I don't know what it is like, personally, to survive a war.
I don't know what it's like to run for my life.
I don't know what it's like to look a rebel soldier in the eye and pray that the answer I give is what he or she wants to hear.
I don't know what it is like to go without food for weeks at a time, resorting to eating paper and napkins to survive.
I don't know what it's like to know that I am running in one direction, and my sister is running in another... and if I will ever see her again... or if she will even survive.
But so many of our staff do. So many of our staff members have lived through all of these things and more- more unspeakable things that we could never imagine.
It's easy for me to forget these facts when I'm focused on my day to day work. It's easy to get lost in the to-do list and get frustrated with what isn't getting done... instead of remembering that maybe there is a reason- a deep reason in some Liberians on why they are the way they are now.
Today I overheard a staff member tell the story of how he was staring down the barrel of a gun... but because a particular old woman nearby asked him to pick up her facial cloth, and he listened, he ended up surviving. "That old Ma saved my life!" he said, laughing.
It's easy for me to forget that the war ended 8 years ago in Liberia. But it's not so easy for those that lived through it. The most mundane task in a day can trigger a past memory.
I will never forget last October. It was my 30th birthday. On a day that so many of us celebrate as a "milestone," one of my friends and co-workers came to wish me a happy birthday. He asked how old I was, and when I responded, he said, "Hmmm.... when turned thirty I was running for my life in the middle of the jungle, and hadn't eaten for days. I didn't even know it was my birthday at the time. Happy Birthday." And he shook my hand and walked away.
I want Liberia to move forward. I want to help them to move forward. But I don't want them to forget that God spared them for a reason. Lord, give me the wisdom to know how to do that.
3 comments:
awesome...
Powerful and thought-provoking.
So often I forget what my adopted kids have gone through as well as I'm going through my day to day. I don't believe they've ever stared down the barrel of a gun. But they've known hunger and fear as I've never known and sometimes it does affect their day to day actions. Thanks for the reminder on perspective!
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