three blind lice

I have a phobia of lice. I've never had them before in my life, it's just never been a priority on my to-do/to-get list. At least until I came to Honduras. Yesterday when I was working at the Infa I had an up close and personal encounter. It was time for devotional so all the kids gathered round on the floor to listen. I sat next to two girls, and one of them couldn't sit still. She kept scratching herself and wiggling everywhere. Finally I took a good look at her and noticed the poor thing was infested with lice. I mean, there were lice crawling on her head and lice eggs as well. It was gross. It was all I could do to hold in a scream and jump 20 feet in the opposite direction. I sat there for the following 15 minutes with great difficulty. I felt itchy and I was certain the lice were about to switch lanes and hitch a ride with me. I think I said a few prayers. Now, most of you are probably thinking I'm ridiculous. And you're right. The longer I sat there, the more I realized how silly I was being. This poor little girl was miserable. Not only did she have lice, she had patches of skin on her legs that had been rubbed raw from scratching. She was malnourished. She probably never got enough to eat. Her teeth were decaying. And here I sat, worried about contracting lice. And you know, I wouldn't be surprised if I have or will, but that's not the point. I'm here to share love and I have to remind myself that. Jesus often spent time with people who were considered unclean and dirty, even lepers. Of course I'm paranoid about lice, but I've got months to go. Let's face it, lice should be the least of my worries. What's more important, lice or a person's soul?

I'm still lice-a-phobic, but I'm hoping I can push past that for awhile.