Breakfasts with Gulzoda

(Note: Name is changed for privacy.) It is 7:00 in the morning and the kids and I are just finishing breakfast.  We hear a knock at the door and are not quite sure who it will be.  It is Gulzoda and she wants to know if I like the work she did yesterday on making our toshak pillows fuller.  I tell her she did a great job and invite her in to join us for breakfast.  Winter has made crepes and we happen to have our first strawberries of the season.  She gladly accepts and enjoys her crepes with strawberries and a little bit of whip cream.  We talk of family and I ask about her grandchildren.  One of them was sick but is now doing better.  I tell her I hope to have another project for her next week once I buy the material for it.  Soon breakfast ends and Gulzoda leaves.

It is 7:00 in the morning almost a week later.  I hear a knock on the door.  I smile knowing it will be Gulzoda.  I had called her the day before telling her I had the material needed for my project.  I had expected her later in the morning but gladly invite her in.  Once again she joins us for breakfast.  She has juice and bread since our breakfast is very simple this morning.  She shows me an outfit she has made for a lady on our team.  We talk of Naw Ruz the next day and what her plans are.  Sadly she has no big plans.  There are 15 people in her house and they are short on cash.  Even though Gulzoda and her husband both work it is often hard to make ends meet.  It is harder for them now since the lady that Gulzoda cleans for will be in the states for 5 months.  So right now, the only work Gulzoda has are her sewing jobs. I don’t feel right giving her money but give her some rice and vegetables instead.  She thanks me and it is time for her to go.  

Any morning now I am expecting a knock on my door at 7:00 in the morning.   Gulzoda will have finished the project she is working on for me.  She will be just in time for breakfast.   I will invite her in, we will talk and look over her project she has completed.  I will pay her and then she will go on her way.

Pray for my times with Gulzoda.  She has worked for foreigners for many years but as far as we know does not believe.  Pray for wisdom on how to best help her in the many crisises that seem to come her way.   May the seeds that have been planted over the years bear fruit.