The faithful pair
Blogger note: This is another story from my Guatemala trip. Almost two months later my mind keeps going back to the lush green mountains and the vastly reach people I met there.
I have this beaten up pair of Birkenstock sandals I have worn for almost a decade. They are the traditional two straps, hard foot bed and black. I bought them out of desperation when I was pregnant with my boy and my sciatic nerve was out. They provided the comfort I needed at the time and it is the pair I reach for when my back is hurting.
My faithful arizona Birkenstock
But they are not really pretty. Or feminine. Or stylish. However, I can slip on them and really don’t care about fashion. Somehow they pretty up with the outfit I pair them up with or simply make me feel so comfortable I feel I can walk on a fashion runway with them
They are faithful. They have hundreds of miles under their belt. They were my first choice of footwear again in my last trip to Guatemala and the pair I wore when visiting my friend Javier and his family while in Villa Hortencia II.
There, in the middle of their kitchen sitting around the newly installed stove, a smiling Javier reminded me of a faith habit that like my birks never fails: forgiveness.
We were talking about the challenges of raising a family in a village like theirs and the challenges of having a child with cerebral palsy on top of it. Beside the lack of health services or social services, Javier deals with relational issues like most of us do. He said sometimes kids would have their quarrels and even some leaders in the community may not see eye to eye. Sometimes people get wrapped up in pride or selfishness and want their way he said.
I kept nodding and thinking how the last sentence sums up all that is wrong in our world. Javier paused, kneeled, took a deep breath and said “this is not what God wants.”
Javier is a man that has enough reasons to be bitter and discouraged. By our western lifestyle standards he is very poor. Yet he is the first one to offer help, to welcome people, to go the extra hundred miles to make you feel cared and loved. He jokingly calls himself the MacGyver or Villa Hortencia II. He is also the first one to forgive or ask for forgiveness as many times as it may be needed.
Javier, smiling wide, with his beautiful wife and children.
He said the number one lesson he repeats and tries hard every day to instil in their children is forgiveness. He believes and teaches his kids that all other people are God’s creation and need to be given grace. Javier does not dismiss the fact that sometimes it is hard. He knows sometimes the person who hurts him or his children is not sorry or deserves forgiveness.
But he believes forgiveness is key if we are to be at peace with our Creator and ourselves. Moreover, he believes forgiveness is fundamental if we are faithful followers of Jesus.
This man with a very simple way of life is vastly rich. He knows well the power of forgiving and being forgiven. It is an exercise where we let go of our pride and selfishness. It is freeing. It is the habit that produces the smiles and contentment Javier wears daily.
Since that conversation every time I reach for my black Birkenstock sandals I think about forgiveness. I am willing to sacrifice my pride to be content and at peace. Offering forgiveness and humbling myself to say sorry it is an exercise of freedom. I would never want to let go of this faithful pair or habit…fashion is fun but not fundamental…and a wide smile is by far the best accessory to wear.
Do Love and shoes!!!
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15