CONTENTMENT

     I love the sounds in my house tonight.  As our friends from Haiti and a fellow missionary from Savannah are here, there is a blanket of peaceful contentment settled over us.  It's after nine p.m. and the crickets are busy singing their evening song.  I hear the soft voices of the women in their native language as they enjoy each other's company while the older fixes the younger's hair.  I hear the voices of the American and the Haitian as they discuss ministry and the details of how to get things accomplished for the Haitian people.  We all sat around the table eating pizza and cake and ice cream, laughing loudly together as we talked and teased one another.
     Friendship is precious.  Even when you can't speak the same language.  Yesterday my sweet friend, Marie, taught me some secrets of Haitian cooking.  I watched and asked a LOT of questions.  She let me do a few things, but those special touches needed her skill and practiced knowledge.  Three of us, a Haitian mother, her son, and I, chopped and stirred and cleaned and cooked until we had a feast for our family to partake.  I learned so much and I can't wait to try out my new skills for my own daughter in just a couple of weeks!  Even though we could not converse, Marie was able to show and tell me things that I need to know if I am going to try to make her delicious dishes.  I even knew when she asked me for salt!  You may not think that's a big deal, but we were in the house alone at the time.  Both of us were very excited about that.
     I am blessed.  So very blessed.  To be able to open the door of my home and allow people in is something I don't take for granted.  Many people I know won't have food tonight, but we had food and a good time while we ate it.  The comforts we have here are opposite to the way of life in Haiti.  But the passion for living that my Haitian friends have taught me is lost in the hustle and bustle of my American life.  Especially since the earthquake, Haitians are conscious to be aware of the time they spend together with people they love.  I have learned from all my international friends that there is always room for one more at the table.  My sweet Costa Rican daughter, Catalina, said to me one day, "Miss Vicki, if there is enough (food) for one, there is enough for two."  Nahum told me yesterday that when he was growing up, as his mom prepared the food for her family, she would always take some of it to the neighbors or invite people in to sit at her table.  Hmmm. 
     We close ourselves up in our own little private worlds in America.  We are too concerned with "what's in it for me?" to even see or know that our neighbor is hurting.  Simple everyday acts of kindness and love are often forgotten as we hurry to the next meeting, to the store, to the practice, to get the laundry, to wash the dishes, to collapse in bed and do it all again tomorrow.
     My husband and I understand better than anyone.  We have many responsibilities that cannot be denied.  But we are making an effort to slow down.  It's not necessary to keep up with the Joneses, as they say.  We are eliminating some of the things that have cluttered up our time so that we now have time to go for a walk, both for health and pleasure.  We are spending more time in our own kitchen, at our own table, instead of heading for a restaurant to sit in a noisy room and eat food we really don't even want, and really don't even like.  We are enjoying each other and the blessing of opening our home to people we love. 
      Thank you, Lord, for this place you have given us.  Thank you for friends who can come and relax here and, hopefully, feel refreshed when they leave.  Thank you for food on the table and a bed in which to sleep.  Thank you for loving us and placing such special people in our lives.  May we always be willing to allow you to use our home and us.  Thank you for the contentment of being in Your presence with these people we love.