Have you ever felt seen by somebody? Have you ever been seen in a way that was more than just a quick glance and a wave in your direction, more than eye contact and a smirk, have you been seen and truly felt like that conversation or whatever was happening in that moment was the only thing happening around you?
Well I have heard that that’s something that happens when you’re in love. That when you find somebody that you are so in love with it feels like you’re the only two people in the room. Now, I have never been in love and I am also not the super cheesy type, but I think I do believe what all of those love birds say because I have felt that and I’ve experienced it in a way that was, so undeniably, love.
There was one day in Vietnam that we went to a place called Thien Phuc, which is an orphanage for children with disabilities. My heart was jumping with joy for the time that we would spend here and as we were on our way there I specifically remember asking the Lord to give me His eyes and His heart for the children that I was about to meet.
We walked upstairs to a room that housed young children, all of which were not able to do very much on their own. We walked in there ready to help, play, and love. We entered the room during lunchtime and there was so much going on: some children were being fed, others were waiting to be fed, one child was screaming just to get the attention of whoever would listen, and some children were sitting and waiting to be cleaned up. There were layers of sounds in that room and a lot of children present, but the only thing I truly saw was a little boy sitting in a high chair on the other side of the room. I walked straight to him. I was drawn to him.
He was sitting up with his head laying on the high chair, unable to hold it up himself. I looked at his high chair and saw that his name was written: Ngoc. I sat there and I held his head in my hands I fed him, I talked to him and I prayed for him. I called him by name a few times without a response and then I said to him, “Ngoc, Jesus loves you”, to which he responded with a big grin, as if he was able to truly feel His love in those words.
In the midst of the noise and the needs and the chaos that was happening in the room we were in, it really felt like he was the only one there. It was in this moment that I felt the Lord’s faithfulness in my desire to see and love the way He does, and in this interaction I was reminded of the way I am seen by the Father, the way He sees us all.
As His children He wants this moment with us all. God sees me, He sees you, no matter how we see ourselves, no matter the way others see us, and He sees us fully. He knows us fully and loves us radically and in the busyness of this world and the craziness that it feels like sometimes He bypasses it all to pick you out of a crowd and to love you.
The time I spent at this place was amazing because of one little boy and what he taught me, and the simple truth he reminded me of.
