[this blog post was written on Jan. 2 and posted on Jan. 14]
 
As Katie and I sat on the front step of HOPEthiopia yesterday, we watched the landscape around us fade into different shades of yellow, red, orange, and purple in response to the setting sun. I’m not sure if the elevation of 7,000 feet makes the sun appear larger here or if the Creator just chooses to make Himself known a little more magnificently in a place cut off from the rest of the WiFi-focused world. Either way, we are in awe every evening as the warm day shifts to cold night in a brilliant display of God’s glory.
 
We sat on that step watching Creation reflect His beauty as we reflected on 2017 and the beauty that the Lord brought through it. Suddenly about a dozen Ethiopian orphans came swarming around us, we found it hard to focus on the conversation. 
 
“Lukas! Kakee!” they shouted. Even though they were only about 6 inches from our faces, shouting seemed like the best way to get our attention. Apparently children are children no matter what continent you’re on! Go figure.
 
Katie and I laughed about how hard it is to find a quiet place anywhere here, and we tried to ignore the hilarious and adorable chaos that whirled around us. Bubbles floating past us, soccer balls flying overhead, tennis balls occasionally missing their mark and finding their way to our bodies. I sensed a little twinge of frustration rise up in me as I struggled to give Katie my full attention. 
 
Just then a little boy named Tirune (pronounced Ti-rune-nah) came and stood right in front of me with big brown eyes. “Lukas,” he said quietly as he reached out to me. How could I ignore that?? I opened my arms and he just fell into them. He wrapped those little hands around me and laid his head on my shoulder. His tiny body seemed to fit perfectly in my arms. I reached under his legs and scooped him up. He looked up at me and smiled. I kissed him on the cheek, and he kissed me back. He nestled back into my neck and I just wept.
 
The tears fell and I don’t really know where they came from. I thought of his short little life and I wondered about the places he had been and the things he had seen. What happened to his parents? Who rescued him? What does his little bed look like? Does he have any toys or clothes to call his own? 
 
I was overwhelmed with the way he trusted me. As he let me carry him and cuddle him I imagined what was going through his mind. The only thing I could think of was the way the Father holds me.
 
When all hell seems to break loose, the Father is there to hold me. 
When anything and everything goes wrong on travel day, my Father is there to see me through.
When sin rears its ugly head and tries to steal my joy, I can rest in the Father’s arms.
When the Enemy screams lies in my face, Abba invites me to sit at the His feet and He sings His Truth over me.
 
When I held Tirune, all my frustrations and troubles melted away into an insignificant puddle. Where there was annoyance, the Father left love tenfold and there was nothing that could harm him in my arms.
 
The lyrics to one of my favorite songs have been on repeat in my mind: 
 
“Every precious one, a child You died to save.
If You gave Your life to love them, so will I.” — So Will I (100 Billion X), Hillsong United
 
If even I had the capacity to love an Ethiopian child who I had just met, how much more is the Father willing to love and hold us? 
 
In His arms there is nothing that could touch us. 
 
Today I am thankful for adoption as a son of God and for His mighty arms that we could never, ever stray too far from. Today I am thankful for the freedom to just rest in His arms. 
 
How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge
in the shadow of Your wings.
[Psalm 36:7]
 
Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
[Psalm 31:5]
 
And because you are sons, God has sent 
the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, 
and if a son, then an heir through God.”
[Galatians 4:6-7]