I know I've gone on and on about our trip... and well, yes it was very wonderful. But there were other aspects of it too. I noticed that everybody was in a hurry.. including ourselves. And yes, there were a lot of people there, even when it wasn't 'crowded'. And that we tended to look past the faces of those people in those crowds as just a nuisance that we must get around. A faceless, soul-less mass of humanity that was only in our way. In so many ways, that was constantly with me during our stay. I enjoyed the few moments we actually talked to people while we were there. I talked to a family in line with us. Their daughter has the same name as ours and we discussed spellings of their names and just generally chit chatted with them. You know.. treated them like they were people.. not just something to look past and get through. There was the family at the bus stop too. They were late for a character breakfast and were really anxious for their bus. Which was also our bus. Which we had been waiting for as long as they had. But when it arrived, I gestured for them to get on the bus first.. because they had to be somewhere and at that point, we were just goofing off. I felt sorry for them. And as things go, we were able to squeeze on the bus right after them. I think we even got to sit down. Score! There were the Wish families I saw. I didn't talk to any of them, but I definitely noticed them. They broke my heart a little bit. And there was the family we saw on a bus one day who's (almost?) adult son has some sort of handicap. His parents were completely patient with him as he passed them notes and they wrote notes back to him. He had a teenaged sister too. The son was the only one that smiled during our whole bus ride. I wonder what kind of life they have taking care of a child in an adult's body.
I could go on and on, as we were constantly with people for all those days. And we aren't exactly people people, if you get my drift. My husband declared it a people free weekend when we got home! (if my husband had a blog, it would be called Notes from the Behind the Wall.. oh yeah.. much more quiet/introverted than me!) Anyhoo... it was sad in so many ways. I would wonder how many of these people know Jesus. Statistically probably not very many. That huge mass of people that we'd sometimes get annoyed with are still loved by God and He longs for them, even when they don't care or even know who He is. When I think of humanity and His love for them, it's overwhelming. And that was the saddest and most beautiful part of all.
3 comments:
It's good to reflect after such a big trip. I agree wholeheartedly about tiring of the masses of people: not anyone in paricular, but the sheer numbers. That's why I do not go to professional sports events (if I can avoid them) and things like that. It's as if it's too much sensory stimulation. How nice that in the midst of that, you took time to think of these folks as your brothers and sisters in God's love, and to care about them that way.
It's amazing to think that of all those people we pass by every day and hardly even notice, God knows the number of hairs on their head. Kind of puts His knowledge in perspective.
I get overwhelmed when I'm in a crowd like that and start thinking, "And God knows what every single person is thinking right at this moment; he knows all about them and loves them. He cares about their every day needs, like carpooling and plumbing and viruses and tuition, etc." It just blows my mind.
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