forget. An action that was not meant to be seen by me but something that will forever be in my heart:
From the very first meal that we had with Tizita and Geremew it was fun to watch them with their drinks. Not only was it fun watching them sip soda for the first time but we loved watching Geremew get super excited to get to keep his bottle top. In the past several weeks each time we have soda his eyes light up as our waitress pops the “Corky” off of his bottle and hands it to him. All of us now hand our “Corkies” to Geremew when we get soda for dinner. He quickly puts them in his pocket and when we arrive back at the guest home he has a special ziplock bag where he is collecting them.
Another thing that Geremew finds neat is to have change in his pocket. I know that this is something that he has never had the opportunity to have and so every time David gets a few coins back in change he hands them to Geremew and just like his “Corkies” into his pockets the change goes. Each night it is fun to unload Geremew’s pockets to see how many bottle tops and coins he has collected during his day.
One day last week while we were out we were all piling into the van and a young guy around the age of twelve or thirteen came up to the van to beg. This happens often and we have been instructed to not give handouts out of our van (there is even a new fine for doing so if you are caught here in Addis giving to beggars from your car). It is so hard to just shake my head no and ignore the need in front of me but I always pray for the beggar and remind myself of what I am doing to help people who are in need in this city. As this young man approached our van I noticed that Geremew stood back up and started reaching for his pocket. He didn’t want anyone to notice what he was doing but he quickly emptied his pocket of all of the change and his “corkies” and gave them all to the young beggar. Only Megan and I saw this act of love and I knew that Geremew didn’t do this to be seen and so I didn’t mention that I even saw him as tears formed in my eyes.
I wrote this blog yesterday and then last night something that our family will NEVER forget happened:
After we finished dinner last night it started to rain very hard and so we quickly left the restaurant where we were eating and ran to the van. We all piled in and quickly closed the door. Our van driver Eskel started the van and pulled out into the street. Geremew very loudly shouted, “Coy! Coy! Coy!” Coy means wait and so our driver Eskel and I thought that Geremew had left something in the restaurant. Eskel stopped the van and as he did Geremew slid the window open and only then did I notice a very, very young mother with a baby on her back standing in the rain. Geremew reach his hand out of the window and placed all of the change that he had gathered yesterday in her hand. Our entire family watched in awe. I am not sure that any of us had a dry eye after watching him. To see our son and brother give ALL that he had or has ever had to a young mother in need was a lesson for each of us. The ride home was long due to a strong hailstorm and for the entire hour our family was quiet. We were all thinking about what we had just experienced. A few times David and I glanced at each other only to shake our heads in disbelief. Soon before arriving at the guest home Lindsay, Jacob and I had a brief conversation about what we had seen. They both said that they couldn’t believe that he had given all he had to someone who was in need. They both talked about how hard it is for them to give and they have always had so much more that he has ever even dreamed of having.
I am praising God for such a generous son and praying that we help him hold onto his generous spirit as he is given more in his near future.
A widows mite……………An orphans love
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