Beggars and elephants- Real life vs. R&R

While sitting around the table one evening at Jaclyn's house, while back in the U.S. for vacation a couple months ago, we engaged in a discussion about life in Burkina. We shared many things that we loved about living there, and they shared how cool it was we got to go on safaris and see things like elephants living in their natural habitat. And then Sydaleigh says, 

"What's not cool, is when beggars come to the window asking for money when we're in the car sitting at a stop light."

*crickets*

No body says a word. Not a single word.

I see the weight of the reality of our world resting on my kids shoulders. They now carry part of the burden. Their eyes have been open. They see the broken unpleasant parts of humanity and they carry it with them now too. They have been entrusted with the truth that lies beyond the borders of suburbia. And I pray that they will never close their eyes to it.

The safaris are cool and have been a wonderful part of our experience and life here in Burkina Faso.

But beggars are also a part of our life here. Our daily life in Burkina. It's not like the elephants we've seen on occasion. No, the beggars are more real to my kids than the awesome wildlife we've seen while driving through the bush.

And being a beggar is not a cool thing. It's not a cool part of life here. It's a really hard part. Sydaleigh gets that. Because she sees it everyday.

And she's not afraid to talk about it.

The following day I took Sydaleigh out for some one-on-one time, just me and her. We did some shopping and grabbed some McDonalds for a treat. While sitting next to her as she ate her ice cream we started talking about life in Burkina and I asked her about the comment she made about the beggars....and her response surprised me, and also, didn't surprise me at all

She said, "Mom, do you remember what you wrote for #6 on my birthday list?"

I knew what I wrote on the list, but I couldn't remember specifically what #6 was. I thought for a second and the she said....

"You said that I am sensitive to people's feelings."

Yes, I did. Because you are.

We talked back and forth and she told me that when she sees the people begging on the street she feels bad for them. She thinks about how they feel, whether they are cold, or hungry, or scared, embarrassed, tired, hot....

They aren't nobody to her. And their situation isn't cool. And it's more a part of her life here, than all the safari's we've been on and all the animals we've seen. If all she remembers of our time in Burkina is the people begging on the street and how deeply it affected her....our time here is not a waste.

I thank the Lord for giving my girl eyes to see the "least" of these. And recognizing there is nothing least about them. For they are people too.