The Face of Love

 She approached with an emotionless face and a steady gate. There wasn’t much to her and yet that small frame seemed to have a big story behind it. We knew nothing, not even a name for sure. Getting responses was a slow ordeal, but there was something in the silence that seemed loud and compelled us to want to know more. 

Those first interactions could be labeled as anything but warm and welcoming. We were clearly just strangers there to pay a fee and use the place.  She had work to do - lots of it.  After an attempt to get more information about our accommodations, we made a discovery.  To get her talking, you launched into questions about the horses and listened well. The words flowed far easier, and a window to her heart cracked open. 

It’s funny, we thought we were getting away for a couple days, kicking our feet up, laughing, and visiting. I felt that old saying, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans,” was never more fitting. What we thought was a mini vacation, was in reality an opportunity for the Kingdom. What we thought was dirt, hay, and manure was actually holy ground much like a stable long ago. 

It had hit me in what seemed like a moment of inspiration months ago.  A missions trip! That’s how I want to celebrate that occasion! I finally knew what had been nagging at me so long. Then the world turned upside down, and what I thought was every hope of that happening began to fade until it seemed the last flicker of possibility had been snuffed out. It was okay.  “God knows,” I told myself and my friend who was ready for the adventure with me. She came up with an entirely different plan and I happily agreed. 

Now here we were in the middle of a vast countryside with one idea of what was instore for the next couple of days of this planned getaway, but there was a stirring inside that suggested there was something more. This detached, straight faced woman began to open up just a little bit. She laughed, and joked, and was fascinated that we were all from the same area where she had grown up. A connection was made that would set in motion more than we realized. 

In the quiet of the next morning, I asked my friend, who had planned this adventure, what was rolling around in her head. She said she wanted to know what this woman’s story was and was there a way we could come alongside her while here? This tiny, giant of a woman was running a working horse operation all on her own - or so it seemed to us. What had happened and how could we help?  I was glad to hear this because the Voice in my heart was saying that missions trip was never canceled, it just looked entirely different than I thought it would and was happening right there before me. I was hopeful all would agree this was a new adventure worth embarking on - the discovering of who this woman is, what her story is, and how we could help her. I need never have given it a second thought because when people truly love Jesus, they are always looking for how to love others, and that is the kind of group I was with. 

We saw her going by, and hustled out the door to catch her. She seemed unsure but not as expressionless. We began to ask questions, and she began the slow unfolding of the story that would continue for the next two days. Sometimes all another heart needs is a question asked with a genuine desire to know the answer and a thaw begins. 

She was pulled away before we could get too far, and we still weren’t sure how we could serve this new friend we were making. You see, she was no longer just the proprietor.  She truly was a friend in the making. We watched through the afternoon for an opportunity and wondered, sometimes aloud, whether the Lord would create space for what we felt He was calling us to do.  

Then late in the afternoon, there she was letting the horses out to run and more than a little willing to tell us all about them and more about herself. Sometimes we were laughing, sometimes we were crying, always we were listening. As we began to walk away, my observant friend noticed the beginning of chores, and we had our opportunity. Yes, she was thrilled to have us help with the chores! We found task after task with which to help her.  When we work shoulder to shoulder with others and bear their physical burdens, I think often times the emotional ones get lighter too. Before long she was eating soup at our table, dishing up more dessert, and regaling us with the details of a hard, persevering, painful life. She truly was a giant of a person and under all the tough exterior had an incredibly beautiful heart and hands that lent themselves to many different crafts that astounded us. She had accomplished more and endured more than an average ten people do in a lifetime. And we laughed, and cried, and always listened. 

When our now friend got up to leave that evening, she turned around and thanked us and confessed it gets awfully lonely to be all alone out there.  Every person in her life up to that point had used, abused, taken, and abandoned. It was the pattern of her life and yet over and over, she rose above it, persevered, and made a way for herself. The lessons that could be learned from our friend were endless even as she told them so rough around the edges.  She left that evening, I think not just full in the belly, but it seemed for the first time in a while, full in the heart. 

We looked around at each other, all a little astounded at what had just transpired in 24 hours. It’s truly amazing what happens when we walk in obedience to the King and open up our ears, our hearts, and our tables. 

She promised to be back at 9:30 the next morning to take care of a few logistics before she left for work and we departed for home. At 8:30 sharp, there was a knock on the door and when we swung it open, I am not sure any of us will ever forget what we saw. There was our new friend but compared to the person we had met when we first arrived, she was nearly unrecognizable. She stood before us, her face aglow, her smile wide, her eyes expectant. In that moment, all I could think was, “This is what love does to people.”

She strode through that door as if she were 100 pounds lighter than the day before. She greeted us, she agreed to pull up to our table again, and she unfolded more of her 71 years of life. None of us ever wanted to miss a moment of it. She shared through tears that she cries every day. She shared more of the hardships. She shared more of her strength, and she shared that as tough as she may seem, she had a heart too. Of this, we had no doubt. She had to run and take care of some business, but we requested an opportunity to take a picture and say goodbye when she was finished. She willingly obliged. Before she left for work that day, we had had a chance to see her home, more of the work of her incredibly talented hands, and to gather ‘round her and pray.  When she looked up from that circle of prayer, there were tears in her eyes and words of heartfelt gratitude. 

Before we all parted ways she said, “You are all like daughters to me now and I don’t even know all of your names.”  The truth is, she knew almost nothing about any of us. It hadn’t been important that we get to tell our stories. It was important that for these two days, we all sat and listened to every word she had to say. Love listens. 

It was her establishment but it was never important to us what she did for us. For those two days all that mattered was what we could do for her because of Christ’s love. He gave His life for us, and we can give ours for others. Love serves.

She didn’t have to show up with anything to offer.  We simply wanted her to enter in and know there was a seat at our table and a plate with her name on it. Love welcomes and invites. 

We showed up each with our own ideas and expectations, but God had a better plan in mind. The missions trip I thought would never be, just looked entirely different than I anticipated, and I’m so thankful we didn’t miss it. Every day, everywhere we go, as followers of Christ we are on mission. We get to love through listening, serving, welcoming and inviting in. Lord, open our eyes that we would never miss the faces around us longing for a little love. Make us blind to our selfish desires and help us to see more clearly than ever the love you are calling us to with each person you put in front of us.

The best part? One of us gets to continue a relationship with our new friend. Who knows how the Lord may continue to work.  I can assure you, we are watching and praying now with expectant hearts because we have seen what love does in the face of another.