A few days ago I posted a picture of me tossing a child up in the air and catching him. I took that picture at the beginning of this month and finally decided to post it. After looking at it probably 50 times before I posted it, and many times after, I began to see more and more meaning behind the picture.
Now at first glance it’s just a cute picture of me tossing a child. The timing is perfect, he’s in the air and out of my hands. But there is so much more to this picture, Narong (the little boy in the picture) is three years old, he lives at the orphanage with his two older brothers. These brothers radiate joy. They are silly and are so loving. Narong was shy at first and a little hesitant to let my team and I play with him, but like any kid, he loves being swung around and tossed in the air, which helped to quickly break down his walls.
The first time I tossed Narong up, he seemed a little scared but as soon as my hands met his body again he erupted with laughter. Narong trusts that each time I toss him in the air he will fall for just a second, but then my hands are right there to catch him. He knows he’s not far from my reach and that I won’t let him hit the ground. After doing this almost everyday for an entire month, he now runs up to me and expects me to throw him. And still each time I toss him, he makes a scared face but then erupts with laughter.
This has giving me such a beautiful picture of my relationship with God. I’d like to picture myself as Narong in this case and God being me. Often times I feel like God is tossing me into something new or placing me somewhere that challenges me. Now at first I give God the “I’m scared and this isn’t okay” face and fall for just a second, but then very quickly I realize his arms are right there. He isn’t going to let me hit the ground, just how Narong trusts me, I am trusting God.
I’ve been told many times before that we are never out of reach of God’s hands. Comparing my relationship with God to this picture can easily show that Narong was not even 3 or 4 inches away from my hands, but still he freaked out for a split second. I think that like Narong, I freak out for a split second thinking “what if God doesn’t catch me?” “What if where He’s tossing me to, he won’t be there to catch me?” Although things seem scary and I freak out for a moment, I can trust God and trust that his hands are going to be right there to catch me in the end. PEACE
XOXO
Heather
