You may draw your own conclusion to this story but the only way I can explain what I am about to share is nothing short of a miracle and many many prayers. To get the full picture I recommend reading my post “El Hoyo” if you haven’t done so already. It explains the story of a small boy named Pablo who has been living on the streets and smoking crack at the young age of 12. Every time we would go to Ceiba, Lisa and I would look for him. It was no easy task in a large city with many possibilities of where he could be. Unfortunately, almost every time we did spot him, he would run or he wave for us to leave, I think because he didn’t want us to see him in such a state. Lisa would tell me hurt, and frustrated at the corruption, "who would give such a small child drugs and why is no one doing anything?" or an even harder question she would ask was, "what should I do? He's going to die here. If not from the people, then from the drugs." Feeling helpless and unable to process a good conclusion myself, I would look back at her unable to say any comforting words.
Almost two weeks ago one of Lisa’s foster boys, Oder, who is 16 years old and back with his birth mom now in Ceiba, spotted Pablo sleeping under the bench the park. He had lived with Pablo for a little while when they were both living at Lisa's house. Oder bought him a Baleada with the little money he had and took the time to talk to him. I’m not quite sure all that happened in that conversation but by the time they were done conversing, Lisa told me she got the call that Pablo saying he wanted to come back home. There were a few other people that came alongside Pablo during this time as well, helping steer and guide him in the right direction after he had made his decision and the next time we went to Ceiba we were going to pick him up to take him home after 2 and a half months of him being away.
I had mixed emotions about this at first. This would most likely interrupt the peace at the house, create more work for Lisa, who knew what the withdraw stage would be like, and there is always the possibility of him running again. Yet Lisa knew all this and was still overjoyed that he wanted to come home.
It reminds me of the story about the lost sheep and the sheperd who left his 99 to find the 1 and was overjoyed when he found it. Why is the one so important? Don’t the 99 matter as well? As I’m thinking about it, I don’t think that the point of the story is that the 99 don’t matter, but that each one is equally important, so important that the shepherd goes after it even though he has 99 others. No matter which of the 100 would have left, it wouldn't have mattered, he still would have gone after it.
This woman is an inspiration to me and a beautiful picture of what I believe Jesus feels for all of us. No matter how much we mess up and run away Jesus is waiting with open arms. He continues to pursue us and love us. This doesn’t mean that we won’t have to live with the consquenses of our bad decisions or that it will be an easy process but it will be a journey worth walking with Him.
I never would have thought that when this kid ran away that there was any chance of him returning. Not after all the hurt and pain I'd seen as a result or him leaving. But, I was blessed to see this beautiful miracle of love, hope, faith and restoration. Pablo has a long way to go, but it looks like he is making good progress. God is working in his life and I look forward with anticipation to hear more of what God continues to do in his life and the lives of those around him.
