*NOTE: This was written a few days ago and didn’t actually happen today haha*
Today at ministry my heart was broken, completely shattered and I found myself in tears. I was at ministry with Salt and Light and I have built some pretty strong connections with the kiddos there even though I’m not there all the time. Some of my strongest connections are with three sweet sisters, Samantha, Sujali, and Esther.
These poor girls have battled lice for so long (not an uncommon thing to run into overseas). Their dad, who seems to be so great, had been trying to treat it and they hadn’t been at our ministry in over a week, but today they showed up.
It was such a sweet reunion, but we noticed all three of them were wearing beanies. It quickly occurred to us that to get rid of the lice, they had no other choice, but to shave their heads. My heart broke for them, but it wasn’t spoken of. These sweet girls were obviously carrying some self-confidence issues stemming from this, so we poured over them the words, “you are beautiful” and “you are loved” and “we missed you so much.”
Later in the day, sweet Samantha was jumping on the trampoline when one of the boys pulled off her hat. Of course, this sweet girl that used to have long, luscious locks was torn to pieces when everyone on the trampoline found out she had shaved her head and proceeded to laugh at their discovery. She immediately picked up her beanie and pulled it back over her head covering her entire face.
Quickly, her big and quite protective sister, Esther, came and pulled her off the trampoline. The three girls ran into a dark room in the back as Brittany and Katie followed. About a minute later, Abby and I joined them in the back only to find Samantha sobbing and the other two also crying. Before I knew it, Samantha’s entire body was wrapped around mine as she sobbed on my shoulder and I told her she was beautiful through my own tears (one of the only things that came to mind in Spanish in the state I was in). As we stood back there and loved on them, they began to open up, take off their beanies, and share their new look with us. We cried some more and laughed a little as we were just present with and loving them through their pain.
Nothing about the beautiful hearts of these girls had changed since we had all last saw them, yet the world looked at them so differently and it broke them leaving me so broken. Here is an example of the Lord breaking my heart for what breaks His.
This happens a lot in the field as I grow closer to the Lord and learn what it means to love others with the love of the Lord. I know Jesus was in that back room crying right alongside us all. I know He was hugging His sweet princesses and whispering in their ears how beautiful they all are. I know He was kissing them on the forehead and comforting them in their distress.
The Lord wants to be there to fight the lies the world and enemy tell you that you are believing about yourself, just let Him in. He wants to be in the back room hugging you and telling you it is okay, you just need to open your heart and let Him in. Open your ears to what He has to say and He will speak. My prayer for you and myself is that we can all begin to walk in the confidence the Lord has created us to walk in no matter our circumstances. I love you all and I know the Lord loves you even more!!
