Rumbling down a small one lane road toward, yet another small village we encounter a man standing next to a quad waving a paper at us. He seemed to us a salesman…trying to entice us to partake in some sort of touristy event. We weren’t there for that. We had been down this road…we knew where we were going.
Or did we? As we got closer to our destination we realized the area had grown. There were more cenotes to see than there had been before. That’s when we say him. The small boy with the big eyes..on the yellow bike. He was waving a similar paper at us but he was much harder to pass by. I rolled down my window and listen to him rattle off all the reasons why we should follow him. I didn’t understand it all but he was cute…so we followed him. He led our three vans down the road and through the town square. Every few seconds he looked back to make sure we were still there, even using his hand to beckon us . We assured him with a few shakes of our heads and waves of our hands that were were there still (and to please look ahead so you don’t fall and skin your cute little knees).
The next step would make any American mom gasp. He asked us to stop, he dropped his bike and he jumped in our van. What?!! I mean, I’ve spent my whole motherhood telling my kids to never ever get in a car with a stranger and here I was letting someone else’s do exactly that! It was different though. This kiddo was running the show.
He led us down the road waving his small index finger and saying “no no no” (these three vans are mine) to all the other “salesman” who tried to lure us in.
His name was Jesus Alexandro and he was 8 years old. He has been doing this since he was 6. Now folks, would you send your 6 year old out to start working? I don’t think you would. This is his job. He works and he is not saving for an Xbox or a new iPhone. He doesn’t go to summer camp and he might not even go to school. He doesn’t take tennis lessons or go to basketball camp and he doesn’t lay around in his oversized, air-conditioned house watching episode after episode on Netflix, snacking on Doritos and then claiming to be bored. He works and brings in money by bringing in people. And he is GOOD at it. He sat right up in the front and told us where to go while enjoying the sucker we gave him (another thing we tell our kids never to do! Take candy from a stranger.) He got us to our destination and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Actually, we didn’t just have fun, we were amazed!.
It got me thinking…
If we just stayed on the right path, and bypassed the distractions, knowing we are going in the right way…but when we become too overstimulated and a bit lost and over whelmed…we allowed Jesus to lead us to our destination…..we WOULD get there. If we let him claim us, push off the temptation or evil desires or distractions….He will get us to the exact spot we need to be. If we trust Him, he will guide our path.
We thought we knew where we were going, and we could have gone there, and it may have even been fun. But God put Jesus Alexandro in our path, literally. This little guy really had us all thinking quite a bit about our own lives. Like Him, Jesus Alexandro wanted to be right up with us, showing us the way and clearing a path for us. Our Savior never leads us or forsakes us…He stays with us.
Jesus A. stayed with us the whole time. He led us into the caves and he jumped in the water and swam with us and held a smile the whole time. At the end he told us when it was time to go and he even led us “home”, or at least in the right direction. He had our hearts (and our pesos) at the end.
This past week has been good and this one afternoon’s story has made me think and realize that God wants us to take Him in too, delight in Him, converse with Him and let Him lead us. And most of all….he wants our hearts.
