I really wasn’t going to tell this story.  I told my daughter, “Yeah this is definitely not going in the blog”. After she told me that was a silly reaction, I reminded myself that I have committed to share our story.  To tell the REAL story of what it is like to move to a third world country and live with the people and problems we find here.   I also realized this is an “all world” issue that almost all parents face.  But I have never faced it and although I was totally expecting it, I was STILL GROSSED OUT!  What is the story?  Yesterday I realized I had head lice.  On my head.  Little creatures living on my head.

Last week I was excited to spend time with 2 girls that no longer live at Manos de Amor Casa Hogar.  Their grandmother no longer wants them there, although she can’t care for them well.  I have known them for a number of years and was super excited to see them.  I love that even when months go by, the relationships we have built with these little ones remain strong.  So we played and we hugged and cuddled a LOT and I saw right away that they had lice – and I made the decision to just be with them anyway.

And sure enough, I started feeling itchy a few days ago. I tried to ignore it but finally had to face the inevitable possibility.   Luckily my daughter, who works with children at risk in Vancouver, knows the drill and we spent some ‘quality’ time together drinking wine and picking out lice.

I could write an ‘inspirational’ post about how love sometimes gets messy, about how ministry is not easy, about how taking risks brings the greatest rewards, about how giving sometimes hurts.  But honestly I don’t feel all that noble about it all – I just think it’s kinda funny and really really gross and I expect it will not be the last time a little one gives me this gift.  That’s just part of the story when you’re living amongst children whose parents can’t care for them well.

And since you’re already totally grossed out, I’m not even going to tell you about the maggots we found in the kitchen today….. Viva Mexico!