I’ve never been able to keep a wristwatch in working order for longer than six months. My parents bought me a Timex watch with a glass bevel and a black leather strap when I was in grade school. Since that time I have destroyed every single watch I’ve ever owned. I’m not the type of person that typically breaks things. In fact, of all the watches that have hit the garbage, only two were due to impact or water damage.
I destroy watches with an abnormal electrical pulse that is generated by my body.
This phenomenon was discovered during a doctor exam when I was younger, and plagues me in subtle ways. I cannot use a wireless microphone because I generate feedback. If I pick up an input jack from a live speaker, an electrical “pop” will manifest at my touch, and then the speakers will output a loud buzz. And, after wearing a digital watch for about a month, it will malfunction.
This past December I ordered a vintage design watch that was popular in the 90s. It was a Shark Clip, digital surfers watch. I found it on Amazon for a little over twenty bucks. It was a kind of ugly blend of black, orange, and green. I’m not sure why, but of all the watches I looked at online, it was the one that I purchased. The little watch has surprised me, by passing the six month mark without malfunction. Ugly or not, it gained my loyalty and I’ve enjoyed wearing it.
Our team arrived Friday night in Belmopan Belize. The next morning was the first time I met Victor. The first thing he said was, “Hello.” The second thing Victor said was, “Can I have your watch?” I laughed at him and told him that he needs to work on his approach before he goes for the hard sell. I thought to myself, “There is absolutely no chance I’m giving him this watch, I’ve finally found one that works.”
Victor and I seemed to keep running into each other through the day, perhaps he was working on his approach? Soon I saw him leading in the games, helping his friends with activities, and he continued to hang out with me. By the end of the first day, he asked again, “Can I have your watch?” I looked into his eyes full of sincerity, and to my surprise, I could not bring myself to again tell him, “No.” So I decided to deflect him. I’d just give him a non-answer, “I’ll think about it.” Surely he’d forget about it and ask someone else for a trinket. He didn’t need my watch. I did. It was the only working watch I had.
And then I remembered the words of Mother Theresa, about how we are called to give out of our poverty. Of course she was only paraphrasing Jesus. Oh… I felt the sting. I am on a five week trip with 10 students, I need to keep us on schedule, and I have only a single watch.
Again the next day I stalled Victor with the same phrase, “I’ll think about it.”
His persistence continued. Finally I asked, “What do you have to trade me?” He responded as his face fell, saying, “Nothing.” While the response saddened me, I didn’t want to let it show, and so I poked him playfully and said, “Well, if you’ve got nothing to trade, I’m going to have to just keep thinking about it.”
He looked sad as he walked away. I don’t think I realized it then, but he had me in that moment.
Monday night our crew gathered in the sanctuary of the church building for prayer meeting. While the singing began, I saw Victor walk in the side of the building. Men and women were already at the alters, praying up front as on of the ladies led the people in an old hymn. I thought of my own childhood, of how when I was Victor’s age I had big dreams and I looked up to the men of the church. I remembered how cool it was when people from far away came to visit us.
I remembered the Kingsmen who came to sing at a little country church. My parents went to hear it and I was with them. Afterwards, at their merchandise table I had my eye on a penlight. I desperately wanted it, but I had no money. When the singer at the table handed it to me and told me that I could have it for free… I was ecstatic. I’ll never forget that.
I left my seat and walked around the back of the sanctuary where Victor was then sitting. I removed my watch as I neared him. I knelt beside him and held out the watch. The smile hit his face like a camera flash. He reached out to take it and then immediately gave me a full blown bear hug. He was smiling, I was smiling, and we both were thrilled.
I started to walk away when I felt him tug my arm. I turned to see him holding out a stuffed animal. He handed me a fish from Finding Nemo with a loop on the top of its head. He had brought me a trade! The fish was perfect. I slipped the loop on the Leatherman multi-clip of my backpack and told Victor that the fish would be travelling with me tomorrow to Guatemala and Honduras. In fact, next week it would ride on my pack into El Salvador. He seemed thrilled to know that I’d be travelling with his trade.
Victor was persistent, and I have no doubt that the reason that little watch kept on ticking beyond the odds… was because it had a purpose to find its way to him. I believe that through the watch, Victor knows that he matters. He knows that I saw him. We connected. We exchanged things of value. I’ll be carrying a memory of him over the next few weeks, and his story has now joined the story of Emmaus.
Isn’t that just like our God? He has given each of us something of great value, something that we could never procure on our own. He does this because He wants us to know that He sees us, He loves us, He wants a relationship with us, and He wants us to be a part of His story.
Even so, we don’t get it for free. He asks that we give Him what we have.
And so today, I was both the giver and the receiver. I gave away my only watch… I gave from my poverty. Over the next few weeks, I will endlessly look to my wrist for the time… and I will remember the smiling face of Victor.
I’ll also think of Victor each time I reach for my backpack and I see the fish that he gave to me. I also received. I received the knowledge that in a little village outside of Belmopan, there is a little boy that is wearing an ugly orange, green, and black watch, who knows that a Gringo somewhere in Central America saw him and loved him.
This is the story of my God.
I destroy watches with an abnormal electrical pulse that is generated by my body.
This phenomenon was discovered during a doctor exam when I was younger, and plagues me in subtle ways. I cannot use a wireless microphone because I generate feedback. If I pick up an input jack from a live speaker, an electrical “pop” will manifest at my touch, and then the speakers will output a loud buzz. And, after wearing a digital watch for about a month, it will malfunction.
This past December I ordered a vintage design watch that was popular in the 90s. It was a Shark Clip, digital surfers watch. I found it on Amazon for a little over twenty bucks. It was a kind of ugly blend of black, orange, and green. I’m not sure why, but of all the watches I looked at online, it was the one that I purchased. The little watch has surprised me, by passing the six month mark without malfunction. Ugly or not, it gained my loyalty and I’ve enjoyed wearing it.
Our team arrived Friday night in Belmopan Belize. The next morning was the first time I met Victor. The first thing he said was, “Hello.” The second thing Victor said was, “Can I have your watch?” I laughed at him and told him that he needs to work on his approach before he goes for the hard sell. I thought to myself, “There is absolutely no chance I’m giving him this watch, I’ve finally found one that works.”
Victor and I seemed to keep running into each other through the day, perhaps he was working on his approach? Soon I saw him leading in the games, helping his friends with activities, and he continued to hang out with me. By the end of the first day, he asked again, “Can I have your watch?” I looked into his eyes full of sincerity, and to my surprise, I could not bring myself to again tell him, “No.” So I decided to deflect him. I’d just give him a non-answer, “I’ll think about it.” Surely he’d forget about it and ask someone else for a trinket. He didn’t need my watch. I did. It was the only working watch I had.
And then I remembered the words of Mother Theresa, about how we are called to give out of our poverty. Of course she was only paraphrasing Jesus. Oh… I felt the sting. I am on a five week trip with 10 students, I need to keep us on schedule, and I have only a single watch.
Again the next day I stalled Victor with the same phrase, “I’ll think about it.”
His persistence continued. Finally I asked, “What do you have to trade me?” He responded as his face fell, saying, “Nothing.” While the response saddened me, I didn’t want to let it show, and so I poked him playfully and said, “Well, if you’ve got nothing to trade, I’m going to have to just keep thinking about it.”
He looked sad as he walked away. I don’t think I realized it then, but he had me in that moment.
Monday night our crew gathered in the sanctuary of the church building for prayer meeting. While the singing began, I saw Victor walk in the side of the building. Men and women were already at the alters, praying up front as on of the ladies led the people in an old hymn. I thought of my own childhood, of how when I was Victor’s age I had big dreams and I looked up to the men of the church. I remembered how cool it was when people from far away came to visit us.
I remembered the Kingsmen who came to sing at a little country church. My parents went to hear it and I was with them. Afterwards, at their merchandise table I had my eye on a penlight. I desperately wanted it, but I had no money. When the singer at the table handed it to me and told me that I could have it for free… I was ecstatic. I’ll never forget that.
I left my seat and walked around the back of the sanctuary where Victor was then sitting. I removed my watch as I neared him. I knelt beside him and held out the watch. The smile hit his face like a camera flash. He reached out to take it and then immediately gave me a full blown bear hug. He was smiling, I was smiling, and we both were thrilled.
I started to walk away when I felt him tug my arm. I turned to see him holding out a stuffed animal. He handed me a fish from Finding Nemo with a loop on the top of its head. He had brought me a trade! The fish was perfect. I slipped the loop on the Leatherman multi-clip of my backpack and told Victor that the fish would be travelling with me tomorrow to Guatemala and Honduras. In fact, next week it would ride on my pack into El Salvador. He seemed thrilled to know that I’d be travelling with his trade.
Victor was persistent, and I have no doubt that the reason that little watch kept on ticking beyond the odds… was because it had a purpose to find its way to him. I believe that through the watch, Victor knows that he matters. He knows that I saw him. We connected. We exchanged things of value. I’ll be carrying a memory of him over the next few weeks, and his story has now joined the story of Emmaus.
Isn’t that just like our God? He has given each of us something of great value, something that we could never procure on our own. He does this because He wants us to know that He sees us, He loves us, He wants a relationship with us, and He wants us to be a part of His story.
Even so, we don’t get it for free. He asks that we give Him what we have.
And so today, I was both the giver and the receiver. I gave away my only watch… I gave from my poverty. Over the next few weeks, I will endlessly look to my wrist for the time… and I will remember the smiling face of Victor.
I’ll also think of Victor each time I reach for my backpack and I see the fish that he gave to me. I also received. I received the knowledge that in a little village outside of Belmopan, there is a little boy that is wearing an ugly orange, green, and black watch, who knows that a Gringo somewhere in Central America saw him and loved him.
This is the story of my God.
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