Sofi's First Email Address

I have been given an incredible privilege: the ability to participate in human redemption and restoration. To step into their stories and be a witness to God's healing grace in their lives. Sometimes that takes the face of the extraordinary, but more often than not I've found that on the surface it looks surprisingly mundane.

One of the moms we work with has two daughters who have lived at the San Jose Children's Home for the past 7 years. While she has suffered from both depression and alcoholism, the main reason for why her girls do not live with her is because she does not have a consistent job. So a few days ago I went with her to a shop where they sell internet to browse through job postings on Mexico's version of Craig's List. After jotting down a couple that we would later call and look in to, I asked the mother to do something on the computer and realized that she had never used a computer mouse before.

I was suddenly overwhelmed with tenderness as I looked into the eyes of a 30 year old woman who gazed back at me with the trusting, eager expectation that school girls have towards their teachers. I showed her how to hold the mouse, how to click, how to scroll up and down the page. I wrote down instructions on how to look for jobs online, and we created her very first email account. I felt so touched that she would allow me to care for her in that way. It was a simple task, but it didn't feel simple--it was a reminder that everything matters. A reminder to choose gentleness over a to-do lists in a world where so many of us may look, pretend, or fancy that we are big, strong, and grown up but are still in so many ways little children.

I'm so thankful that I am the child of such a marvelous father: a father who by allowing me to care for a woman in an internet shop, showed me how intimately and tenderly he cares for me.

Best Birthday :)

I love talking with people about their dreams. I love watching their eyes begin to sparkle and their mouths smile as a far off look comes over their face while they're telling you about what they hope for themselves or for others or for the world. I think that I like it so much because I see God in people in those moments--in their hopes and their passions and their desire to be a part of making whatever that dream is happen.

I believe very much in dreaming. My biggest life dream started in my US history class in high school when I learned about Jane Adams. She started a tenement house in Chicago in the 1920's that worked to give worth and dignity to the impoverished by providing affordable, decent housing. What started as buying a run down tenement house to fix it up and rent the rooms out at the same price but at a much higher quality led to the development of more tenement houses, community programs, and jobs for residents. I think this is beautiful and so a seed for a dream of doing something similar was planted in my heart.

God has been caring for this dream for years--growing my knowledge and skill set through social work classes at Taylor, practicum experiences, and personal relationships. While my dream hasn't been fully realized, God gave me a taste of this dream on my birthday. I got to spend the day painting a cuartaria (building of one-room apartments) where many of the kids from Rossy's community center in Bonfil live. To some, it may seem like a pretty crummy way to spend your birthday--getting covered in paint, dirt, and sweat far away from your family--but to me, it was the most beautiful gift. I love the way that God uses dreaming to call us to the place where we can best know and serve him so that he can continue the process of making us into who we were created to be. And today, I am thankful that God holds my dreams tenderly and that he stays committed even when I grow faint.

Playing with the Kids in the Park after a Long Day Painting

Our Expert Painters :)

My Birthday Buddie, Jiromi