“I’ve got a surprise for you, sweetheart!”
“WHAT, MAMA?” My 5-year old squealed with excitement.
What she said next brought tears to my eyes.
You see, since medical school when I envisioned life as a humanitarian doctor in Africa someday, I’d romanticized the idea of receiving parcels from back home.
So imagine my shock when I discovered that where we are, in a small town in the foothills of a mountain in Tanzania, mail is treacherously hard and expensive to receive. Online shipping is unavailable. There are no “real malls.”
While we once received books for our kids in the mail, or once enjoyed hand-me down clothes left at our doorstep, we no longer have that privilege. Wanting things feels lavish when lack is all around, but is real nonetheless.
So when our kids began to outgrow their clothes, I took a deep breath- I’d heard of this formidable, sprawling second-hand market, not for the faint-hearted. Imagine throngs of people canvassing for your attention, amidst smoke, dust, wooden poles, canvas, and piles of junk waiting to be discovered as treasure. Deep down, I felt guilty, wondering again if i was shortchanging my children.
I prayed, “Dear Lord, help me find what my kids would love in the shortest time possible.”
Deep in the maddening crowd, at the very first shack I stopped at, was where I found all my children needed— and a special gem- a well-worn shirt in good condition which I knew Esther-Praise would love, for $1.50.
But not in my wildest dreams would I have expected that when I told her that Mama had a surprise for her, her first question would be, “YOU GOT ME A CHERRY SHIRT?”
We hadn’t talked about cherries. I did not hint that my gift had fruits on them. Who but God could have known that was top of her wishlist?! Who but Him could have placed that shirt in that first wooden shack I stopped at?
As I teared, it was then that I felt the Holy Spirit ask me that familiar question, “Is there anything you need for your family that I can’t provide?”
For all the mail we might be unable receive from afar, I’m trusting, that perhaps, God’s gifts come in different packages— here. 🎁