SYLVIA

As we stopped by the road to pick up this little two year old girl and her single mom, little Sylvia immediately spotted me in the back of the van.  She climbed over people until she reached my lap, and began to chatter away.  In a matter of minutes, she was fast asleep.  Her little fingers were wrapped around mine; she had found a safe spot, a place of security.  As we bounced over rough roads, she slept peacefully.  I was hit by the thought, “What will this little girl’s future look like?”  She is so innocent, so charming, and so sweet.  Her dad isn’t part of her life and she is not surrounded by a strong family atmosphere like I have been blessed with.  Where will she be in 20 years?  

She will grow up in Africa, a place of poverty, of AIDS, of trials that I have never needed to face, a place where one lives with the money from today…not knowing if tomorrow there will be any shillings left to buy beans.  Will she search for God in the midst of her hardships?  Will she serve Him through the difficult times?  Will she find joy in the midst of pain?  Will she stand strong in an unstable world with so many temptations?  My prayer is that this darling little girl will grow up to serve God with her whole heart, her whole life.