I imagined a happy post. After all we just got our USCIS approval and now we are just waiting on a travel date. Isn't that something to celebrate?? YES!! We are praising God that He is moving and directing our steps. We can't wait for the day we are walking off a plane HOME with our child. What an awesome day that will be! :)
So why such a somber start to the post? This little girl:
It was announced today that this precious little one passed away. She died an orphan. There is no family to pray for... she didn't get a chance to have one. No one came to rescue her.
As I was looking at her picture and the life in her eyes, I couldn't help but wonder if God ever called someone to be her parents. What if He did but they hesitated. What if God said., "This is your child! Go!" but it was rationalized away as an emotional thought. What if, when God said go they looked at their 10 year plan and she wasn't included therefore they blocked out the call. What if it was the numbers that scared them. You know adoption costs can scare anyone. The what if's could go on for miles.
What if a family had come. She might have had parents, brothers, sisters, doctors to help give her the best life quality possible. She might have loved watermelon in the summertime and had the cutest giggle when her sisters pushed her in the swing. She might have been a daddy's little girl who loved to curl up in his lap while watching movies on family night. The what if's could go on for miles.
Tonight I went to help pack up some of my grandmother's belongings. She passed away this year and her last bit of material possessions have been in a storage building waiting to be sorted. She lived a very simple life and everything she owned was well loved. She didn't see the need in buying new things if the old could still be used. In her generation buying new wasn't an option. She used to tell us about her mother and how creative she was in making toys for them. She would take flour sacks and make them balls to play with. She would get out in the yard and play with them. If you talked to my grandmother long you realized that with 14 kids there wasn't a lot of money to buy new just because. Her memories tell of the relationships she had with her family not the possessions they owned.
I looked at her "worldly" possessions laying out on the concrete in black garbage bags and boxes. Do those possessions replace her now that she's gone? No! Do I think she would say it was worth working extra long hours away from family just to have all those items in boxes and bags? No! None of it is worth anything now. It's sitting in a pile at the local thrift store. Possessions don't last forever. They won't eternally bring you happiness. They won't carry on your memory and ideals to impact future generations. They won't truly make you or anyone in your family happy. Relationships are they only thing that can do that. God made us relational. We all desire someone to love us. God placed that in our innermost being. He loves us and therefore we know love. We search for it if we don't have it. We need love. We need God to fill our love tank. Then what.. Well let's open the word. Mark 12: 30-31 tells us the most important commandments:
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
He made us to LOVE! Love with abandon... ALL your SOUL, ALL your MIND, ALL your STRENGTH- that is ALL of YOU! He wants you to LOVE Him and others without walls. This brings Him glory. Riches and plans do not. Love puts a spotlight on Him in our life. There are so many people looking at the spotlight and needing it because there is no light in their dark lonely heart. Take a look again at the picture of this innocent child who was waiting to know earthly love. Is God calling you to something and yet you are hesitating? God won't force our hand. You have the option of yes or no when he calls. Their are repercussions to our choices though. Sometimes the ripple effect can cost the life of another.
We have one life to live for Him. Imagine what it would be like to live it to the fullest in obedience, pouring into other's as much as we love ourselves. It's not about our comfort although I can assure you He is right by your side and He knows you best. If He is calling it's the best place for you to be.
There are so many more just like her waiting.. for you to love like you love yourself!
