Tavidi

He has been our friend pretty much from the start.

Two years old. And with a little bit of coaxing, the biggest smile will appear.

He is a little shy but not too shy to come to you.

Last Sunday at church I noticed him walk in the back door. He was walking like he was on a mission. He marched right down the aisle and to the row I was sitting in. He stopped and put his hand on my knee. I laughed inwardly that he is not so shy now and knows that I will gladly hold him on my lap for the whole service no matter how hot it is in that building.

On Thursday at food distribution he was standing by his grandmother with his shirt pulled up, he was holding the bottom of the shirt creating a pouch with his precious peanuts inside. He put the whole thing in his mouth and after he cracked it open and got the peanut out, he would spit out the shell. I walked to him and he grinned. I picked him up and held him; I doubt that he actually understands what I say, but I talk to him anyways. A few minutes later, he looked up and got a big sheepish grin, I looked over and his grandmother had come back in to get him. She had got the food and needed a child before she could go home. I reluctantly handed him over.

Later Ashlynn and I walked to visit the homes. As we walked past his I looked over just as he screamed "acunha!" He threw the dishes that he was holding and ran towards us. Now that I know he talks, we will work on some names. But the abandon with which he ran to us was what impressed me.

I know its not the same and pardon the comparison, but I thought of the prodigal son in Luke 15. After the younger son had made a huge mess of things and crawls back to his father, the father doesn't start off by reminding the son that he had made a huge mistake, he runs to him. He loves him. He is the father who has a right to judge, but the son knows that. What he has forgotten is that he loves him. Running to meet someone signifies abandon. It signifies that you don't care who sees and what they think. All  you are thinking about is the person you are running to and that they know it.