It had been a very busy month, so part of me that morning was just wanting to retreat into my bedroom and hide from the world of need that so often comes knocking at our door. And then I heard a soft voice outside. I really don’t feel like dealing with any sellers right now, I thought to myself. Sometimes Papuan men or women came to our doors selling fruit, and although I really could have used some, I was willing to give it up in order to not have to deal with the interruption.
I sighed, but as I walked to the door, I recognized this woman. She was older, and her net bag hung down her back filled with bananas. She was a kind woman who sold good fruit that she raised herself. She looked very poor, dressed in a simple skirt and old blouse, with no shoes on her feet. She lowered her net bag onto the cement and showed me her bananas.
“How much?” I asked.
“Twenty thousand Rupiah,” she whispered.
“I’ll take that one. ”I reached down to pick up a large hand of bananas.
She picked up a smaller one and offered it to me as well. “No,” I said,” I just want this one.”
She kept softly repeating something, and I finally realized that she was saying, “This is a gift for your service here.”
Humbled, I took the extra bananas and thanked her. Here was a woman who had nothing – except these bananas she had raised to sell – and she was giving me an extra one. I was struck by her deep generosity. It stood in stark contrast to my own jangled attitude. God’s Spirit and His love wafted from this woman, almost as tangibly as a beautiful scent. I was greatly blessed by two hands of bananas.