Embrace the Sweat

Sweat was dripping down my face; not uncommon for me. Anytime I run around I start sweating like crazy. I had been playing soccer for a little while and its hot here so its no surprise that in soaked. Here is the surprise; I'm drenched but im sill being huged tight. They sit in my lap and press their face tight against mine. One girl walked up to me and asked me my name as she wiped my dripping face. They don’t care…relationships are far more valuable to them than worrying about how my sweat might rub off on them. Who at home would do this? No one. No one is volunteering for this kind of intimacy. Is it desperation…is it cultural? I'm not sure. But from the monument we met these children they have not stopped clinging to us. It is rare to catch a glimpse of anyone on our team without a child in their arms or a head on a shoulder. One little girl sat down on my lap today…put her arms around my neck and pulled me close…and then she grabbed my arm to put it around her even tighter. She stayed like this for almost an hour. We cant communicate though words…but its clear that words don’t matter as much to them. The need love and love is what we can give…in many ways its all we can give. The balloons will pop…the chalk will run out…the shoes will ware…but heart felt embraces full of compassion and hope, those will last even beyond this life. This is the intangible that is nearly impossible to explain…about why we are here. There is no lack of poverty in the world…and that is unacceptable. But if there is a lack of lov,e that is unbearable…may we all put an end to it.