For the past five days the Sacred Road staff has been making lists, checking them twice, and loading 15 passenger vans with boxes of food, wrapped gifts, boxes of chocolate, blankets, and Walmart gift cards. By the time the vans are finally loaded I am verging on a bad mood, because my hands and feet are numb. We load up in the vans and drive down the cold, dark streets until we arrive at destination number 1. We crawl out of the vans, hands loaded with gifts and chocolate. It is very cold outside until the front door of the house opens and a blast of hot air rushes out to greet you along with smiling faces. Sometimes the visits are short other times the last more than 40 minutes.
One thing I have noticed in particular this year are the hugs I have received. They come in all varieties. Small children hug out of thankfulness, a lot of the elders hug because of our mutual love for the Lord, others hug because they have not been forgotten, and some hug with tears smearing onto your shoulder, because of all of the above reasons.
Last Night Joshua, Veronica and I made a stop that changed my perspective on Christmas deliveries. We were going to an elderly lady's home. She is in her 70's and her daughter, who is in he 50's, lives with her. When I knocked on the door with an arm load of gifts I heard a voice telling me to push the door open. I did. On the other side they were waiting for us with camera in hand taking pictures as we brought in the food and presents. They invited us to please eat dinner with them. So we sat around their dining room table and enjoyed eating chicken and rice while we caught up on their family and they caught up on the ministry. Joshua then had a chance to pray for them and their family. After that they wanted to give us a tour of their newly remodeled house, stopping at every picture along the way to point out which child or grandchild was in the picture.
There were a lot of first for me while I was there. I had never had someone take my picture while doing deliveries, I had never eaten a meal in a native home, and I had never been given a tour of a native persons home. I kept thinking that this is what we do- we take pictures with people, we feed people, and we share our lives with them. They were showing how much they loved us, and not just the three of us who were there, but the whole Sacred Road staff, and everyone who has ever served on a team with Sacred Road. What a blessing to be a recipient of such love! What a way for God to surprise us with His love!
