This was not on the Agenda

I may be home from a month in Nicaragua, but I still have so many stories to share. For the next few days, I want to share with you just a few of those small stories. They may be short and sweet, maybe even seemingly insignificant, but I choose to see something more.

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Take a handful of books, for example. When I jumped out of the van after the morning’s work, I was greeted in front of the mission by a few little girls from the market. Because their families work in the market, they just hang outside the mission by the market all day long. I don’t know why they chose me to love, but they did, and they were always there, waiting to greet me and hug me.

On this particular occasion, I held a handful of story books in Spanish. They noticed right away and showed interest in them, so I sat down right there on the dirty curb of the market place and opened the cover of “La Historia de Jesus” (The Story of Jesus). After finishing, I read “La Historia de Noe” (The Story of Noah) and “David y Goliat” (guess which one that is!). When I was out of books, we read them all again. By the end of the second round of story time, four or five more children and even parents had gathered around me. Their little faces pressed so close to me that I couldn’t turn the pages.

This was not part of my agenda. I had a job to do inside. I probably wasn’t supposed to be left alone in the market for thirty minutes. But it didn’t matter. In that moment, those children needed a story about Jesus, someone to press in close to them, and a little bit of love and attention.

This was not on the agenda, but it was worth every second.

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I was a little surprised when two armed guards boarded the boat with us the morning we headed down the Rio Coco for the river trip. I don’t think I’ve been that close to such a big gun before! At first, everyone was a little intimidated by the guards, even though we knew they were there to protect us. At the same time, the guards were acting tough, serious, and “in the zone” for what their job required of them.

But ten hours on a boat ride in the jungle will change all that.

After a while, everyone let their guard down (no pun intended!) and began to have some fun. We got to know our body guards and they got to know us. They were young men around our age with lives and families and dreams and goals. Soon, we knew each others’ names and were able to laugh with one another.

On the river trip down the Rio Coco, our team went with a purpose. Passing out medicine, food, clothes, hygiene articles, school supplies, and water purification systems were just a few of those assigned tasks. Even though we had a set goal to accomplish, I witnessed something happen that was definitely not on the agenda.

The soldiers asked our team for Bibles, which we happily provided for them. One night before bed, I looked out the door at the army men sleeping in their hammocks under a tin roof about twenty feet away from our building. Under the glow of a dim flashlight, one guard intently read his new Bible. I watched him for a while, prayed for him, and then slipped into my own hammock with a smile on my face. You never know who you might touch with the love of Jesus.

This was not on the agenda, but it was worth every second.

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One afternoon, we loaded up the van and drove to Casa Materna, one of my favorite places in the world. It is a shelter for women to come while they are pregnant. They receive love, care, and education on health, birth, and how to care for their babies. Last year, I was very involved in planning and leading groups to Casa Materna, so the place holds a very special place in my heart. I met a very special young man there last year named Axel. He was the grandson of the nurse that worked there, and we hit it off with a friendly, lighthearted, but very precious friendship. At the end of the summer last year, he gave me a Nicaragua-shaped key holder, which proudly hangs in my room still.

On this particular day, we were dropped off at 3:00 knowing that the van would return at 4:15 to pick us up. We tried to go inside, but the women were having a class, so we decided to wait…and wait…and wait. This was not on the agenda. We brought manicure and pedicure supplies to treat the women, but 4:15 rolled around, the van pulled up, and we left.

However, the trip was not a waste because while we were waiting, a beautiful, familiar young boy popped his head out of the door. “Axel!” When our eyes met, a joyful connection occurred, and we wrapped in a warm embrace that held a year’s worth of love within it. He gave me a lollipop, we exchanged a few words, and then we played Frisbee for probably forty-five minutes.

This was not on the agenda, but it was worth every second.

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When we get away from our schedules and embrace the unexpected, we see something more. Plans will change, the agenda will get interrupted, but that frees God to work in the little moments of our lives.

I used to be such a planner. When things didn’t go according to schedule, I was bothered. But now, I find joy in changing plans, unexpected circumstances, and interruptions. There’s the agenda, and there’s the moment. There’s a human plan, and then there’s the Spirit of God moving like the wind. Enjoy every second.