I never believed in love at first sight. I didn’t think it was real, until now.
In my opinion, love at first site sounded silly, it sounded like a Hollywood manufactured idea, something to dream of but something that’s not really experienced. Well, it’s been a little over a week and I was proven wrong in every way. It’s been a little over a week I am in love! My heart has made room to love 15 boys within a matter of days, minutes even, from meeting them.
Yes, that’s right, 15 boys.
This month my team and I are in the Philippines in Antipolo City working with a ministry called Children’s Garden, or CG. Children’s Garden is a boys home for former street boys, ages 12-18. CG gives them a place to call home, and introduces them to the love and redemptive power of Christ. Before coming to Children’s Garden the boys here experienced broken families and abandonment, they spent years on the streets finding entertainment in fighting, smoking, drinking and drugs, and finding temporary ‘family’ in gangs. CG introduces the hope and love of Christ and the concept of His grace into the lives of these boys in an incredibly transforming way. They provide an education for these boys and extra outside help and tutoring, they are mentored and encouraged in their faith, they are taught responsibility and giving back. Children’s Garden even brings the boys along to outreach in the community throughout the week. They share and offer hope to boys and girls still on the streets, to those who have less, to children living in the slums, on the streets, or wherever they can find rest for a night. The boys go back onto the streets to not only share their stories and where they have been but where they are now and what Christ has done in them.
From the moment I arrived at CG I felt loved and my heart craved to know these boys deeper, I had barely known them 5 minutes and I loved them. These boys are changed by the power and love of Christ and by the way they live and love, it is so evident that Jesus is all over this place and these boys! I didn’t know that I could love people that I had just met so deeply, that it was possible to love so quickly and so openly! My heart feels full when I’m around them and I am in awe of God when I stop to think about who they used to be! They know what it is to be loved, and they operate out of it, overflowing the love that they have received onto others, and teaching me to do the same. When I look at these boys I don’t see their past. I don’t see their old, hard exteriors. They are new, they are redeemed and that’s what I see. The Lord has given me His heart and eyes this month a way that I am so thankful for.
One night we were driving in the van late through the streets of Antipolo City and my heart broke as I saw street boys roaming in groups, wandering by themselves, wandering without a purpose. I looked at them and didn’t see them as troublemakers, as gang members, as drug addicts, as violent or angry. I saw them as children who have tender hearts under their exteriors, as boys who just crave love and attention.
I saw them as their Father in Heaven sees them:
Loved, regardless of what they’ve done.
Cherished, regardless of what others say about them.
Worthy.
This month I have learned that ‘love at first sight’ is the definition of God’s love for us, and it’s very real. He saw us in the mess, in the broken state that we were in and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) because He loves. He wasn’t waiting for work or effort from our part before He could fully love us back. He loved us first, just as we were and He loves with an unfathomable, fervent love!
I love the boys at CG with God’s ‘love at first site’ kind of love because that’s how He loves me, that’s how He loves them, and I am beyond blessed by the Lord this month to get to spend my time with them!!
