Today was a beautiful day with many great moments, from celebrating Estuardo’s 8th birthday with all the babies and toddlers this morning, to celebrating with pizza and cake at Eliza Martinez this afternoon.  It was a series of encounters which left each of us smiling.  Read about the birthday party and pizza party at the blogs of Nate & Rachael, Scot, and Shawn.

This afternoon at Eliza Martinez we hosted the pizza party, which was a joy, and we had a variety of other things for the kids to do.  It was also a day of celebration of First Communion for a couple of the young men, Luis & Hugo, who looked so handsome in their suits.  They had a big cake, and they also had pinatas for the boys.  It was a blast to watch the boys go at those gorgeous creations with a stick, hoping someone would knock a few pieces of candy loose.  And then they handed the blindfold and stick to Rachael.  And then to Nate and the rest of us.  They were treating us as guests of honor while we were there to serve them.  They cut the cake, and I chose to stay outside making bracelets with my new BFFs, and then Adolfo came across the courtyard with a piece of cake for me.  I later learned from the rest of the team that they served us first before the rest of the boys.

The boys were so loving and attentive and engaged this afternoon, and I can’t count the times I heard “thank you” in Spanish and in English.  We can respond with “mucho gusto”, which is to say “it’s a pleasure”.  I continue to be amazed and thrilled by God, that moves in such a way that we arrive to serve, and we find ourselves simultaneously humbled and uplifted.  They want to thank us, and I want to thank them for letting us come.  We come to bring them gifts, and they give us the first piece of cake.  We are from different countries and families and worlds, and we lean on one another and connect ourselves to one another in ways that change each of us forever.

I had so much fun with the pinatas and pizza party.  But it was in the moments in between that I found myself with tears in my eyes.  I spent a lot of time sitting still with boys and beads all around me, working on finding the right bead or tying a good knot.  There was one boy’s knee in my back, another leaning against my leg on the bench below, and two on either side.  We were just working together, side by side, getting to know each other a bit.  They are just little boys who need someone to love them like God loves them.

One of the boys made a bracelet for me.  It says “te amo”: I love you.