Yesterday was one of those days dripping with hope, where nothing at all felt impossible. What began as a day trip to visit a friend of a friend turned into a miraculous gift from the Lord that I never would have believed even fathomable.
Over the past two years, many of the close to 70 kids at the two orphanages have left. New kids have come and gone, but many of the ones I fell in love with at the beginning are now spread out all over the country. Some live with parents and some live with grandparents. Some live with aunts and uncles and still others live in different orphanages. I have this deep love for those 70 that I will never be able to explain... this crazy love that makes it hard for me to ever imagine leaving this country.
So I pass the weekdays teaching English to the amazing kids who live in my barrio and the weekends... well the weekends I spend either at one of the two orphanages or traveling around the country visiting many of the kids who have moved away. Because if there is one thing that I hope they always know, it's that they are loved. And for that reason, I have committed (at least to myself) to be involved in their lives as long as I can. For some that means spending time at the orphanages. For some it means a whole lot of prayer. And for some it means traveling across the country to see them for a few hours.
Because it's always worth it for one. It's worth it to travel five hours across the island to the opposite coast for one hug. It's worth to stay up late baking cookies for the twenty boys who live in Jaibon. It's worth it to travel seven hours on random buses with no idea where we are going to sleep to spend a few days singing songs and coloring on the floor with some precious little girls. It's worth it for every single moment that one of them knows just how much they are loved. Because more than hoping they know how much I love them, I hope they know how much God loves them. The God who formed them before they were born and has loved them with an everlasting love that makes all things new.
...
So back to yesterday. While visiting someone in a city about two hours away from where we live, Katie (a friend of a friend of a friend... I know, crazy.) mentioned that she volunteers at an orphanage for children with special needs. Christine and I quickly explained how one of the girls who used to live in the orphanage here was just recently moved to a special needs orphanage. Long story short, Katie asked to see a picture, said she knew her, and within a matter of minutes we were in a taxi on our way to see one of the ones who is so precious to us. It felt like a dream, but there we were, standing in a different orphanage with a little girl who stole our hearts years ago. I honestly didn't even know if I would ever see her again. God is so good.
It was such a reminder that the seemingly impossible is always possible for the Lord. We couldn't have arranged that series of events if we had tried. On the bus ride back home, I stuck my earbuds in and faces kept flashing through my head. They were faces of people who I feel are in impossible situations in one way or another. But they aren't. For in Christ there is always hope. So we keep on loving and we keep on praying and we keep on showing grace and we keep on being the friends, brothers, and sisters to these ones who God has entrusted us with.
...
Over the past two years, many of the close to 70 kids at the two orphanages have left. New kids have come and gone, but many of the ones I fell in love with at the beginning are now spread out all over the country. Some live with parents and some live with grandparents. Some live with aunts and uncles and still others live in different orphanages. I have this deep love for those 70 that I will never be able to explain... this crazy love that makes it hard for me to ever imagine leaving this country.
So I pass the weekdays teaching English to the amazing kids who live in my barrio and the weekends... well the weekends I spend either at one of the two orphanages or traveling around the country visiting many of the kids who have moved away. Because if there is one thing that I hope they always know, it's that they are loved. And for that reason, I have committed (at least to myself) to be involved in their lives as long as I can. For some that means spending time at the orphanages. For some it means a whole lot of prayer. And for some it means traveling across the country to see them for a few hours.
Because it's always worth it for one. It's worth it to travel five hours across the island to the opposite coast for one hug. It's worth to stay up late baking cookies for the twenty boys who live in Jaibon. It's worth it to travel seven hours on random buses with no idea where we are going to sleep to spend a few days singing songs and coloring on the floor with some precious little girls. It's worth it for every single moment that one of them knows just how much they are loved. Because more than hoping they know how much I love them, I hope they know how much God loves them. The God who formed them before they were born and has loved them with an everlasting love that makes all things new.
...
So back to yesterday. While visiting someone in a city about two hours away from where we live, Katie (a friend of a friend of a friend... I know, crazy.) mentioned that she volunteers at an orphanage for children with special needs. Christine and I quickly explained how one of the girls who used to live in the orphanage here was just recently moved to a special needs orphanage. Long story short, Katie asked to see a picture, said she knew her, and within a matter of minutes we were in a taxi on our way to see one of the ones who is so precious to us. It felt like a dream, but there we were, standing in a different orphanage with a little girl who stole our hearts years ago. I honestly didn't even know if I would ever see her again. God is so good.
It was such a reminder that the seemingly impossible is always possible for the Lord. We couldn't have arranged that series of events if we had tried. On the bus ride back home, I stuck my earbuds in and faces kept flashing through my head. They were faces of people who I feel are in impossible situations in one way or another. But they aren't. For in Christ there is always hope. So we keep on loving and we keep on praying and we keep on showing grace and we keep on being the friends, brothers, and sisters to these ones who God has entrusted us with.
...
Wilfred, a good friend's son, just turned one. We share the same birthday :)
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