Last year, I joined a mission team that went to Cambodia to work with children who had been rescued from sex trafficking or were at risk children. We learned that this work took time. That everything moves at a slower pace there – even saving children. We soon learned that our lofty goals must be tailored back a bit to one child at a time. This was a good lesson for all of us. We soon realized that to save one child certainly made it all worthwhile, and not to give up hope if we couldn’t save them all, now!
So, I found it interesting today – I co-led a day summer camp for children who are living in a low-income housing project. I prepared for at least a week, buying supplies and practicing crafts to make sure that I knew what I was doing before the big day. Today, the big day, one little boy showed up at camp. That’s it. I stared over the huge pile of craft-making goodies at this tiny little guy staring up at me and my heart smiled. I secretly thanked God for the lesson I had learned some months ago.
Too often, I think, we let our goal-oriented minds get the best of us – How many kids can we save? How much money can we make? How many hot dogs can you make in an hour? When, in fact, the real trophy is staring us in the face.
His name was Nick. The two of us had the most awesome day. We didn’t finish half the crafts I had planned. We didn’t have time to finish our lunch because we were having so much fun. And, for a few hours, all the world’s troubles disappeared – for both of us.
