Tuesday, November 11, 2008

21. Treasure Box

I have a box. A box filled with treasure. At least it’s treasure to me: A hand knitted cap, a little black ball, a Bob Marley key chain, some seashells, a small green-haired troll doll, matches, broken jewellery, a watch that almost works, foreign coins, a blue whistle, a stuffed dog that was hand coloured just for me, a lollypop, a rock that looks like a crystal, a couple of pens, and much more!!
That stuff probably doesn’t sound like much of a treasure to you and I am sure if I just ran upon any random box of this stuff, I would merely pass it by. But the stuff in my box is special because they are all gifts from the kids.
To me, everything in that box represents their giving hearts. Each item has a face and a story behind it. The kids might not have much, but what they do have, they are willing to share with me.
Time after time, I have been taken back by the hearts of the kids. They have been turned away and let down by so many people, taken from, and used so many times, but somehow they manage to find it in their hearts to give to me?!
One of my first experiences of this was one time I had been in town all day, and had forgotten to bring money with me and hadn’t had anything to eat or drink the whole day.
By the end of the day, I said my “goodbyes” to the kids at the station and went on in to catch my train, only to find out that it wouldn’t be leaving for another forty-five minutes.
Tired, hungry, thirsty and feeling a bit weak, I went back out to hang with the kids until it was time for my train to leave. They could all see that I was a bit tired, hungry and thirsty and I could see their minds starting to work.
They huddled into a group and discussed something and then broke, almost like a sports team before a big play.
Then one of the boys announced to me that THEY were going to buy me a drink and that I should come with him and pick out which one I wanted.
They got their money together and gave it to the one boy and he guided me towards the shop. At first, I was hesitant because I didn’t want to take anything from them, but then I thought to turn them down might insult them, and I didn’t want to do that. So, I accepted their offer.
The boy and I proudly walked back to the group with an ice cold Coke and they all stood, full of pride, and watched respectfully as I drank the Coke. I offered to share with them, but they would not stand for it and insisted that I drink it all myself.
Another “first experience” of their giving hearts was one night when I was driving through town and I saw a group of boys on the side of the road and stopped to say hi. I didn’t have much time because a friend and I had to meet some people for dinner, but I wanted to see how they were and what they were up to. They all, about nine of them, jumped into my little white VW Golf, as they often do, and I offered to give them a lift to wherever they were going.
As we were driving I heard them whispering and plotting something in the back seat. I wasn’t sure what they were up to. All of a sudden, one of them said, “Ryan, will you please drive to McDonalds?”, so I followed his request and drove to McDonalds, thinking that they wanted to get out there or something.
When I got there they pointed out a parking place for me and told me to park.
One of the boys jumped out, but the rest of the group excitedly waited in the car. I wasn’t sure what was going on. Before I knew it, the one boy was running back out of McDonalds with an ice cream cone - only one.
He proudly handed it through my window and they all said that it was “just for me” and that I wasn’t allowed to share it. I drove them to their destination, while enjoying my ice cream.
I felt overwhelmed with joy but also humbled at the same time. They were all talking about how hungry they were but then, without asking me for anything, they buy me an ice cream and once again refused to allow me to share it!
Another memorable experience was one day right in the middle of a month when I didn’t have any money. Some unexpected expenses came up in the beginning of the month and a few days into it, I was flat broke.
I would just go, day by day, not really knowing where my meals would come from, and making do with what was around. Every day I would pray that the Lord would provide something for me and I learned not to despise a single thing, even if it was just a slice of bread, or something out of the trashcan.
One day I was sitting with a group of kids under a tree. We were just sitting there talking.
All of a sudden, out of the blue, Shawn, an eighteen year old kid that I have known since the beginning started talking about how much I mean to them.
He started saying, “You have helped us for all these years and you have given so much to us and we haven’t given you anything in return!” Unaware of my financial situation, he then reached in his sock and pulled out twenty Rand.
He tried to hand it to me and he said that he wanted to give that to me for all I have done for the kids.
I was hesitant to take it and I thanked him for his gesture but I told him I couldn’t take his money. He would not accept “no” for an answer and was persistent in trying to give me the money.
Eventually, a street girl who was sitting there grabbed it out of Shawn’s hand and said, “Well, if he doesn’t want it I’ll take it!!” Then she shoved it down her shirt and put it in her bra.
Shawn, determined to give me the money, without hesitating reached down the girl’s shirt, retrieved the twenty Rand, and put it in my hand and told me that I didn’t have a choice. I decided to accept it for a couple of reasons: I felt like I was starting to offend him by not taking it and I knew that if it got back in the hands of the girl, there was no telling where she would try to put it next, and I knew that Shawn would get it out of wherever it was she decided to put it.
I had also just been wondering where I was going to get my next meal so, it was an answer to my prayer.
I looked Shawn in the eye and thanked him and then told him, “You know, I don’t have ANY money right now so this really means a lot to me! I think it was God that told you to give this to me.” He proudly smiled from ear to ear and said, “Yeah…Yeah! I felt in my heart that God was wanting me to give it to you!!”
We talked a little while longer and then I went on my way, AND I was able to eat that day. For me, it was an incredible experience of the giving hearts of the kids!
These are just a few examples of the amazing hearts of the kids and since those first few experiences, things like that have happened on a weekly basis.
There have even been times when I have been low on money and the kids will put petrol in my car or even insist that I take some money from them.
They have humbled me and amazed me time after time!
We can learn so much from their giving. Sometimes we have so much, but give so little, and they don’t have much, but give all they have. Though their gifts might not be of much “worth” to most people, they are worth more than gold to me!

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