Today was Sabbath.  A year ago, on a day like today, I would get and get ready for church.  I would worry about what I should wear.  What we were going to do later that afternoon. I would be trying to get together the things that I was bringing for the potluck and wondering when my group of friends was going to decide whose house we were eating at and then what adventure we would be having that afternoon. 

Meet Obama. (Yes, that really is his name.)

            Today, however, was a different story.  Today I sat through church with a stranger in my lap.  Today I held a little one through church while he slept peacefully in my lap.  Today, I was not worried about what the person sitting next to me in the pew might be thinking.  Today, I was worried about whose little boy I was holding.  I was wondering if he is getting enough to eat.  I was worried that this little boy has someone to love him.  He was so hungry for attention, always wanting to be held.   I was thinking how can I really be making a difference here?  I held this little boy for a few hours.  I loved him for a few hours.

            Being here at Maxwell it’s sometimes easy to forget that I am living in a third world country.  We have it so nice inside the walls on our little hill overlooking the city.  But step outside the walls and there are children who are malnourished.  There are real people whose homes are being washed away by the rains this spring.  There is real poverty like many people in the states have never seen. 

I have a friend that always quotes to me that. “Life often beings right outside your comfort zone.”  I have found that to be true.  But I have also found that its also joy that begins outside your comfort zone.  Nothing makes me happier than being with these children who have next to nothing, but truly have everything.  They are willing to give so much love to anyone who will pay them any attention.  They find such joy in the simplest things.  Back home, we have it good.  We have it so easy.  But I think that we are missing the point.  What are the things that you are worried about today?  Are they things that really matter in the long run?  Why do we lack the joy that these children have?

I think that there are probably a lot of missionaries that could relate to what I am saying.  We come out to make a difference in peoples’ lives.  But really, the life that we change is our own.  I may only have a few hours with a particular child or, in some cases, a few months.  But it’s enough.  The small moments and the little things are the things that make the biggest difference.  I may not be doing a lot to change the world.  But maybe I can change the world for one child.  I am doing what I can, and in the process I find that I am the one changed.