Best part of the day

The best part of my day is lunch time…and not for the obvious reason. Don’t get me wrong I love eating and lunch is definitely a highlight but the walk home is what really makes it such a great time of day.

As I leave the office to walk down our road to the cottage I am stopped and greeted by children returning home from school. They are the young ones in baby and top class (Kindergarten) that only go for half days and then go home at lunch. They usually spot me coming down the road then run full speed to give me a hug and burry their heads in my skirt. I always worry that they will just topple over from the speed they are running and the fact our road is anything but flat. But they usually get to me without much of an issue. They are smiling from ear to ear, giggling and grabbing my hand to walk with me home.

I love listening to their laughter. It is so pure and innocent. It’s like they don’t have a care in the world. I wish we could somehow hold on to that as adults. As they let go of my hand to start their return home some yell bye Aunty Donna. I just have to laugh because no matter how hard I try I just can’t convince them that my name is Jennifer. Donna was my old roommate from Scotland and she taught at that school for a few months. I mean I don’t look anything like Donna not to mention I am a good 6 inches taller than her. Perhaps kids can’t judge height. Or perhaps they think any muzungu is named Donna. It always makes me laugh.

One of my favorite days was when I was walking home and these three young kids ran up and gave me a hug and then handed over their thermos. They all started smiling and talking in Luanda and the fact that I was responding in English didn’t seem to matter too much to them. I got the hint they wanted me to drink whatever was in the thermos. After trying to politely decline it I realized I would probably do more damage by not drinking it than I would just to suck it up and take a sip of the mystery liquid. I could see their smiles getting even bigger and they started laughing and were so excited I took a sip. It ended up just being juice but was a truly bonding experience.

Here were three little kids offering to share their drink with me…just on the side of the road. I don’t ever stop someone and say hey I have something to drink, do you want some? I learn a lot about who Jesus is on my walks home from work. I learn what it looks like to experience pure joy. I learn about sharing what little I have with others. I learn that it’s ok to love someone even if you don’t know them and they are completely different from you. And most of all I learn to stop and notice people and to enjoy even the most simplest of actions…a walk home for lunch.