I pride myself in being independent, and not having to ask for help from others. There are some things, though, that I just can’t do, you know, because “I’m a girl”, as my brother Charles says:-) But I will give just about anything a try!! Well, today was one of those days I was feeling proud of myself. I went alone to cut the grass at Yantana church with the weed eater and I was handling it so smoothly, and the yard was looking so beautifully as I progressed.
When I finally needed to take a break, I sat down in the back seat of my truck to enjoy a drink of water. Our truck ‘Super Blue’ (as we call it), has an automatic power lock and alarm. So after having my drink, I stepped out, and as I pushed the door to shut it, I heard ‘bloop, bloop’ and I knew it! The doors had locked the instant before the door shut and I did not have time to grab my keys off the truck seat!! So there I stood. Looking through the glass window at my beautiful set of keys, inside the now tightly locked truck. The church was locked, because the church keys were also in the the truck. And the main gate of the church yard was locked; those keys also were in my truck. My purse, my cell phone, everything locked tight in Super Blue. So I could not leave the church yard to go ask for help because the gate was locked. I could not call for help because my phone was in the truck. There’s no locksmiths here, no AAA, and I was in the middle of nowhere.
At that moment, all that feeling of pride and independence quickly vanished and I have never felt more helpless than right then. And I’m a very strong woman, but the weight of the situation got the best of my emotions. I stood there, weeping, saying, “Lord I don’t know what to do. I feel so helpless at this moment, but Lord I trust you and I need you today” And then, I felt the Lord speak to me saying, “They love you…LET them help YOU!” And I was thinking, ‘But I can try myself to see if I can get in the truck’. Again, the Lord said, “You don’t have to try to do it all yourself all the time… LET them Help YOU!” (I didn’t realize how very much this would mean).
I had barely dried my eyes from my prayer and 3 beautiful boys who attend my church came walking by. I felt so small as I called out to them from behind the locked fence and gate, “Joel, Luis, can you do me a huge favor?” I asked them to go to the house of a neighbor who has church and main gate keys. The boys were so sweet and more than happy to do it. Within minutes, Raquel arrived with the church keys (She’s 8.) She unlocked the main gate and I felt somewhat of a sense of relief. But my keys were still locked in my truck. I told Raquel what was wrong and asked if her dad or brother were home. No, they were far away in another town today. So I sent her to ask her mom if she knew any other men in the community who might could help. Raquel was nearly in tears, worried that I would have to sleep outside at the church if we could not get my keys out of the truck. So she ran home to her mom, just torn up and crying and her mom, Nancy came running. Nancy had also asked 2 neighbors to come and help out. But as quickly as Nancy arrived, she did not wait on the men. She, who does not own a car and has no knowledge of how cars function, did not let that stop her. She used what she knows best in her jungle life, a big limb from a tree. She found a small crack in the window, that I had not closed all the way, and ran the big stick through it. In no time, Nancy had the keys on the stick and then into my hands, before the neighbor men ever arrived!! I have never felt such a peace, and I hugged Nancy so tightly and once again, cried tears of joy. Nancy smiled the biggest grin ever, knowing that she had been able to ‘save the day’ for me and help out in such a way.
With all that occurred today, Jesus was teaching me a valuable lesson. He said, “LET them help you.” Why? Why was that so important? Not just because it blessed me and brought them such great joy to do that for me, but even more, it gave them a sense of purpose, each person involved, just to have the opportunity to help out. These Shuar Indians who think they are nobody, today, felt like somebody. Somebody quite special, in fact!!!So, now, I completely understood…and on the 1 hour ride home I wept all the way, praising and thanking Jesus for what I had learned today…and glad that I had “LET them help me!”
