Basketball, begging, and bananas

October 25, 2007
Oh the bliss of training and exercise! For the first time in months (other than my time in the States the other week), I actually worked hard and felt tired. This evening I made it to my first basketball practice. It brought back memories of high school days when I did not just play basketball, I had to train for it. There were the laps around the gym, the 3 man weaves, etc… . I had forgotten a lot. I felt very clumsy and uncoordinated half of the time but it was fun. Practice did not start on time because there was only one other girl and I there (in the end there were a total of 4 of us) but that proved to be a blessing because we were able to chat and I found that though we are different ages and in very different phases of life, there are some common interests. Even in the short time of conversation I noticed that she seems to have a lot of faith questions and I hope that with time, we can discuss that more. She is concerned for her daughter too as she heads off to college without strong principles in place and without knowing what she believes. I am looking forward to getting to know the family more the mom speaks decent English, we should be able to communicate in one of the 2 languages, even in deeper conversation.

As for other events of the day, I now have Internet in the house I am staying in here in the city. Yeah! I was supposed to buy a vehicle tomorrow but the owner has to work now so the final paperwork may be pushed off until the end of next week. That actually could work better for me anyway except for the fact that it means more waiting once again.

This afternoon I heard the doorbell ring and since I am the only one at the house for a few days, I went down to check it out. There was a woman there and she tried to explain some situation about a car and her son, but with the barking of the dogs at my feet and the Spanish, I could not understand very well. In the end she made it clear that she was asking for money. I told her no, but wanting to at least do something I offered her some bananas. At first I thought that she said no, but in the end she wanted them. Her son was with her but neither looked hurt or even malnourished. The woman looked like she was capable of working so I am not sure what her story was. When I brought the bananas out to her, she wondered if she could have my flip flops since hers were being loaned to her. Again I declined, partially because they were the only ones that I had in the city and partially because she did not seem truly needy. I do wish that I had stood and talked with her and tried to listen a little more but all the while I was thinking about the fact that the door was open to someone else’s house for which I am responsible. She left with the bananas. It was probably good for me to give them away because it cost me slightly since they were the only ones that I had left for breakfast tomorrow. Going to the store for just bananas is not worth it and I can do without a banana with my cereal.

I always find it difficult to know how to respond to the people who are begging. Hardly a day passes without seeing someone begging at a street corner or more likely in the middle of the lanes of traffic. I need to remember to pray more in the moment for discernment in knowing how God wants me to respond to each individual person. It is too easy to lump all beggars together when in fact each has some kind of need. I have lots to learn yet about what it means to walk as Jesus did.