Senna and the Sunglasses
I learned more from this little girl than I ever thought I could. Senna is about 4 or 5 years old. She is so cute and has one of the best smiles. Not to mention her laugh is contagious. Senna doesn’t speak any English but that didn’t matter. She and I communicated in other ways. The first time I met her was on our first day back at the compound in Addis. Our trip was nearing its completion. But there was still so much more to happen. And Senna was a part of that. It’s kinda hard to explain, just like a lot of experiences I had in Ethiopia. But I’d say, that little girl was a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. This is really true since we had so many rainy days. She often stood at the gate of the compound with the guard. When we would enter, Senna would greet us with her pearly whites shining brightly and an extended hand for a shake, although Bob was all about giving fist pounds haha. And if she wasn’t by the gate then Senna would quickly approach us.
On one particular day Senna saw JoEllen and I playing frisbee out in the grassy area of the compound. Haha we were working up a good appetite for lunch. Or at least I sure was. We went back to that pizza place and I ate another whole pizza by myself. I was craving a little variety in our diet...couldn’t ya tell. So anyways, back to my story. Gosh I easily get sidetracked. Ya know, I think it’s because nobody is actually listening to me talk so I don’t have anybody to keep me in check. I get so excited about so many things that I don’t even finish my thoughts. This tshirt below would be absolutely perfect for me because I’m even interrupting myself in this blog. It’s a problem. I could literally ramble all day long. And you don’t want that. You get plenty of it already on here. Okay let’s get back to it...
Ah yes, we were throwing the frisbee around. Senna saw us and came right over. Now, at first we just continued and let her watch. I had thought about throwing the frisbee to her, but was hesitant. JoEllen called out to Senna and walked over to her. She showed her how to put her arms/hands out in order to catch the frisbee. It took a few tries, but Senna caught it! We cheered for her and she made one of those little sounds of excitement with her mouth open really wide as a child often does when trying very hard to do something. After a number of throws, we saw someone on the compound that we knew so we stopped to talk to him. Senna followed us and sat down next to me. She wanted to play some more. So we slid the frisbee back and forth on the pavement. I’ve never seen somebody get joy out of something so small. I try to look for the little things that make me happy but don’t always succeed. Senna was keeping me in check like I talked about me needing before. Funny thing about that frisbee…it says, “Life is Good. Do what you like and like what you do.” Life truly is good and I saw that even in the simplicity of that moment. And Senna was living by that motto too. She was doing what she liked and liking what she did each and every day.
On Sunday we came back to the compound after church and went to sit down in the guesthouse to have a little group meditation. Senna ended up joining us. She was captivated by the tv and especially wanted to press all the buttons on the remote. Every time Senna changed the channel, she would make that little noise of excitement and look at me with surprised eyes. One time she even pressed a button that messed the tv up. Oh kids. Then she found some books under the table. Well, that brought even more joy to her. Senna took all the books out and put them in piles. Next she spread them out so that she could see all of them at the same time. Each time that Senna would pick up a book she would look at me, I’d give her a thumbs up, and then she would get that big grin on her face once again. Sometimes she would hand me one to look at real quick and then snatch it away as kids like to do as well.
I decided that this little girl needed a toy of some sort or something to have of her own. It was so apparent that Senna was the adventurous type who liked to go around exploring anything and everything. I went into my suitcase and found something that every kid loves...SUNGLASSES! These were no ordinary sunglasses though. They were special because they were from JMU!!! And they had kindly been given to me, so I thought it was time for me to pass them along. Oh my goodness, she loved those sunglasses. I put them on her face and she didn’t want to take them off. Senna looked good in them too. Way better than I ever did. While she was looking through all of the books, she kept them on. While she was watching tv, she kept them on. I don’t know how she saw anything with those dark shades on hahaha. Then she realized that she could put them up on her forehead for later use. Or she could pull them down a little bit to peer over the top like people do when they don’t need their glasses to read. That was absolutely priceless. Wish I had gotten a picture of that. Senna liked to take off the sunglasses for a split second and put them back on. This meant she ended up putting the glasses on upside down too haha.
Something I haven’t mentioned yet is that Senna was born with one leg. She uses crutches to get around. Sometimes one crutch, other times two. Then there were times when she didn’t use any. When Senna was in the guesthouse she just balanced on one and used the couch as a guide. I was amazed at her ability to easily move around. All those times when we came back to the compound and she was across the way…yeah, she crutched over to us as fast as ever. Such a pro. It was like seeing an old friend after being apart for a long, long time. Such a champ. And her crutches didn’t stop her from having fun. Frisbee or other activities were not gonna hold her back. You could tell when she wanted to play because she would just stand there, watching and waiting.
After spending a good bit of an afternoon with Senna, I started to look for her out near the garden. I wanted to hang out with her. She made me happy because she was so happy. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t talk to one another. We laughed and smiled, which is a universal language. But ya know what, Senna did talk to me one day. I have no idea what she said. It could have been a lot of things. But she whispered into my ear with a smile on her face and we gave each other a big hug. This girl made such an impact on me. Senna inspired me, gave me hope, made me smile and laugh, welcomed me, and even cleaned those good ole JMU sunglasses off on my shirt because she thought that was the only way to do it since she watched me do the same. I even taught Senna a handshake with pounding fists and low fives. Her face lit up when we did that too. And she had a good hard high five.
Senna is one of the people I spent the least amount of time with and talked to the least, yet she is one of the people that I miss the most. And may have had the most impact on me. How is that even possible??? I like the way Senna approaches things. And the way she interacts with people. I like the way she has such a happy spirit about her. And the way she has no fear. I may never see Senna again. She may never know what impact she had on me. But I wanted you all to know what she has done for me and encourage ya’ll to take in every moment you have with those that teach you. Because lessons can be learned from the young, old, and in between. Senna helped me reflect on the person I am and the person I want to become. It’s amazing what a small child can do without even realizing it.
Last Sunday at Opequon we talked about Matthew 19:14, “Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." And we also talked about having a child like faith rather than it being childish. And then yesterday at Massanutten we talked about dancing like David. All these passages make me think of the wonder and joy we can find in the Lord. We often tell children to quiet down, sit still, pay attention, etc, etc. But in reality we can learn from the children. They still have that wonder that we easily lose sight of. And sometimes, we stifle that or as Matthew says, “hinder.” Senna had that wonder and joy about her. I like to think that I’m not an adult yet. I like to think that I’m a kid at heart. I like to think that I haven’t lost what Senna and many children still have within them.
As a PK (pastor’s kid) I’ve heard lots of sermons, children’s times, and other interpretations of scripture. Shoutout to all you other PK’s out there!!! There are many illustrations that my papa uses in his children’s sermons that really stick with me. One of them is about big things coming in small packages. I’ll never forget when he had a big box wrapped up that didn’t have anything in it and then a small box wrapped up with a ring in it. You can take this illustration in so many different directions. It is an interesting concept to think about. Ya know, big doesn’t always mean better and things like that. Well one way I think about it is that children are small, but they have so much to offer us and the world. I’m not gonna further describe it because it’d take too long. Could be a stretch. However, so are a lot of metaphors and what not.
You see, I believe that there is this buildup of potential energy in all of us just waiting to be released. (There’s a science lesson in the making haha). Senna has this energy. I have this energy. You have this energy. We all just have to figure out what to do next with it and make the release worthwhile. So today I pray for Senna and all those little children that we need to pay more attention to. I pray that children will be more than simply noticed, but we would welcome them to release and share their excitement with the rest of the world. I pray that we can find the wonder that so many of us have lost and that children can so easily show us. And finally I pray that we are able to recognize how children really do make a difference and can teach us all kinds of things, we just have to open our eyes to actually see it and learn from it.
Alrighty ya’ll. Enough ramblin’ for one day. Peace out!
