” Use me today Lord, show me where to go…” I began my day with this prayer, excited about the things that God would do that day.
I had a meeting set up with Sonia that night. Sonia is a single mom. Her two daughters live at San Jose children’s home. As Sarah (Back2Back staff) and I waited for her at the appointed place we talked about our dreams for this family. Reunited, restored, rehabilitated, rescued… these words could describe the future that we knew God had for them. We were interrupted by the sight of Sonia crossing the road with her son. They live in an area that neither one of us had been before, and needed directions. Sonia opened the door of my suburban and the first thing that I saw was a lovely smile. Her son is a happy and talkative 8 year old. He wanted to be the one giving me directions and impressed me with how well he did it.
“You can park right there, in front of the pink house” She said pointing at a two story house. We entered through a narrow corridor that took us to her “cuarto.” Many families that live in poverty in Mexico live in “cuaterias.” They look like apartments but one apartment is one small room. They usually have one bed where the whole family sleeps, one small table, one small stove and sometimes a small closet.
She opened the door of her room and brought out three plastic chairs for us to sit on. We came with the purpose of learning more about her life and seeing the conditions that her daughters would move in to if the reunification of this family happened. We set up and began our conversation.
“Sonia, how did your addiction start?” I could see the pain in her face as I asked this question. “I always tried to gain my mother’s love but nothing was ever enough. I soon understood that she would never love me…” She started down a path of disappointment after disappointment, not having the guidance of loving parents.
From before she was born to almost a year ago, Sonia’s life could have been described as ruined but as she continued with her story, her facial expressions began to change. There was hope, peace and gratitude. She summed up God’s redemption with a statement, “My mother left me, my siblings turned their backs on me, but my God, he never did.”
As I listened to her life story I am reminded of this year’s Back2Back’s theme, “God will make all things new” Rev.21:5. This is only one of the promises that God has for Sonia and her children. I am so grateful to God for allowing me to witness how He writes the next few chapters of her story.