Weneda is a girl that most people probably wouldn't think twice about. If you remember, I wrote a blog about her back in late June while I was in Haii. I said that by looking at her you would think that she has been through a lot. But you don't have to think about it to know its the truth. You know instantly the minute those dim, dull eyes look into yours that something is wrong. I have always thought that the eyes are really the widows to the soul and when you lock eyes with Weneda, it is as if she can see your soul but you can not see hers. There is nothing in her eyes.
I have thought about her every so often since I left Haiti in July. I think about her and pray for her all the time lately. If you know me very few people's emotional states effect me on a deep, deep level. Not to say that I am not empathetic but I just don't really let other people's "junk" weigh me down. I realized the other day that she had got to me on that deep, deep emotional level and those eyes have been haunting my sleep. I have been thinking about her for the last few days and like many of my thought trains, it began with something odd...a flip-flop. My favorite flip-flops are the leather ones from American Eagle. Nothing fancy. I always have a pair and they never leave my feet during the summer. The pair I had when I arrived in Haiti had probably been my favorite (next to the ones that are the header of my blog and the feature of the blog titled "Well Worn". I wore those until they broke and then some. I think that I still have them and they are surprisingly still wearable, I just can't find them.) Anyway I am getting away from my point. If you go look at "Well Worn" you will see that I have written on the sandals. They are bible verses. I am notorious for this. I write them on my shoes as a reminder to "walk them out" if my life. Its a corny joke that I made one time but its something that stuck with me. On the broken ones as well as the pair that I brought to Haiti with me, I wrote Luke 7:47...
"Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."
...which is something that has stuck with me since the first time I read it. It is in the story of the prostitute that washed Jesus' feet. I love that story. The verse reminds me to forgive peopleand love people. No matter what. So I wrote it on my shoes as a reminder.
While I was in Haiti this last time, I was challenged, daily, by this verse. Many things I had to forgive and many people I had to love, regardless. Which is harder than it sounds.
There are many things that I could say about Weneda and some of them I believe I have already told you. One thing I am sure that I didn't say was that she has been raped, many times. There are court cases pending...well, that is what is being said anyway. And its not like its not common knowledge, her mom lets everyone know. As hard as her life is already, I can't imagine what it is like knowing that EVERYONE knows your personal business.
As I said earlier, I wrote Luke 7:47 on my sandals before I left for Haiti. Some of you are probably aware that I did not return to the states with these sandals. I gave them to Weneda. So as I found myself staring at my flip-flops the other day, I remembered that I had wrote that on there.
I have been rolling the thought around in my head that, that verse also applies to her life as well as mine but in a radically different way. It took me at least two days to wrap my head around how and I am still not sure that I really get it. Whether I get it or not, this is the verse that comes to mind when I think about her. In her life she is going to have to learn to forgive many and love much.
"You are so good to me, You heal my broken heart, You are my father in heaven"
