No more tears. When I sit still an imagine all the beautiful Chinese children that are right now possibly barely holding on to life because they've been abandoned or mistreated or they are hungry or sick, it breaks my heart. I beg God to one day, in His time and if it's His will, let me go to these children. I pray for the ones that I don't even know and yet I already love. I think of my future. I picture myself there in China with these children, holding them and loving them. I also picture children dying. Death is a part of life, and I will have to accept that. But I also find amazing comfort in these words from Revelation 21 that Jesus will personally wipe away ever tear once we see Him in Heaven. These precious children who did not choose to born into this poverty and abandonment were still placed there by a loving Father who knows better than any of us do. These children who leave this life go immediately into the waiting arms of their loving Father and God who once said "let the little children come unto me." In that I find peace.
I've been reading a few blogs lately that have told the stories of these children.
I've read of both parents driving their truck into a lake and being electrocuted by lose wires in the engine thus leaving their two children orphaned.
I read about a boy who's cleft lip and palate were so severe that he was passed off to three different families. None of them wanted him. They planned to throw him in the river and end his misery and their shame. God still wanted him, however, because when they threw him in the river, God placed an old lady at the scene. She was partially blind, old, and feeble, but she rescued the boy from the water and took him home to her cave where she kept him for a time. He eventually ended up at the orphanage where he was taken in, loved, and his condition was cared for.
I read about children whose mother died. Their father's grief was so great that he took his own life.
I read about a boy who lived in the house where the local school was held. His elderly grandfather was sick and could not work to provide the money for him to attend school. Even though school was held where he lived, he was not allowed to be a student.
I read about children who had parents that were both mentally handicapped. They and their mother and grandmother were beaten by their father.
I read of the father running off and the mother dying.
And even when I met the children, little or none of this showed on their faces. They smiled and laughed. They still crave love, but God has given them a new home in these orphanages where they are loved and cared for. God has a bigger plan for their little lives, and if they had not been born into these circumstances, they would not have had the chance to go live in the orphanage, learn English, go to school, later go to college, and most importantly to learn about the Savior. So, as backwards as it seems, their lives were designed this way for a greater purpose.
Should we feel sorry for them? Sometimes I do. But then I think: what good does that do? Why not PRAY for them. Or PRAY and GIVE. Or PRAY and GIVE and GO. Those things will do much more for them than sitting on our computers reading about them in our comfortable houses with a cup of coffee in hand and thinking, "Oh, that's too bad." And then what? Move on with our lives while they still live in theirs? Why not lift them up to God in prayer? A few extra dollars in your pocket? The opportunity to take a trip? God can use any and all of those things to change the life of a child and bring them to a saving knowledge of Him.
Today I was doing laundry, and I put the soap in, put my clothes in, and pushed start. Then I started washing the dishes that I had dirtied when I ate lunch. Then I threw away the trash from the seaweed and fruit I had eaten. Then I got hot so I turned the fan on and sat on my bed. Then I picked up my computer and stopped. I thought back on all of those things that I had done, and it actually brought tears to my eyes. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm so blessed. I just thanked God for giving me all these special things. It makes my heart sing to know that I am so loved and cared for beyond what I can imagine.
I was reading in Ephesians 1 where it says
"4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
And I thought WOW. God chose me. I laughed because the magnitude of this thought amazes me over and over. I was reading about Ephesians, and it said that back in Paul's day, a servant could be legally adopted into a family of a higher class. Upon being adopted, this child was bumped up to a higher class, was now a part of this family, and had inheritances and privileges just like someone born into this family. I was a nobody. I still am. But because of God's grace, He adopted me into His family. Now I have a higher status. I am cared for. I am loved. I've gone from the scum of the earth to a daughter of the richest and most powerful King that anyone will ever know. I have a mansion and crowns waiting in Heaven for me.
I have "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven" (1 Peter 1:4)
Let this awesome thought sink in.
Life has been going lately. School is school. The kids are showing me their other side (the one that's not angelic.) We're working on "obey right away" among other things. One of my goals this year was to try to help the kids grow closer to the Lord. I don't give homework on the weekends, but I decided to try something. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the kids have to find three ways each day to help someone. It can be something as small as picking up a pencil when someone drops it or helping mom with the dishes or groceries. We talked about our human nature being selfish. We want to do what WE want to do when WE want to do it. We don't like inconveniences or things that make us have to put for the effort to help others. I showed them some ways that Jesus went out of His way to help others while He was on earth. Two of the verses we looked at talked about looking at the needs of others as well as your own and loving your neighbor as yourself. They groaned a bit, but I'm praying that God will use it to teach them (and me--yes, I'm doing it with them!!) to show His love to others each day and look outside ourselves.
Well, no need to bore you further with my daily life. Take time to thank Jesus for what He's given you and done for you and look for ways to show that love back to other. Peace!
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