Jessica O'Brien's Blog
It's Summertime in the City.... / Mar 3, 09:29 AM
Okay, so maybe it’s not summer. Okay, maybe it’s not really spring yet either. But it sure feels like it today. I woke up with the sun shining into our apartment (that lacks curtains), and went the 3 flights of stairs to get our Sunday Paper. It was beautiful outside, and when it gets even the least bit warm outside, people suddenly pop out on the street that weren’t there all winter, and give me excitement and hope for the warm weather seasons.
We will be leaving in 2 weeks for our spring break, and I will be making my train ride back to Michigan. It is the exact half way mark, at 6 months, and I am amazed it has gone by so fast here. Yesterday was Saturday, and my roommates and I had our typical routine of going to visit some of our neighbors. One of the neighbors I visited, was Tina, a sweet woman with 5 children, a loving husband, and a beautiful home that live a block from us. They were celebrating her youngest daughters 23rd birthday and invited us to come. I sat there, excited to be there, but feeling a little bad, like I don’t want to be an inconvenience to their home, as they scramble to make coffee for us and give us cake plates. From the time we first met Tina, she has been nothing but loving to us, and has opened her home to us to truly make us part of her family. We sat around her living room until 10:30 p.m. just talking and watching Ice Age in Spanish. I’m proud to say I learned a few new phrases. :-)
I was looking around at Tina and her family, so comfortably talking and laughing with us, and thought back to how we first met her. Our second week here, Joanna and I, in all our awkwardness, made 3 plates of brownies, covered them with foil, and went on a walk around our neighborhood to introduce ourselves to neighbors yet strangers, with an abundance of baked goods. We met Tina, who was wearing a bright purple shirt, and was having a garage sale. Her and her youngest son, Alex, whose 10, loved the brownies. Last night, I found it funny, that such a simple thing, a plate of brownies, brought us to such a great relationship with her and her family. God really shows up in the little things. We think in order to give or receive God’s love, we have to do great, profound things. But I’m realizing more here than ever, that Jesus was about the simple acts, and seeing how God is present in even the simplest of conversations, or the smallest of victories.
“We can do no great things. Only small things with great love.”
-Mother Theresa
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