Maria

I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise will be continually on my lips. 

The hernia was showing through her shirt, pulsing out of her delicate brown skin as if a rock were wedged between her ribs. She was small and toothless with limp black hair and bright brown eyes brimmed with tears. But the Lord has been good to her, she confessed. My husband is an alcoholic, my daughter has seizures, and my grandson nearly died last month. The Lord has been good to us, He is all I have. 

I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 

She said she has to sleep outside because it is too hot for her inside. A pallet covered with a patchwork sheet was pushed to the corner of the makeshift patio where we sat in broken plastic chairs listening to her life. She sleeps there, even though it is dangerous, even though the barbed wire fencing that surrounds her humble home can be easily invaded. The dogs keep here aware, they bark at anything. She indicates to two sickly mutts trembling with hunger, eyes bulging and scabs festering along their matted fur. 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Yes, she has seen the goodness of the Lord. She has held it in her hand and touched it to her lips. Sweet as honey and rich as wine, the feast of the Lord’s faithfulness has been spread before her, and she has dined there daily even as many days she does not have her daily bread. How can someone with so little earthly glory be rolling in the bounty of the Lord’s grace? From where did this reality come, that she might know how deeply she is loved without the influence of material persuasion? Deep within her spirit, buried beneath the surface where no demon can snatch away, is hidden a secret jewel of faith. This glittering treasure is the sum of all her riches, and with it she can look at the despondency of her situation and still see that the Lord is good! Still, she raises her hands to her Creator, from Whom both good and calamity come, and says, Blessed is the woman who takes refuge in Him!

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 

She hears the drunk men at night and knows that her husband is one of them. His name is Enrique. Come home tonight, she thinks, but He rarely does. So she sleeps in her pallet under the Nicaraguan stars and listens to the breathing of the dogs curled at her feet. And in the morning, she will continue to watch the road for her husband of 31 years.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. 

Her grandchildren play with dirty plastic toys around her feet as she works at her sewing machine, making sheets out of old trips of clothing. They dive into piles of stained fabric, laughing. She watches them for her daughter-in-law, who is busy making flour tortillas next door. The little one was in the hospital last month. We didn’t know what he had. But Alvaro prayed for him, and he became well. She points to one of the Nicaraguans that came with our group. Alvaro goes to the hospital every Wednesday and Friday to pray for patients to know the Lord and be healed. He knows that health is second priority to knowing the Lord, so when He prays, He prays that God will heal both the body and the soul. Yes, the Lord has been good, for He has made me well. Yes, the Lord is good, for knowing Him is eternal life. 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.

My name is Maria, she says. My name is Maria and the Lord has been good to me. Bless the Lord, that is all I can say, Bless the Lord. 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!