My way or the tollway?

I went to CityLink yesterday to pay a toll. The man who served me happened to wear a condescending attitude and would rather give a lecture on tollway jurisdiction than assist customers with relevant information and send them on their way.

The plot thickens when he was to be embarrassed later when his colleague next to him delivered exactly the thing he said earlier couldn't be done.

Now here's where the real twist happens and makes the story well worth telling. As I later thought I was being gracious to downplay his embarrassment by not making a scene or not asking for his name so that I could later address him in the letter of complain he would remember the rest of his sorry life, another thought hit me like a lightning bolt: I shouldn't have at least let the opportunity slip by to commend the lady who assisted me with what I needed to get done.

When we are inconvenienced we feel justified to complain, don't we? But how often do we let people know when they've actually done a good job? Not often enough.

Says who #19

          DR. WILBUR LARCH
Goodnight, you princes of Maine, you
kings of New England.

(The Cider House Rules, 1999)

"Pequeño Soldado" (Little Soldier)

Pequeño soldado, my true north,
You orient my world and set it forth;
Whenever my hope is gone,
I think of you and march on!


Pequeño soldado, my guiding light,
You taught me love and how to fight;
To me you know just what to say,
You never have too little to give away.


Pequeño soldado, my inspiration,
You're spoken of from nation to nation;
Who would've thought that a little boy
Could wield power so lightly from joy?


Pequeño soldado, you will be known
For freeing hearts when you have grown;
For now your skills you will refine
By practising them on freeing mine!

I've since realized that in Spanish most adjectives come after the nouns, so I've actually come across as saying "Soldier Little"... though there was in fact a "Stuart Little"! Ay ay ay... the joys of learning a foreign language.

A birthday letter

Just when I thought Maycol's last letter was awesome, I received another one from him today written in October, the month of his tenth birthday.

"I write you this time to tell you that I was so utterly happy to receive the present you sent me..."

And guess what he got from me for his birthday? A tee shirt and underwear! "They look very nice and I loved them."

I want to commend Compassion and the local church partners at Maycol's project for helping to select his birthday presents every year and they always credit the sponsor for their wonderful gift ideas. They really know how to bridge the gaps of geographical distance between sponsor and child and postal restrictions by encouraging the children to write to their sponsors and tell them what gifts they receive.

This isn't said often enough but the little things that Compassion does mean the whole world to both sponsor and child. Compassion, insisting on doing what they do all these years in Jesus' name, is the glue that securely seals the friendship between Maycol and I.

This time Maycol sent me "mucho cariño y un gran abrazo"... a lot of affection and a huge hug. Every time this boy hugs and kisses me with his words it's just as though I'm being hugged and kissed for real. Thank you, Compassion!