The Light in Her Eyes

Brown Eyes. How I love this particular pair. I especially love how they light up as their two-year-old owner jumps up and down with excitement. Why the excitement? Because she has seen me. And yes. I start to jump up and down as well, and I am sure my eyes get just as big as hers.
Last Sunday.... We had gone out that morning to the mountains, but the roads where not passable. So I got to spend a quite afternoon at the house. Nice, right? Um, no. That day as never before, for some unknown reason, I felt completely and utterly alone.... I do not speak the language these people speak, I do not know their ways or their customs, I know nothing of their pasts. And well, they know nothing of me too. It will be months before I can have a REAL conversation. One where I am not grasping for words in my limited vocabulary. I was overwhelmed. Not a feeling I like. At.ALL. I felt completely alone. I think more alone than I have ever felt before. Before there has always been a light at the end of the tunnel. But for me, the light at the end of the tunnel was months away.....either when I know Spanish much better or I go back to the States.
I went to my room, sat on the bed, and just stared off into space. I am not a crier, but I would not have been surprised if that had been one of those times.
But then I heard the Lord, not audibly, of course, but He spoke right to my heart. "Kathleen, dear one, don't you remember? You ASKED for this. You wanted to understand what it was like to be a stranger in a foreign country....so that one day you could have compassion for strangers in your country. You wanted to know. This is one of the reasons why you are here. This is not a trial, my beloved. This is Me answering your prayer. This is a blessing. Remember how it feels. Never forget. One day I will use this for My glory."
Did that horrible feeling go away? Not immediately. But God is right. And I am praying He will never let me forget.
One day I pray I will be looking into another pair of brown eyes. A pair that belongs to a Mexican child in the States. A child that is having a hard time understanding the world around them. And in that time I hope to whisper in Spanish, "I understand, my child. I have been where you are. Let me introduce you to the One who carried me through."
And maybe, just maybe, God can use me to bring light into that pair of brown eyes. Because "...God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (I John 1:5b)