Keeping the Wrapper...

About 10 years ago Matthew and I, when we'd been married about 6 months, went to Bulgaria with Saltmine, a Christian charity who at the time did much work in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe. Our church sent a group each year, to two orphanages. The main purpose of the trip was to paint and renovate, build new dormitories, and support the work of the orphanages practically. There were also ways the charity could support the orphanages financially, and provide the children with food and clothing, that did not interfere with the income they received from the State. Matthew and I went predominantly because we wanted to take musical instruments over, that we'd raised money to buy, and we wanted to use his skills (he was still at that point training to be a music therapist) to do music with the children, to connect with them, and then leave something behind at the orphanages for them to use when we'd gone. (You just don't know with that kind of thing whether there was a difference behind the scenes when the charity weren't visiting or sending groups, but there was a good relationship with the management of the orphanages, the Directors, and also the local Baptist churches had input and mission into the institutions as well). Oh and I left my own 'blessing' behind - took some recorders, and taught a group of the children how to play them!!!

The last thing Matthew and I intended to be were "Christian tourists". One trip to an orphanage, talk about it for a while, then move on to something else. We had a real heart for the children, felt a calling to go (and put up with the painting, and put up with the fact that we were oldest in the group (at 25!) and the only married couple. It was an education itself, going with young adults still in study, late teens early twenties, totally different mindset ).

Anyway. There were certain things that the leader of the group organised for the children every year. One of them was a day at the seaside, followed (dare I say it) by buying them all tea at Mcdonalds. Matthew and I really struggled with that idea, didn't seem right, imposing Western "good times" onto the lives that they led the rest of the year, but we had no say and we were simply going along for our own reasons. What was so heartbreaking was how these kids just loved the Mcdonalds trip, like it was one of the best things that could happen to them (while we struggled with our own ethics of taking them there in the first place). The trip meant so much to them that they kept all the packaging that their fast food came in.

They ate the food and kept the wrapper.

They had to hold on to the leftovers of this treat that reminded them of us; that crumpled fast food packaging was a symbol of the hope that our visit gave them, the love we showed, the friendships we made, the good times we had together that were coming to an end.

I've seen the same thing in my own children. We went to a Colin Buchanan concert, and at the end my children (particularly Little H#1) collected the scraps of coloured paper that came out of the party poppers and streamers that Colin fired over the audience at the beginning. They had to hold on to as many scraps as they could gather up; taking a piece of Colin, a piece of the experience at home to keep as "treasure" of the moment. We still have those papers 2 years later. And we've added to them since.

The background's important (I think!) to understanding the realisation we had on the weekend. We had our own "keep the wrapper" moment. A rare trip out. Grandma babysat all the children while we escaped 2 hrs on Saturday to go and watch The King's Speech at the cinema. Matthew commented on the way in to the complex that he felt like keeping the wrapper.  The experience (cinema, being away from the children in the daytime - or any time - to do something together) is rare if not totally unprecedented in living memory. So much so that we both realised just like those dear children keeping the cheeseburger wrappers and fries boxes (and even the shake cup and straw)... we needed to hold on to the tickets as a reminder of such a great blessing, and lovely time together. Not so different from the Bulgarian orphans perhaps.

Counting my blessings, and keeping the wrappers...