There are two sides to every story
Yesterday I had the privilege of sitting before a two time cancer survivor for the second time. From the moment I met her I knew there was something very special about her. We connected quickly over Spanish, puppies and our Guatemalan heritage.
Both times we’ve talked, laughed, and shared stories for about an hour. Some stories are fun and light, and some are a bit heavy and serious. But, no matter what she shares she always makes sure to share how good and faithful God has been through it all.
Seriously, she’s the best!
However, there is one thing. Although I believe she is an amazing, worrier, strong, loving, and caring person… She felt like she had been forgotten.
“My children sometimes say they don’t have a mother.“
“I wake up alone, I eat alone, I go to bed alone.”
“I have no one.”
After being kicked out of her home with her four children by her then husband, twenty-six years ago this women left Guatemala leaving her four children to be taken care of by her sister. She immigrated to the Untied States because she recognized that her children would starve if she didn’t do something drastic to provide. So, she came to a place where she knew no one, had nothing and worked as much as she possibly could.
“They (her children) believe I abandoned them and came here to live a grand life without them. What they don’t understand is that I came here to suffer for them.”
She went on and on about all the pain and hurt in her heart for how misunderstood she was. At one point I looked up and she covered her face and wept.
Here’s this worrier women who has suffered so much because of love and the people that she suffered for don’t even recognize it… sounds a little like Jesus’ story, don’t you think?
But, again, after sharing her pain with us she says: “God and I have talked and I know where I stand with Him about all of this. He still loves me even though it’s been hard.”
Honestly, there is so much I can add and share about how much this women’s life story has impacted my life, but it would take up pages and pages. I can however share with you that I’ve realized among many things that there’s always another sides to every story. For now I only know her’s and I pray I am able to steward it well.
So, I will be visiting this amazing women every week and sharing with her how special she is to me and our Papa. I get to bring a smile to her face and introduce her to my friends so she can call them her friends too. I have a chance to change the loneliness she’s been experiencing for a long time. I get to be the physical representation of Jesus in her life.
It is a true privilege!
Here we are praying for Esmirna after getting to hang out with her! She’s a gem!
Who’s story have you heard and how is Papa asking you to steward it?
