Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Haiti: Just Let Me Be Jesus

December 9, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

 

He’s standing in the back, watching. I brush my hand across the black nubbiness of his head. I bend over and reach down. “Would you like up?”

He raises his arms, and I pick him up, balance him on my right hip. I sway to the music and sing in the dark night of Haiti—Joy to the World. He doesn’t look at me, never says a word. Just keeps his eyes glued to the black and white children on the outdoor screen. But sometimes he scratches a spot on the right side of his head.

And then he turns and wraps his little arm tight around my neck, plants his cheek against my shoulder. His grip tightens when I move, so I stroke his back and sway and sing, echoes from my chest to his. I can feel a wheeze under my hand, and dampness on my shoulder.

He’s gone to sleep.

And so I move to a bench and sit, adjust his little body, cradle him, cup his cheek, rub his little flip-flopped feet. Someone told me that sometimes the children have scabies that affect their scalp, and I feel the weight of his head in the fold of my elbow.

For a brief moment I wish I were back home.

Just let me be Jesus.

And so I stay and love and listen to his wet snore and feel the wheeze. I pull his right arm from behind me, and he bends it, cups his own cheek, snuggles against my breast. I wonder about his story, and I imagine what kind of man he might grow into, if he’ll grow into a man, pray he serves God.

I carry him back to the house. A mama takes him from me. He wakes and she prepares to give him a cup of medicine.

I walk away in the dark. Back to our house where I sit at the table on the balcony, and drench the length of my arms, from fingertips to shoulder, with hand sanitizer.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Filed Under: haiti, stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Kd Sullivan says

    December 9, 2012 at 7:41 am

    There with you…wrap His arms around these little ones. His most powerful tools are the simplest. Max lucado

  2. Megan Willome says

    December 9, 2012 at 8:44 am

    You gave us a story. Now we’re in.

    Praying for you, Sandy.

  3. Sheila Seiler Lagrand says

    December 9, 2012 at 11:09 am

    Yes, what Megan said. Thank you for taking us along. And God bless you for going.

  4. Diana Trautwein says

    December 10, 2012 at 1:04 am

    Megan is right. But then, I was in even before the story. Now I’m there, holding a sick baby boy and spraying myself with disinfectant even as I pray for his future. Beautifully told, dear friend. May God protect and sharpen you as you work in obedience to his call.

  5. Jennifer@GDWJ says

    December 10, 2012 at 10:22 am

    Following your words. And loving you from Iowa, all the way to Haiti… xo

  6. Duane Scott says

    December 10, 2012 at 10:59 am

    Oh… Love your heart.

  7. Diane BAiley says

    December 10, 2012 at 7:07 pm

    Alabama is with you as well. Wish I were with you, wiping down with sanitizer. Love you Sandra!

  8. ~ Patricia says

    December 11, 2012 at 11:08 am

    Love you so much, Sandra. What amazing love is surely flowing through you from the Father to His children at your feet and in your arms. Praying with and for you sweet sister.

  9. laura says

    December 11, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Oh, Sandy. I have been praying for you–for them. Thanks for this–a small peep into where my prayers are going.

  10. Lorretta says

    December 11, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    Oh my. The precious places our Savior will take us and break us. And you know, there was a time when I felt much like that young child–different circumstances, etc but I do know what it means to rest in the arms of Jesus and what it feels like to unburden myself in that place even if it’s only for a moment. I’ve never forgotten those moments and no matter where he goes, this boy won’t forget this moment either. It will always remain in that precious place of memory deep inside.

  11. Carol J. Garvin says

    December 12, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    Let the little children come…. So many wonderful seeds are sown in small acts of love. God is there with you, inching into places where his touch is needed, reaching out to them through you, Sandy.

  12. Vicky says

    December 14, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    What a wonderful thing it is you are doing. Today is a sad day here in the USA. How can anyone not love a child? I am glad I came by here today to hear something good….something of God. Thank you.

  13. Michelle DeRusha says

    December 15, 2012 at 11:44 am

    Beautiful and honest, Sandy.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final t “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” ~ Philippians 4:8 

#fall #southflorida #hope #thoughts #philippians4 #dayafterelection
“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in th “My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.” ~ William Wordsworth in “My Heart Leaps Up”

🌈🌈🌈

From my back door and then from the patio. A phone can never capture the true glory of a rainbow. I hope my heart never fails to leap at the wonder of one.
We were monarch parents a couple years back, but o We were monarch parents a couple years back, but our food was not enough to support all our “children.”
🌱
But some were better parents. And next month @tspoetry is celebrating with a garden party. And you are invited. 
🌱

✨ An evening poetry celebration with Dheepa Maturi, Laura Boggess, Jules Jacob, and Sonja Johanson
✨ sign up today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/year-of-the-monarch-garden-party-tickets-1005650847757
✨
This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at This is called a sweetheart plant. I bought it at a farmers market in Ponte Vedra in Feb 2023. And it hasn’t done a thing except not die. I did repot it a few months back just cuz I thought it might need it. A few days ago I noticed it was sprouting a sprout. And today—10 days after having my aortic valve replaced and the day after having a loop recorder inserted—it has UNFURLED!!! A new heart. 🩷
Looking west this morning. “Sometime, enough o Looking west this morning. 

“Sometime, enough of us should plan
to gather and form our own
luminous cloud.” ~ Luci Shaw in “The Weight of Air” (from The Generosity)
Security is on the job. Security is on the job.
So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it So after 13 years of checkups and annual echos, it's finally come to this. One week from today I will have my aortic valve replaced. Eeeek! I know it's done all the time--piece of cake. But that's to other people. 😂 Speaking of cake, I've always hoped to blow out 100 candles (at least), and I keep singing this line in my head...

"And my heart will go on and on." Thanks to @celinedion. 💕
Hi! Long time, no post. So… I grew this from a Hi! Long time, no post. So…

I grew this from a pineapple top. We repotted it again over the weekend. Still no fruit, though. Our neighbor has a baby growing on a small plant, though. What’s up with that?

(Also, I do not have a green thumb. Currently the only things still living are this, an avocado, and a little Boston fern.)
We got out here early today, but it was already so We got out here early today, but it was already soooooo hot (later on the"feels like" was 110), and I was just plodding one foot in front of the other wishing I was still in bed. There was not much to see--except the crane family, some blackbirds, a dove. And it was buggy. And a deer fly bit me on the forearm, and it swelled up, and I still have a 1- x 3-inch reddened area. But then... a pink parade.
Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking s Just snapped a couple photos of a normal looking sky from my back patio with my iPhone! I grew up in Michigan and never saw them before! #northernlights #westboca #southflorida
“So they took branches of palm trees and went ou “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ~ John 12:13
🌴
🌴
PALMS

He had a date with them. ~SHK
🌴
🌴
~ Six words I wrote on my blog in 2015 as part of a daily “One Word Less for Lent” series.
🌴
Photo taken in Israel, 2022.
Dressed for success... Dressed for success...
“Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The “Sing, hope, to me” ~favorite line from “The First Spring Day” by Christina Rossetti via Every Day Poems and @tspoetry in my email this morning. 
❣️
Whole poem (with lots of favorite lines) here:
❣️
https://open.substack.com/pub/everydaypoems/p/the-first-spring-day?r=3acod&utm_medium=ios
❣️
Wild red poppy anemones from our spring trip to Israel in 2022. And, of course, red is the color of hope. 
❣️
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry #everydaypoems
Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the Sweet baby colts. Just one parent. Apparently the other was hit by a car. 😭💔
Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo Bufo serenade AKA the Ballad of the Bufo
South Florida is confused. South Florida is confused.
“Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 “Somehow she learns to breathe.” ~ @gyoung9751 in “The mermaid breathes,” a woven poem from tweets. In my email today from Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱 
#dipintopoetry #everydaypoems #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #tweetspeakpoetry
"You have what you need / is what the birds sing a "You have what you need / is what the birds sing all morning" ~ Annie Lighthart in "Conditions of Happiness."
🌱
In my email this morning from 
Every Day Poems via @tspoetry.
🌱
#dipintopoetry #poetry #poetrycommunity #everydaypoems #poem #poetsofinstagram #tweetspeakpoetry
If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week If you’ve made it this far, the rest of the week should be a snap. #wednesday
Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So Stay behind me. I’ll protect you. No worries. So will all those shots. Mostly.
🦝
D still has PTSD from the Great Possibly Rabid Raccoon Brouhaha of 2021.
Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2025 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in