Don Manuel

The night we went back to the AIM base, I had a conversation with one of the men on the team who is originally from Guatemala. We talked about what it means to see people in the spirit, not in the flesh, but in the spirit. When I expressed my frustrations with a few encounters with Guatemalan men, he changed my perspective. "Look at those men as brothers" 

Phew. 

Javier continued to talk about seeing people in the spirit by showing me a picture he had taken :

 We both stood in front if his computer screen and he told me to look at this man in the spirit. He waved his hand in front of his face and said, " Don't look at this." He then asked me what I saw. 

Purity? I had no idea. 

He walked away, leaving me in front of the screen staring at this stunning picture of an old wrinkled man. A while later he returned and I still wasn't sure what I saw in this picture. What was The Lord trying to tell me about this particular picture? I still wasn't completely sure. So Javier explained the image. 

Manuel was the man pictured. He's in his eighties and lives up in the mountains. When Javier ran into this man, it was very early in the morning and no one was on the streets. Manuel was carrying several wood angles he had made. He ventured from his village all the way to Antigua just to sell these angels. Javier described Manuel's smile as one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, which to me was odd because in the picture he seemed serious. When he asked to take Manuel's picture, he agreed and asked if he could hold his product in the picture. 

Looking at the picture later, the spirit revealed a deep revelation to Javier. 

"Angels do not get to be held by the Father the way we do." 

Wait, what?

We are held by the father in a way the angels crave. They are not held the way we are. They are not loved the way we are. 

Woah.

I went home that night shocked by this new revelation. This new idea that I had never thought about before was rocking me. 

I was in awe of the Father. 

Complete awe.

The next morning started with Luis informing us a group of 60 people were moving into the house that weekend. We were struck with overwhelming feelings of discomfort. We had been living with only four people in the house for two months and now 60 were going to move in? 

People started showing up to the house later that morning to clean and prepare for the coming group. I was still overwhelmed and needed to clear my mind, so Ali and I went into town. 

On the bus ride into town my mind was running rapidly and my emotions varied. 

Javi revealed something huge to me that I was still processing, we were asked to lead Sunday school in a church that has 3 hour long services, we had invited the base over for a party that evening, and  we were still trying to understand how life was going to be with 60 teens in the house. 

Overload. 

I felt heavy. There was so much. Some good and some not so good. I needed relief. I needed Jesus. 

We spent the afternoon in town making photocopies for Sunday school and eating our favorite foods. We decided to try a coffee shop that someone had suggested to us that was on the way to the bus stop. 

A young man passed us trying to sell us something and we responded out of habit "No gracias". I walked away and suddenly realized what the bit was selling. 

Wooden Angles. 

I turned back quickly to see an old man crossing the street holding several of the angles in a pack on his back. I looked at Ali shocked.

Manuel. 

We chased after the two men, shaking with excitement. As Manuel turned I suddenly knew exactly what Javier was talking about. 

His smile was truly one of the most beautiful things. 

I told him that we had heard of him through a friend. Our conversation was very brief but it lead to a day full of smiles. I bought an angel from the two joyful men and walked away praising my king. That encounter was exactly what I needed to make it through that day. 

The Lord's timing is perfect. 

The end.