Love that restores, comfirms, strengthens and establishes, Love that cares, Love that is peace, A Kiss of Love..... Christ. The Faithful Creator has been reminding me of HIS love, that HE Himself lavishes HIS love on His children. We are called beloved!!!!! And this is the true grace of God! I have been humbled in so many different ways through so many different people I have met, so many different experiences I have felt, so many different sights my eyes have seen, so many different sounds my ears have heard, smells my nose have breathed in, flavors my tongue has tasted, and it is the true grace of God. So many stories. So much fullness.
One experience that has affected me the most this week has been meeting a lovely young British couple that are just precious. We have had the privilege to share a meal with them almost everyday since we have gotten here. This couple, Rachel and Will, and their precious daughter Lily, have intrigued our whole family. They are in the process of almost completing their adoption of Lily, an 11 year old girl from Burma, whom they fell in love with in Thailand at an orphanage. She is deaf and cannot talk and has a mild case of cerebral palsy. The way that we have observed the love that they have for this beautiful child is incredible! It has brought me to the Father, thanking Him for His love for me and for thanking Him for adopting me as His beloved. He has an incredible love that He promises to never withhold. The beautiful example this couple lives in the way they love this girl has done so many things to my heart. THEY just love her and it is obvious that she is a special gift to them.
It has challenged me spiritually to really meditate on God's increduous love for me, for His children and as I do, it has brought me to repentance quicker, to love others easier, and to be HUMBLED, which is my constant prayer.
It has challenged me to love my own family more selflessly. To see the 4 (almost 5!!!) beautiful, healthy, special children He has allowed me and Jonathan to care for as gifts, pure gifts to lavish love on is HIS true grace. When I think about His magnificent LOVE for me, a sinner redeemed, a sinner loved, a sinner being restored, it makes me want to love more deeply, to see these lives as gifts, as the GIVER says they are, not ever as inconveniences, not as annoyances, not anything but His little BIG delights!!!!! Just as He delights in me, I am free (because of His love) to delight selflessly in them, which leads them to the Savior!! I love His love, it leads us back to Him!!!!!! So, I have been humbled by this experience to incredible love.
Our own Lilly has been drastically affected by this opportunity to spend time with this family and observe them. Her heart is beautiful, and has been challenged as well. I never know how any situation will affect my children, and this one has been quite a wonderful one to watch Lilly be changed by. She has seen this love bestowed by Rachel and Will to their Lily, a love that my Lilly cannot take her eyes off of! My Lilly has seen a beautiful, vivid picture of adoption to one who was unloved, weak, and cast off from her own birth parents. My Lilly has had a growing passion in her heart to adopt one day, and the Father has really designed our girl in an amazing way, she loves to serve, she has compassion, she is selfless and she gets her need for the Savior. She has expressed her desire to one day adopt from other countries, needy, disabled children and to love them. I am brought to tears (JOYFUL tears) as I thank the God of love for how He has given Lilly this huge heart of love already. It is unique, it is love only from the Father, and she teaches me. I love being taught from sweet Lilly, oh how sweet it is to be taught by a little child of God, who has taught me not to withhold ANY love!
Jonny and Brax have been affected as well. Brax has made true friends with Lily. He has constantly tried to communicate with her with learning sign language, and saying "cool" and "you are my friend" and "love," it has been not only precious but has made me laugh because of his cute expressive personality, who so much wants to make sure Lily knows she is his friend. She even signed to her parents that she had made friends and they could go sit down (A FIRSt experience for Lily!!!)
Jonny has insisted he sit near her for every meal. And Ella, oh sweet Ella, picked out lots of barettes to wrap up and give to Lily as a present and insists that she wears her hair the same way as her!!!! So cute!
Jonathan and I have been taking this time to pray about God's family vision for us and I believe He has shown us clearly and very simply, to love deeper, to love incredibly and to love like HE loves us. PERIOD.
