Thankful Feet, and Hearts

The sweet ladies that did our feet last weekend were Philipino. One was probably my age, and the other in her mid-twenties. I just wanted to share with you a little about their lives; it made me thankful for mine.

The older lady has two kids, a seventeen year old and a twelve year old. She has been here 7 years. Her mother takes care of her kids. She’s married, but her husband doesn’t work, there is no work in the Philippines. She said he may work now and then if he can find construction or something, but she provides the income. “Philipino men are lazy,” she said.
The other woman has three kids, something like 8, 5, and almost three. She has been here a year, and before coming hadn’t seen her husband for over a year. Her mother has her kids, “There is no work in the Philippines,” again, she said. “Men are no good in the Philippines.”

These women have given up their families to come to a faraway land and clean other peoples feet. Not with their families. Not for a new life. But, to send the tiny bit they make home to their children and mothers. When I talked to the younger lady, she seemed very sad and said she missed her kids very much. I thought of Chach, and his chubby little fingers, light filled face, and his constant, “I yuv you, mom” –s. I started to cry when she was telling me about her family. I truly felt my heart hurt for her. To leave these little ones, that she will never be able to get back – oh, it made me so sorry for her. And it made me anxious to get home to hug my babies, hold their cheeks in my hands, and kiss their sweet faces. I am SO thankful for the life I have. I have NO idea why I was blessed to be born in the country I was, to the family I was, to marry the man I did, and to have the fullness of the gospel in my life – but I feel more blessed for these things every day.

I hope you do to.