Dinner with Jeny

Click Photo to Enlarge

On Friday evening, we invited a Costa Rican family from our first Bible study over for dinner as a way to get to know them better.  Jeny, is the mother of 4 kids and works as a maid at a hotel in downtown San José.  She brought with her daughter Dayana, age 14 and twin boys, Andres and Abraham, age 5.  She also has a 16 year old son named Jonathan that we have yet to meet.

It was an interesting and slightly embarrassing experience to hear the boys repeating several times, “¡Que linda esta casa!” (This house is so beautiful) as they looked in the bedrooms and saw the white walls and white tile floors.  You see, their house has walls of unpainted concrete blocks and concrete floors with no tile, bed sheets that cover the windows for privacy and only a few pieces of furniture in the entire house.  Also, in an act of service, Jeny decided to wash some of the dishes and burned her hand with the hot water, something they are not accustomed to either. 

As I said earlier, the dinner was an opportunity to get to know them better, but also, I got to know myself a little better.  I learned that there are certain blessings I have been taking for granted, like hot water and a tiled floor (although tile isn’t necessary, it is aesthetically pleasing).  This time with them also serves as a reminder that when we arrive in Mexico and we are getting set up in our permanent residence, I want to do all that is possible to make Nationals feel at home and welcome in my house.  Thanks Lord for the lessons you teach us!