All is gift

Paa Noi is a long-time friend of Heart's Home and a fellow Christian. She works long hours doing Thai massage, helping many of the arthritic grandmothers in our neighborhood. One of her daughters, E, has struggled with drug addiction for many years. E is a single mother of five children, all with different fathers, the oldest of whom she had when she was just a young teenager-- unfortunately, a story all too common in our neighborhood. The HIV she contracted from this lifestyle was passed onto her youngest daughter, an adorable, independent toddler who loves to play hard to get with us.

A group praying at Paa Noi's house during a visit.

Paa Noi lives in a one room house, where she cares for four of her grandchildren. She always asks us to pray when we visit, especially for her daughter. We will circle up, place our hands on the ground, and each offer our petitions for their family as well as our prayers of gratitude for their friendship and for God's grace at work in their lives.

Paa Noi is exceedingly generous. She invited us all over for Christmas Eve lunch, where she put so much love into the meal and then offered each of us a carefully wrapped bar of soap and some cooling powder. One time when I spotted her on the rot son teew (a bright red truck with two benches in the back that we can ride from home to and from Mass or the market for just 6 baht), she moved over to let me squeeze into the seat next to her. As we chatted and showed each other what we bought at the market, I had to hold in my giggles-- I could practically feel the collective "Huh??" as our fellow passengers wondered how this tall, goofy white girl knew this tough grandma from the slum. When we got off at our stop together, I offered to help her carry her groceries. As I adjusted the bags on my arms to get out my money, she smiled. "Mai pen rai (Don't worry). I just paid for us." That small gesture of friendship sticks with me. With just 6 baht she paid for my rot son teew trip and stole my heart!

Another time when we went to visit her, her grandson brought home a big basket of food. Because school was out, he had spent the day making merit with a monk-- which includes helping him collect and carry food offered by faithful Buddhists along their morning walk. The basket was full of fresh fruit, meats, canned foods, rice, snacks. He gave it to his grandma, who immediately began dividing up the food-- a pile for us, a pile for her neighbors ("They need it more than I do"), and a few remaining items for her own family. She didn't think of herself first; she barely thought of herself at all! It was a humbling gift to receive, and one that I'll continue to remember. Paa Noi is teaching me that poverty of spirit involves how we share and give from what we receive. It's to remember that all is gift. She doesn't think of all that she lacks, but all that she has been given. And in her gratitude for what she has and what she had just received, she was moved to give. This amazing attitude embraces the dynamic movement of love-- receiving and giving with joy. Paa Noi calls me to do the same with all I've been blessed with.