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by Carla Williams

Her shaved head was tanned as deeply as her weathered face, so that her blue eyes were all the more prominent. As she walked around the coffee shop, clinging protectively to a variety of bags and possessions, she mumbled gently to herself, as if comforting a broken bird.

She floated patiently around the room, while I watched from my table on the periphery.

She floated patiently around the room, while I watched from my table on the periphery.

The collection of late-afternoon coffeeshop personalities registered her presence with a glance and a shift, but she mostly drifted through the room unacknowledged. She didn’t even try to order from the counter, contenting herself with surveying the wall of coffees and art. She hovered for a long time, no doubt escaping the oppressive July heat.

Precious to God

She floated patiently around the room, while I watched from my table on the periphery.

I knew full well that God cherished this little sparrow and I needed to act, despite the excuses colliding in my mind.

As she walked past me toward the exit, I moved the apathy and anxiety out of my way and stood up to follow her. Catching up in a few quick steps, I placed my hand tentatively on her shoulder and let my words tumble out on top of each other.

“CanIbuyyousomethingtodrink? Or eat? Let me get you something.”

She mumbled gently to herself, as if comforting a broken bird.

She mumbled gently to herself, as if comforting a broken bird.

Her blue eyes sparkled at the sudden acknowledgement, as if she’d been invisible so long that even she was startled to find out she actually existed. She looked at me kindly, her eyes lending me the courage I needed to be this far outside my comfort zone and thrust so immediately into hers.

Sharing Her Treasures

She began speaking slowly, conspiratorially.

She told me about the bookstore that had paid millions of dollars to have the world’s rotation disrupted. She told me about the drugs forced into children to get them to be happy in the summer.

She told me about the weeks of her life that she couldn’t recollect, and how she’d gone looking for them.

While she whispered these secrets, trusting me implicitly with her treasures, I noticed the clothes hanging from her small frame only by the grace of safety pins. I noticed the subtle odor of inattention. I noticed the discoloration at the base of most of her teeth.

And I noticed the gorgeous blue eyes that were fixed so purposefully on my own, begging me to understand with each slow blink.

I listened as she shared, commenting occasionally despite the madness, offering what little validity I could.

Then it was like she’d been carrying these burdens for so long that she exerted exactly the energy necessary to transfer them to someone else, and then she was exhausted.

I repeated my offer to buy her a coffee or juice, which she gently refused before patting me on the arm, and walking out the door.

As I sat back down, I couldn’t shake the bizarre reality of what had just happened. I’d intended to give to her, and she’d walked out of the store confident that she’d given to me.

I’m not so sure she was wrong.

At Team Expansion, one of our great passions is people. We love them because God loves them.

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