Miracles on Miracles

Chapter 1

One, two, three, four --- I can't even count 'em all*, Carmen sang along to the song playing on her phone. It was a song about all the little miraculous things that happen every day. It was a concept that Carmen had begun to believe in. Since her graduation from college, her life had been a whirlwind of dreams fulfilled. She had managed to pay off most of her college debt because of a lucky lottery ticket. It wasn't worth millions of dollars, but $50K was nothing to sneeze at. The extra money had allowed her to move to Korea without much of a plan of how she was going to live there.

Enter another miracle --- she was chosen by KQ Entertainment to accompany Ateez on a Latin American tour as a translator and cultural ambassador. Her knowledge of both Spanish and Korean made her a perfect fit for the position.

Today was her first day on the job. She had been asked to do a short session with the members to talk about what to expect as they traveled through Latin America. She had planned to give them a few pointers on the Spanish language and the cultural differences they might notice in their travels. Thinking of what a blessing it was to have this opportunity reminded her to write in her gratitude journal.

"Number 36," she wrote. She looked around her apartment for the little gift that stood out to her in that moment. Just then, she remembered the treat she had bought the day before, and she wrote, "Strawberry and cream rolled cake waiting for me at the end of a long day." Her journal was a fairly recent addition to her day, but she had been inspired by the book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp, in which the author encouraged her readers to keep their eyes open for those thousand little miracles all around, like the rainbow colors in a soap bubble or the smell of damp earth after a heavy rainfall.

Setting down her journal, she studied her reflection in the mirror. She was having a great hair day --- just another little miracle to start out the day. Her chestnut hair fell in dark waves over her shoulders. Her outfit was popping, if she did say so herself. She was wearing a red plaid jumper dress over a crisp white cotton shirt. For a final touch, she brushed some sparkly powder on the tops of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

"¡Ay, que niña más chingona!" she praised her reflection in the mirror. She was looking and feeling absolutely badass, which was a relief because she had been a little worried about being star-struck at the sight of a band she admired so much. But she reminded herself that she had something they needed, information about Latin America. So, she decided ahead of time that there was no reason to be shy or intimidated.

Her final step to get ready was to spread some mango body butter over her exposed arms and legs. She could almost hear her dad in her head, warning her about ashy skin. She smiled as she thought of her beloved father. He had spent years doing manual-labor jobs that he didn't particularly like just so that she could prosper. The life she had now was due in no small part to her father's sacrifices. As a first-generation immigrant from Mexico, her father had worked his fingers to the bone so that she wouldn't have to. His American dream was to see his two daughters have everything he never had. Carmen remembered a story that her dad, Luis, often told about how he used tell his mother he was hungry and she would say, "Well, why don't you eat those new shoes I bought you? That's where all the money went."

Her abuelitos were good people, but as with most Mexican parents, they could be savage in their verbal takedowns. Her grandmother was particularly hardcore, exemplifying an endearing mix of profanity and pragmatism that had made her the de facto head of the house. Her ito didn't seem to care that much about his position having been usurped by his strong-willed wife. He was content to busy himself with little projects around the house to safely stay away from her razor-sharp tongue. She could still picture her grandpa sitting on the couch with his knit cap on his head. When Carmen had asked him if he was going out, he simply said, "María said no. I have to do what she says, or she won't feed me." At that, her grandmother would always respond with, "¡Pinche viejo, haz lo que quieras!" telling him in colorful terms to do whatever he wanted to.

As she stepped out the door of her apartment, she felt like she was carrying her whole family with her. It wasn't a burden to carry them in her mind and heart everywhere she went. She saw it more as a blessing to have such deep ties to her family.

And so, with the confidence of her Mexican grandmother, who had only finished 3rd grade, but had never allowed herself to feel inferior to anyone, Carmen walked into the KQ Entertainment Headquarters. A tiny woman in high heels who had to be older than she looked led her to a conference room where the members of Ateez had gathered to meet with her.

As she walked in the door, she found San and Wooyoung wrestling on the floor. Jongho kept moving his chair further away from the WWE action as he watched a Monsta X video. Mingi was napping with his head on the long table while Yeosang was showing Seonghwa a video of a skateboarding trick he wanted to learn. Yunho was eating chips and absently playing a game on his phone. Hongjoong called the group to order when he saw Carmen enter the room.

"Guys! Attention, please! Our guest has arrived! Time to stop all the messing around," he scolded, taking on the dad role in the group. Yunho was the first to look up. His eyes widened at the sight of Carmen with her mocha latte skin shining brilliantly, even under the florescent lights. He stood and bowed. "Annyeonghaseyo," he greeted her as he stretched out his hand, remembering that handshakes were more common than bows in the U.S.

Carmen took his hand and shook it firmly. "Oh, you've got quite a grip," Yunho marveled. "Remind me not to meet up with you in a dark alley," he quipped.

"You would love that, and you know it," she shot back causing an outcry from the other members.

"Oh!!!" they yelled in unison, commemorating the sick burn, which caused Carmen to blush slightly. She hadn't intended to in any way indicate any favoritism, especially not so early on, but she was afraid that her flippant flirty comment might have revealed more than she wanted it to.

Sensing her embarrassment, Hongjoong attempted to corral the members back into order. "Come on, guys! Let's take a seat and listen to what this young lady has to say," he said. The boisterous boys finally sat down on the chairs, which were unfortunately swivel chairs. Carmen winced. She knew that there was little more distracting to young, overly active men than swivel chairs. And so, they did several turns about in their chairs before settling in to look at Carmen who was standing in front of a whiteboard.

Carmen bowed and repeated the greeting she had practiced. "Hello, my name is Carmen. I am here as your cultural and language liaison for your Latin American tour," she said in Korean. Miracle 37, she thought. That degree in Korean is really paying off. She'd have to remember to write that in her journal when she got home.

"Let me start by telling you how to introduce yourselves in Spanish," Carmen began. She wrote something on the whiteboard and then stood back to point to it. "Hola. Me llamo," she pronounced for them. "That means, 'Hello. My name is'," she explained. The guys all mumbled it to themselves, quietly practicing their pronunciation. "So, in Korea, when you meet someone, you bow. In America, you might shake hands. In Latin America, it's common to kiss the person on the right cheek as you are meeting them and to say something like 'Mucho gusto' or 'Encantado' as a way of saying it's nice to meet them," she explained as she wrote those new terms on the whiteboard.

A chorus of staggered exclamations of "Mucho gusto" rang out as the guys excitedly tried out their new phrase.

"I was thinking it might help to do a little demonstration," Carmen said. "Who would be willing to do a short dialogue with me just saying, 'Hello. My name is .... Nice to meet you.'?" she asked. Yunho was the first one with his hand up as he fairly jumped out of his swivel chair and launched himself toward where Carmen was standing. It wasn't until she saw him there in front of her that she remembered that they would have to kiss each other on the cheek to make the exercise beneficial as a learning experience.

Miracle 38, she thought with hidden delight. Yunho is going to kiss me!

Million Little Miracles, © 2021 Elevation Worship