With a stack of dirty dishes in one hand, a pile of clean clothes in the other, and a baby strapped to her back, Mary greets me with her big smile and warm eyes. This is my first interaction every morning when I walk into the Maramba Old People’s Home, and I couldn’t think of a better way to start my day. Mary is joy, Mary is full of laughter, and I’m convinced Mary has a heart the size of Zambia. Day after day she washes dishes, she bathes and clothes elderly women, and she serves meal after meal. Mary is an angel on this Earth – I’m sure of it.
She has 3 of her own children, 2 boys in school and her sweet baby Blessing who often accompanies her mother to work. Mary’s husband passed away 6 months ago, so she did what she had to do in order to send her kids to school and provide for them. Mary’s job is far from glamorous; with its monotonous routine and even off-putting tasks, this career would not be the first choice of many. But somehow, Mary carries herself with grace and humility like I’ve never seen.
A complaint has never left her lips, and each encounter m she has with the residents of the home is full of genuine and sincere love. Mary is my role model in more ways than one. Her English is very broken, yet she persists in asking me all she can about my own life. She is eager to talk about church and her kids. Many times Mary has told me about her dream of being able to stay home and raise her kids in order to spend more time with them, but right now it’s not quite feasible. If that’s not sacrificial love I don’t know what is.
When I think about my Mary, I think of Jesus. I think of the ways He unfailingly provides for His children. He never complains, and He goes about it with a posture of deep care for His own. If Mary loves her children enough to scrub the nshima off of plates for hours a day, how much more does our Heavenly Father love us? Ephesians 1:4 tells us that we are specially chosen to be holy and blameless in His sight, simply because we are His children. Holy AND blameless!! Every day we sin, we say ugly things, we do detestable things, and we constantly fall short, yet our Father declares us guilt-free! But He doesn’t stop there, He also declares us holy. No other love like this exists, but I sure am thankful I get to see a glimpse of this love played out every day in my Mary girl.
