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A loving Father and His humble daughter

The other day I was at the Tree of Life school (Faith Christian Academy), visiting the teachers and checking on uniforms for the children.  I was walking around as I normally do, while hearing, "There's auntie Megan" from the children in their classrooms.  I passed each classroom in both blocks of the school.  As I turned the corner, I saw my sponsored boy, Joseph, down at the end of the walkway.  It's just another normal day so I didn't expect much from him after seeing me.  But I got a beautiful image that surprised, humbled, and comforted me.

Since, I moved here in 2010, Joseph has gone through a long range of emotions.  He has gone from excited to shy to embarrassed to entitled to humbled and back to joyful again.  I have seen him shy away from me in front of his friends, and I'm not going to lie, the rejection hurt a bit.  I've seen him feel like he deserves more because his sponsor lives and works here.  I've seen him sit humbled at church while I rubbed his back during the service.  I've seen him excited to see me when I scoop him up and tell him how much I love him.

But that day, something happened that hasn't happened since July of 2010.  He saw me from down the hallway and just started running.  His shoes kicked up dust while his smile beamed light.  He locked eye contact with me just before he jumped into my widely spread arms.  He cuddled in my neck like there was no other place in the world he would rather be.  And he did this without a thought of who was watching.  Without a worry that he would get teased later.  He just ran.

While I was holding him in my arms, I felt the Lord say,


"THIS is how you should approach me, sweet daughter."

So many days I wonder what other people will think if I take a radical step of faith.
So many mornings I wake up and fix my hair wondering only about my day and about my list of things.
So many nights I fall asleep worried that the Lord wasn't pleased with my actions that day.
So many minutes of my day are filled with doubt, excitement, embarrassment to claim Jesus in a radical way, worry that one day he's going to let me run in my sin, entitled to a better life since I'm sacrificing and living in a 3rd world country, humbled that he chose me.

And all along, he simply says,

"Run to me, my daughter, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  Just run."


I love when my heart is radically touched by one sweet moment. It may last for just 30 seconds, but it's 30 good seconds of an image of my God wrapping his arms around his humble daughter.  It's a sweet time that should occur every day, every hour, every minute as we live in this world that is not our own, proclaiming a gospel that was written just for us by a Father who loves us unconditionally.

What a beautiful picture.

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