IMPORTANT MESSAGE: this blog has been edited for safety purposes.
aaaaaa club ended and it was time to go to our hosts house. The hospitality of our V1etnamese host did not begin and end with him buying our coffee that night. We had been invited to go to his house for dinner with his family and one of his students.
We rode with Tuan* and one of his students down street after street that eventually turned into small alleyways.
Upon arriving to his house, we were greeted by his lovely wife, Binh*, who is the teacher of one of our other aaaaaa clubs that met on Wednesdays and Saturdays. These two are two of the most Jesus-loving and hospitable people that I have ever met. Aside from serving Jesus, their proudest moment was the moment that their daughter was born.
Against the doctor’s recommendation, our hosts decided to go through with the at-risk pregnancy. Quy* was born with a brain disability that would affect every aspect of her life.
As my two teammates and I walked into their 3 year old daughter’s room, we would be greeted with a soft smile and a look of curiosity. As we stood there and talked to her mother, my heart softened for this little girl.
Her mother was feeding her at the time so we decided to leave the room so that we were not a distraction during meal time. But that would not be our only encounter with her that night.
As the hours passed, we shared a meal with our hosts and sang a few worship songs. By the end of the night, our hosts had shared the difficulties of raising a daughter with disabilities.
As Binh’s voice cracked, we heard a small part of the pains of motherhood. This situation was beyond her control. This would be something that had to be left in the Father’s hands.
As we wrapped up our time at our hosts house, my teammates and I asked if we could pray for their family and for their daughter.
They led us back to her room again and as our host, Tuan, began to talk, Quy’s face lit up with joy. She smiled bigger than I’ve ever seen a three-year-old smile and could not sit still. Her little body was overcome with the joy of hearing her father’s voice. Our host humbly said, “she always loves when I talk to her. She loves me because I love her and talk to her.”
My heart melted inside.
As we left their house that night I could not help but think about how this story translates to our relationship with the Heavenly Father.
Oh, how sweet it is to hear the Father’s voice, to hear His promptings, to read His words.
We have full and complete access to the Father.
The thing about Tuan is that when he talks about his daughter, he doesn’t talk about the things that are broken. He doesn’t talk about the disability. He doesn’t call her any less because of what she was born with.
He acknowledges the disability, but he doesn’t call her by that. He calls her his daughter. He speaks of how he loves her dearly. He only shows how proud he is to be her father.
She did nothing to earn this love but can only receive it.
Friends, we are the same as little Quy. We aren’t perfect. We were born into a sinful and fallen world. We have our own unique brokenness. Our Father knows this but that’s not what He calls us.
He calls us forgiven. He calls us beloved. He calls us His sons and daughters.
So glad to have had the chance to meet this beautiful family and see another perfect picture of the Father’s love for us.
-S
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” – Hebrews 4:16
“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” – Romans 8:15-16
“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” – Zephaniah 3:17
*Names have been changed to protect our hosts. When we leave Vietnam, I will also be removing the picture in this blog post to protect our host.
