Many of you may remember this sweet little girl in a red dress, who God highlighted for me on the Race. Almost two years after meeting her, she is still constantly on my mind.
Month 6. This month in Cambodia changed my life. It’s been two years since I was there and I still think about that little girl in the red dress.
I will never forget that red dress. That dress with a stench from not being washed for weeks. But even with that stench, I couldn’t help but hold her so tightly.
I will never forget seeing this little girl climb through a barbed wire fence, with her dress often getting stuck, just to be held in my arms.
I will never forget hearing her cry outside our door with her arms raised up, just trying to find love and affection. I will never forget the lice coating her hair, yet it didn’t matter because the love I had for her was bigger. God’s love for her is even bigger!
I will never forget the night that I tried to run inside to escape the rain storm just to turn around and see her dancing in it, so of course I had to join her.
I will never forget the times where she fell asleep in my arms. I will never forget that little girl in the red dress.
There are days where tears still well up in my eyes hoping that she feels loved at home. We didn’t see her parents much but I pray that God continues to put people in her life who will hold her tight. I am choked up as I write this just wishing I could hold her one more time. At the end of that month in Cambodia I unexpectedly had surgery and was never able to say bye to her. I was crushed when I found out that I would fly to Africa without giving her one last big hug. Knowing that God is with her everyday comforts me. I have hope that one day I will be able to travel back to Cambodia, to that small village with palm trees and red dirt, just to hold her again. But until that day, I will never forget that little girl in the red dress.
