Welcomed Back: Finding Joy in Forgiveness

By Maya A. Volunteer in Romania

About six or seven doors down from our house lives a Roma family with three children. They spend about half of their time here in Deva, mostly during school breaks, and the other half in France, where their father works.

The youngest, Parker (age 6), was our first point of contact. He made quite an impression on us! Our gate is open in the mornings for friends who want to stop by for coffee or a bit of breakfast. Parker came tearing in on his little bike, which he’d rigged up with a plastic water bottle between the tire and the tire guard to make it sound like a motorcycle pulling up. He burst through the door and announced, “I’ve arrived!” He was a bit confused about who we were and was looking for the girls who had been here before us. He pointed to many of the photos lining our kitchen ceiling, asking about each one. He might have forgotten their names, but he recognized each face and was disappointed to hear they had left.

After realizing he was stuck with us, he ran into our living room and began dumping all our toys onto the floor and playing. Before I could say anything, his siblings, Aaron (age 10) and Maria (age 12), showed up at the door. They let themselves in and joined in the fun with their brother. We played with them for about an hour, but when we were done, the kids didn’t want to clean up.

Our young Parker had a little meltdown. He started throwing all the toys on the floor, making a big mess, and then ran out. About five minutes later, he came back and asked for some water. At that moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. He lives just a couple of doors away and could easily get water from his own house. I sat him down, gave him a bit of water, and talked to him about his outburst.

“You know, Parker, it’s not nice to make a big mess and leave it for others to clean up. Maybe when you come back tomorrow, we can try again.”

He sat with his head down, not quite ready to make eye contact. We stayed like that for a bit, but then I saw a smile appear. He put his glass on the table and ran out again. I couldn’t tell if I’d gotten through to him or if he had some other mischievous plan. It wasn’t until a couple of days later, reflecting on the moment, that I realized he was just happy to be welcomed back again, even after making a mess.