The food truck here at the Dream Center visits many, many neighborhoods weekly. Many of those areas are predominately Spanish speaking. So, even though the smiles are evident of their gratitude, it’s difficult at times to communicate. At first this was frustrating to me. I wanted to talk with them and have deep conversations about God and what He can do in their life. But after awhile I began to see the beauty in it all. The genuine smiles represented much more than a couple sentences of "How’re you doing?" –"I’m fine, thanks."
More than most things in this world, I love children. I feel as if this language barrier encourages me to play and giggle with them more. A toddler’s vocabulary is limited anyway; so playing tag, giving piggyback rides, or pushing them on a swing is a wonderful way of showing love. A way that they think is fun and their parents and neighbors see as actual caring.
A couple days ago, as I visited the Pueblos food truck site, I met a little Hispanic boy named Andrew. He had lots of energy and grinned from ear to ear the entire time we played. Jumping from one playground structure to the next, he motioned me to follow every step. I could tell he was just happy someone was taking the time to actually play with him. This same little boy, I had seen earlier run away from his mother’s instruction, who seemed frustrated and tired. The mother now looked towards us with a relieved smile on her face.
I hope that evening she left thanking God for the bags of food we handed her, and along with that recognized that the love I showed towards her son was brought by the very same God. The more I know about Him, the more I realize that any outreach I go on, anything good or loving in me, comes solely from Him. And in order for more abundant love to flow out of us, for Andrew’s sake, we must remember just that.
-Courtnay, Ohio
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