As I approached him with arms wide open, huge grin on my face, overly excitedly saying “salute!� (hello in Romanian), he had one look at me and took off.
I was in shock because this is the part where the kid usually drops what they are doing and jumps into my arms to giggle while exploring my hair, sunglasses, and face. I turned to one of the women who volunteer at the center, I didn’t even have to say anything… she told me these kids were not used to receiving a lot of love in their homes so they were not very affectionate.
Oh, okay. Do you think that stopped me? haaa..
He tried to beat me off.
One day, we caught him but he struggled.
I wasn’t ready to give up.
Then, we started getting crafty…. our interpreter, Tanya, found out that he liked sunflower seeds so we bribed him. “Oh you want sunflower seeds? It will cost you one good hug with Tye.â€� He reluctantly agreed.
Here it is:
But I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted more. I didn’t just want a hug that I had to force. So, during the week I earned his trust. I showed him love, I smiled at him, gave him high fives, encouraged him in hopes that one day he would hug me because he WANTED to. But alas, my handsome little prince did not give in.
On Friday, our last day going to Recea, we said goodbye to the kids. It had been a great week, we had taught the kids about Daniel, showed them pictures and videos from the Race, did some listening prayer, some profetic art, all that good stuff. We were all feeling really good. I hate goodbyes, especially to children I’ve become close with. As they were all hugging us and saying goodbye I saw Ion out of the corner of my eye on the side of the building watching. So, I just crouched down, smiled at him, and opened my arms.
All of the sudden, a huge smile was on his face as he came running up to me and jumped into my arms and hugged me. Choking back tears, I realized of all of the happy moments I’ve had on the race, this was probably one of the best, if not THE best. But that’s not even the best part of the story… he hugged me THREE times before I left. I guess all my subtle gestures of love really did work. He knew I loved him just by the way I showed him in small ways throughout the week. I didn’t have to tell him, hug him, or squeeze him. Every fairy tale has a happy ending, right?
I didn’t realize how this story could relate to God until yesterday when I was telling our contact about our time in Recea. The same way I saw Ion for the first time and fell in love… that’s how God sees us ALL the time. We captivate His heart. He sees every time we even glance at Him. Even though we run away, just like Ion did, God doesn’t give up. Just like Ion, sometimes it is so hard to accept His love because we don’t know what it’s like to have His unconditional love. God chases us. We run away. We fight back. He starts loving us in little subtle ways… we can feel His love and our heart starts to change. He does miracles in our life that we can’t deny… and we may give in and give Him a ‘hug.’ In the end, nothing brings God more joy than for one of His children to realize how much He loves them and they run into His arms where there is more love, comfort, and compassion than you can ever imagine. And we actually do live happily ever after, because we are complete in Him.
I don’t know what Ion will do in his life. I just pray that one day he will run to God and receive the endless love that He has to offer. Because I know God is waiting for him… crouched down with His arms wide open and a huge smile on His face.
