My heart feels at home, and we have only been here for 5 days. The girls we are living with this month have stolen my heart and I do not know if I will get it back!
We have a blast playing with them throughout the day with songs, crafts, games and stories; however, what I really look forward to is the7 o’clock worship each evening. We walk up to the pavilion in the middle of the property and a group of young girls are leading worship. A 10 year old on the drums, a 13 year old on base, a talented 15 year old on acoustic and an adorable 8 year old holding the mic singing.
I am amazed how talented these girls are with music, and how passionate their hearts are for God. They sing, dance, pray and take notes during the message. Tonight the site director, Peace, prompted all the girls to come to each one of us and pray over our lives. With no hesitation they ran to grab our hands and before I knew it I was deeply covered in prayer by several young girls. Talk about overwhelming emotions!
Once they finished their prayer we got a hug and they moved on. What really caught my heart was when the youngest girl in the group came up, grabbed my hands, closed her eyes and prayed. I couldn’t help but look up and catch a view of her precious face. She was not praying out of memory, she was not praying out of obligation, she was praying like she was looking right at Jesus. 8 years old! I couldn’t help but blink back some tears.
After they were done praying with each of us, one of the staff members shared a message. Throughout the whole time she was speaking (in Thai) I couldn’t stop thinking about the passage in Matthew about childlike faith. He says, “truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me” (Matt 18:3-5).
I have never experienced a greater example of this passage than I did tonight. Especially where it says “and whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” By holding the little girl’s hand and receiving her prayers I felt like I was experiencing Christ through her. She reflected his purity, passion, confidence, fearlessness and authenticity.
Isn’t it crazy to desire faith like an 8 year old? Sometimes I feel dry in my faith, but these girls are living in the overflow of His love. Sometimes I feel tired physically and emotionally, but these girls run around all day giving endless hugs. Sometimes I get fixed on the “what ifs” of my future, but these girls are living in the present moment. I want to be more like these little children. They are living in the Kingdom of God right now, and experiencing all it has to offer. Let us all strive for a faith like this 8 year old:)
