El amor no necesita traducción. Love needs no translation.
In high school, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Mexico for a mission trip during my senior year spring break. For three days my mission team worked in an orphanage in which all of the children spoke Spanish. At first, I was very skeptical about the trip, but oh how life changing it turned out to be.
The moment I walked in the orphanage, I laid my eyes on the most beautiful children. These orphans have nothing but, according to Jesus, they have everything. The joy in these children is contagious. I could not help but smile watching them play basketball, play soccer, slide, swing and even throw a beach ball back and forth. I fell in love with this little girl named Valeria.
Valeria is four years old ad was abandoned by her family. She will most likely never be adopted and live in this orphanage the rest of her life.
Vale is the most beautiful child; she has a smile that is contagious, and eyes that light up like fireworks with joy. Vale speaks fluent Spanish, but somehow I was able to overcome the language barrier and communicate through my actions. Love truly needs no translation. I did not understand that until this trip. The language barrier meant nothing, and now I share a bond so strong with this little girl and nothing could ever tear that apart.
I did not know I could fall in love with someone in only three days. Let me tell you first hand, love at first sight exists. I am not talking about the warm, fuzzy love feeling, but love that fills the heart up where it overflows. Vale taught me the lesson of love during that week. Holding this little girl in my arms brought so much contentment and made my heart smile.
The sweetest memory I have of her was when we made bracelets. Vale spoke no English, but she made me the most beautiful bracelet. Instead of keeping the bracelet for herself, she gave it to me. That is what love is. Just like the bible tells us, God loved us so much that he did not give us a bracelet but his only Son so we could be saved. This bracelet represents true love and something so sweet that I hold near and dear to me.
Oh how I wish I could take Vale home with me, but I know Jesus has placed her in this orphanage for a special reason. It hurts me to know that her earthly, biological mother and father do not care for her, but it makes my heart happy to know that her heavenly father loves her so much. Vale may not know this yet, but Jesus loves her so much and placed her into this world to make an impact.
At four years old, she made the biggest impact on me and changed my life forever. Leaving Vale was the hardest thing I have ever done. The pain inside hurts but I am so joyful knowing that she has a family that loves her. She belongs to Jesus and will forever be a part of my family. John 14:18 states, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Vale holds such a special place in my heart, and I will never forget her. I thank God every day that he has made this little girl for me to love. I will pray for her every day. I cannot wait to one day see her beautiful face again and see that precious smile and those cute black pigtails sticking out of her head. I love you Vale.
1st John 4:7-12: "Dear friends, let us love one another because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love, does not love God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might love through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."