babies. i got stuck with babies.

our morning began at 5am. we silently gathered ourselves for breakfast and walked out the door at 5:45am. as we emerged from the metro station to walk the 5 more blocks to s.o.m.e. the sun had still not broken the day. so many men and women were hurrying through the streets as if rushing to beat the daylight so as not to be seen by us regular folk.

we saw many of those people only an hour later as they came to s.o.m.e. for a hot breakfast. what they received was more than just some food, though. every plate was served with a loving “good morning”, every coffee poured with a smile.

we served over 250 guests and then walked toward the bus station. we passed some of our guests on the streets as we walked. in our devotion time tonight sarah shared that she noticed a man that she had served that morning and though she wanted to say hello, he decidedly avoided her eyes and stared at the ground. is it shame? is it fear? is it what our society has taught him to do because we avert our eyes too?

we eventually reached the bus stop and took the bus over to martha’s table where i got stuck with babies. yes, …babies. others were cleaning playgrounds or preparing food for the mobile soup kitchen, but i was put with the babies.

i think the kids could tell that i wasn’t a baby person. they just stared at me skeptically as i tried to force tiny spoonfuls of applesauce into their tight-lipped little mouths. then i was sent to another room with 9 children 3-15 months old. immediately i was directed to pick up a little crying boy named brian. he settled down rather quickly – seemed he just wanted to be held. i awkwardly walked him around the room while the two classroom teachers fed lunch to the rest of the kids.

one of the teachers kept calling over to brian, telling him that he was being spoiled rotten today. being held is being spoiled? more specifically, being held by a weird lady who doesn’t like kids and doesn’t know how to talk to them is somehow special? i guess when you have 9 infants and only 2 teachers, you have few chances to hold the children and love on them.

being smiled at while walking down the street should not be special treatment. being held should not be special treatment. it ought to be the norm.