For the past 2 and a half months, I have been spending every sunday from 4-12pm at a particular girl's house. This girl is not like any other girl I've ever met before. We weren't friends to begin with but after almost 3 months, I have come to consider her as one of my friends and she also considers me a friend. Although we often joke that I get paid to be her friend, haha! And for the first time in my life, I can actually say that and have it be the truth. Yes, I get paid to be her friend. Yes, that's possible. But no, it wasn't my intention to be paid to be her friend. I know it seems very shallow of me to be someone's friend because I get paid to but there is much more to this story.

My dad currently works at a physical therapy clinic and about 3 months ago, he told me that he has a patient who was in a car accident 2 years ago and has severe brain damage. She requires someone to provide assistance to her and cook for her every sunday. He told me that at the last minute, the person who was suppose to be going had cancelled and desperately needs me to cover. He told me I'd get paid for it and I only need to watch her and cook her a simple meal... I could bring my homework. At that time, the pressure of my thesis hadn't hit me yet so I agreed to help him out. Also he told me that this girl was my age. That did the trick... my heart instantly went out to this girl... on the way to her house, I kept thinking about how sad it must be to have your life ruined like that by a stupid mistake... a stupid mistake made by someone else!! I didn't know what to expect... I was picturing a very depressed girl confined to her bed and who'd I have to be at the beck and call of all night... however, when I got to the door, this girl almost came running towards me and was very excited to see me.

She may have brain damage but she seemed quite "normal" to me. She limps and can't make use of her left arm but she talks and laughs just like anyone else. Her family and my dad says she can't make sound logical judgements but I don't see that at all. The only thing I see "wrong" with her is that she has the mentality of a teenage girl who's obsessed with shopping, boys, hip-hop music and can't stop swearing or saying profane things for the life of her! I know girls who don't have brain damage and act just like her. She also can't stop eating junk food. Which could be a result of the accident. She's gain quite a lot of weight. She was showing me some of her pictures before the accident and I would definitely categorize her as one of those "hot" girls who wear skimpy clothes, lots of make-up and has some punk-@$$ boyfriend.

Somehow by the end of that first night, I felt I was guilted by her mom to be the one to come every sunday instead of my dad's co-worker. She said her daughter needs someone her age to interact and socialize with. I didn't know what to do. It was a huge time commitment. But I felt so bad for her... and it did seem like a great way to demonstrate the love of God because she was a non-believer. However, for the first few weeks, I hated going. Every night after I left, I felt I had wasted my entire night doing nothing but talking about useless things. It didn't bring me any joys or benefits to go. I don't need the money. I have a job already. She's not the type of girl I enjoy hanging out with or would even become friends with. But something made me keep going... then a month ago, as we were talking about friends, I asked her if her friends come visit her. She told me that since the accident, she hasn't seen her friends. None of them have ever come to see her. She told me her friends couldn't accept what happened to her. I felt angry. What kind of friends are these? This is the time when a person would need her friends the most, and they all left her. Then she said something that made me felt I was even more worst than her friends... she said I was her only girlfriend. Throughout our Sundays together, she had come to see me as her friend. But I had only seen her as a paid job, a pity-case and sometimes, even a burden. It made me realize that I wasn't reflecting Christ's love at all. On the outside perhaps but on the inside, I was full of bitterness...

I know that at any moment, I can walk away and say I don't want to do this anymore. But I also know that it's the Holy Spirit who works in my heart every sunday to keep going to spend time with this girl. She doesn't need me to take care of her, she can take care of herself. What she does need is a friend. I know she desperately needs Jesus in her life. Desperately. I know God has me here for a reason. I pray I can be a good witness and a good reflector of Christ. I thank God for having blessed my life with a new friend. I pray I can be a good steward of the things He grants me with.