Smile – The Universal Language
Date of original journal entry – April 2015
My little buddy, Caleb, with his own great smile
I have admittedly had some struggles while being separated from Stephen for so long a time. But in His graciousness, the Lord has given me countless special blessings to ease the pain of that separation. The biggest, grandest gift of all is having so much time with our four grand children, ages 5-11. They love hearing stories of our adventures in Africa and frequently ask questions about life in our remote village. Many times their questions center around the children in Sierra Leone and what their lives are like; often I show them pictures or short videos so they can see the children who live so far away. What a treasure to be able to share this time with them during their early, formative years.
My friend Margaret – expressions of love bring smiles
One day, while sitting on the couch at our daughter’s house, surrounded by my little darlings, the youngest, Caleb, looked up at me with a very serious demeanor to his face. “Grammi,” he said, pausing as he struggled in his young mind to properly frame the question, his eyebrows knotted together in thought. “How do the children in Sierra Leone smile?” That took my breath away; such a deep question from a five-year-old. “Oh, Caleb,” I responded as I cupped his little face in my hands and looked into his dark brown eyes, “You know what Little Buddy? They smile the very same way you do!”
Satisfied with that answer, Caleb then broke out into his own broad smile, and, eyes twinkling, he skittered off to play. He had connected with the children who seem so far away and so very different. He had gotten his first lesson in understanding that we all come from Adam and, though we may look different and live different lives, we really aren’t that different at all.
I love my kids – on both sides of the Atlantic – they teach me so much!
✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥ ✥
Post Script
One of the photos in my children’s presentation. Singing, clapping and having fun are things that all children enjoy regardless of language or culture.
Since this enlightening encounter with my grandson, I’ve developed a slide presentation that I use for teaching children’s classes as I visit supporting churches. To open, I show a series of photos from Sierra Leone that focuses on things which are very different – housing, food, shopping, chores, transportation etc. We talk about how sometimes when things are different they can be scary. Next, starting with a photo of a child smiling, I show things that are the same. Here the children see that kids in Sierra Leone like to have fun with their friends, enjoy attention from adults, go to school, and do many other things that are the same. I conclude with a series of photos from our children’s church and evangelism showing that children everywhere need to hear about Jesus. It’s interactive and very effective as it helps take away some of the mysteriousness of the far-away mission field. And we always have a great time!
