Our ministry this month is kids. Which is amazing.
We get to play with kids all day long. Hanging out with them, getting to know them, and giving them love that they may not get anywhere else. We can play games with them, take them swimming, color with them, etc.
I have already fallen in love with so many of the kids here.
The other day, I was swimming with some of the girls from the very poor community around our base. This little girl, didn’t know how to swim. She begged me to teach her and her friend to swim.
So, I taught her how to kick her legs, and cup her little hands. Soon, I stepped a few feet away and told her to practice swimming towards me. She stood there for a minute, almost plopping fully into the water several times, but something kept holding her back.
She was scared.
“Will you catch me?” She asked shyly.
“Yes,” I said. “I will catch you.”
“You promise?” She had to be sure.
“I promise.” I smiled.
She smiled too, took a deep breath, and swam the two foot distance between us.
Now, only a week later, this little girl can swim all the way across the kiddie pool by herself. She even got to swim in the bigger pool with me helping her.
Every time she comes to swim, she always asks the same question.
“Will you catch me?”
She knows I will catch her. I have caught her hundreds of times. I love teaching this little girl, and being there for her. And she knows that.
But she wants me to see her.
She wants to know that she’s going to be ok.
That I won’t let her down.
And I realized that I do the same thing with God.
I always ask God if he will catch me.
If He really will take care of me.
If he actually sees me.
Even though he has always caught me, provided for me in so many ways, and constantly showers me in love.
And that is just one thing that I love about his heart.
He never gets tired of catching me.
Never gets annoyed with me checking up to make sure he is still there.
He loves being a daddy.
he loves catching his children, and teaching them how to grow.
He has placed this heavily on my heart.
To see his children.
To love them.
To show them Jesus. Not just talk about him.
To notice the ones that no one sees.
The ones that are pushed to the sidelines.
The ones that aren’t the prettiest, or the best.
The ones that aren’t the favorites, or the easiest.
The ones that are ignored, or forgotten.
And to pick them up, and make sure they know that they are just as important.
Jesus calls them his wilted flowers.
and he asks me to pick them up, and make a beautiful bouquet.
Because once these flowers are noticed and loved on….
That’s when they bloom.
Some of the kids here live in horribly sad poverty. They often have bad, or even dangerous home lives, don’t have a family, or only have relatives who don’t care about them, or don’t have time to.
They are neglected, abused, hurt, and forgotten.
But that is not how my Jesus sees them.
He sees the beauty he made in them.
He sees their hopes, and dreams, and passions.
He sees their gifts he gave them.
He sees his child.
His little boy. And his little girl.
Hurting, and forgotten.
and it breaks his heart.
He sees them.
He wants to catch them.
He loves them more than they could ever know.
I read a quote the other day, that said,
“Sometimes all we need is for someone to look us in the heart, and say, ‘I see you.'”
They just need to be seen.
To know that they will be caught.
That they’re going to be ok.
They can’t understand the father’s love, if they’ve never experienced love like that.
That is why Jesus asks us to be his hands and feet.
To show a world of wilted flowers, that they can bloom.
These beautiful kids, are all wilted flowers, just waiting to bloom.
And I know that there are wilted flowers all over the world, not just in the Philippines.
I used to be one.
Maybe that’s why they have such a special place in my heart.
I’m sure that in one way or another, each of us has felt the pain of hurt, rejection.
Felt unseen, or unimportant.
But that is not your identity.
You are a child of God.
And he made you too uniquely to be anything but extraordinary, beautiful, creative, and amazing.
He made us all that way.
Even the nerdy people, even the popular ones, even the people in prison, even the bullied ones, and even ones that think they are forgotten and unworthy of love and attention.
So, I want to issue a challenge.
(Cause who can turn down a challenge?)
When you see a wilted flower, go pick him or her up.
I bet you even know of one right now.
You don’t have to do a lot. Talk with them. Ask them about their day. What they did. Give them a hug. A smile. Or maybe cookies. everyone likes cookies.
Anything to show them that they are seen.
That they matter.
You may have to leave your comfort zone.
You might have to pluck up all your courage.
Or it may be the easiest thing in the world.
Either way, Jesus has called you to love.
And there are so many people in this world who need that love.
So, go be the light of the world.
Don’t settle for anything less. Cause that’s what you are.
You have nothing to fear.
He will always catch you.
I promise.
