Here in Costa Rica, Saturdays are my favorite days. Not because it’s the weekend and not because we get to sleep in, but because we get the chance to pour out love to a community that craves compassion. Ten minutes down the road from the place we call home is a little neighborhood known as Cinco Esquinas. We grab some jump ropes, snacks, and a soccer ball or two and we’re off.
As we pass by their houses, boys and girls of all ages scurry out with excitement, careful not to knock over the cinder blocks that so delicately provide support for the tin roofs above their heads. A group of maybe fifteen or so kids usually meet us in the middle of the street, eager for the fun that awaits them. Although I don’t speak much Spanish, I greet them with the universal language of smiles and hugs. I wrap my arms around each child so tightly in hopes that their little hearts burst with a new understanding of what it means to be loved.
One Saturday, we changed things up a bit and decided to throw a party to celebrate the beautiful lives of all the children who had birthdays that month. In the middle of the chaos that consisted of candy, cupcakes, and all things sugary, I spotted a wide eyed little girl with dark curly hair. It only took a second for me to drop everything I was doing and give this precious gem the attention she was seeking.
I knelt down to her level, stared into her needy brown eyes and asked what her name was. In a soft giggly voice she responded, “Maria.” She mumbled a couple of things that I didn’t quite understand so I picked her up, twirled her around, and watched as her once lost expression transformed into a big, bright smile. After a couple more twirls, I put her down and she ran off with freedom that permeated her entire being. Joy radiated out from her every step as if the brokenness of the world had no hold on her.
If only we all could feel as free as Maria. Oh what a beautiful thing that would look like. All too often, we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, allowing it to cripple our spirit. We all have worries, doubts, fears, and insecurities, and that’s simply part of our human nature. But the tighter we cling to those things, the more they pile up and the harder it is to see where we are and where we are going.
Think of a hoarder, someone who collects, and collects, and collects. They don’t take the time to sort through their possessions and end up drowning in their own mess. If we let the very things that hold us down consume our minds, they will eventually consume us. But if we give God our worries, if we give God our doubts, if we give God our fears, if we give God our insecurities, and if we give God our life, only then will we be set free.
I think I’m learning to run like Maria and all the little children at Cinco Esquinas. Out of darkness and into the arms of the one who desires us most. God loves when we come to him like children, acknowledging our need and recognizing that only he as our father can provide for us. When we surrender the things that have been weighing heavy on our hearts, it’s easier for him to pick us up and twirl us around. And when we’ve experienced the warm embrace of God’s love, there is no other way to respond than to run with greater speed and greater joy than we ever have before. His perfect love sets us free.
