Meet Maria

Meet Maria.  I met Maria about 7 months ago.  It was before we had any property that I met Maria.  I found out she was a seamstress because she had asked me if I could buy her a certain kind of serger for sewing clothes.  Hers had been stolen and was how she earned a living.  She even showed me the outfits that she sewed for kids.  I remember her telling me how it was a great way to earn some income and still be able to stay at home with her kids.  I told her to pray and that I would look in the states for a machine for her.  (I had no idea how much they were when I told her I'd look.)  

When I saw the clothes that she had sewed, I knew she was a good seamstress.  Right away I thought to myself, "If I could get her a machine and she was willing to teach some ladies to sew, maybe more ladies in the colony could earn some income for their families!"  I decided to just come out and ask her.  When I asked if she would be willing to teach other ladies some day so that they could earn some income, well...she looked at me like I was from another planet!  She smiled and said, "If I did that, then I would not make as much income.  I'd be giving my customers away."  I smiled and told her I understood.

About a month ago, I saw Maria again.  It had been quite awhile since I'd seen her last and she didn't look the same.  She looked sad and tired; worn down.  When she passed through the line to get dispenses, Hector had talked with her and then asked me if I knew she was a seamstress.  He reminded me of the sewing machine that we had just be donated and wondered what I thought about giving it to her.  I wasn't sure if she would want the machine or not because I wasn't sure if she knew how to use it or not.  When I told her a friend in the states had donated a sewing machine for someone in the river colony, she lit up.  I told her if she came in two weeks, (today), that I would have a machine for her.

Well, today was the big day for Maria.  She came to thank me and I told her that it was a gift from God.  I asked if I could please take her picture so that my friend that donated it could see a picture of the recipient of sewing machine.  She agreed and asked if she should take it out of the blue plastic bag that we had it in.  We decided it would be best to keep it in the bag, since there were so many people around from the colony.  I knew we'd be overwhelmed with requests once they saw it.

After Maria left with her machine, I continued to interact with the children, take photos, hold babies and practice my Spanish.  After an hour had passed, I noticed Maria came back.  I thought to myself, "I hope the machine works okay.  Maybe she doesn't know how to use it."  She came to Maribel and me.  She began to cry as she spoke to me through Maribel's translation.  She just wanted me to know how grateful she was.  She said the machine worked great.  She tried it as soon as she brought it home.  She told us that it was just what she needed to be able to work again.  She said that she had to come back and thank me again.

I continued to talk to Maria through Maribel.  I asked her the same question that I had asked her months before.  "Would you be willing, some time in the future, to teach another lady how to sew so that she could earn an income?"  This time she smiled and said "yes."  

It gets even better.  Maria began to ask about the Bible classes she had heard were going to start soon.  She said she'd like to come if she could bring her children.  We assured her that we would have someone to watch the children so that all interested parents could take the class.

This is what I've learned.  The Bible says that God loved us first.  He loved us before we ever knew Him.  He loved us while we were lost in our sins.  He loved us unconditionally, because He is love.  

When we love first, people that don't even know us, people that are lost in their sins then they are drawn to God.  Just like God, we are to show love first.  Not show love so that people will come to know Christ, but show love and then more than likely, people will come to know Christ.  Our motivation to love others should never be to get anything in return; not even good things.  Our motivation to love others should always be because.....He first loved us.