As I was keeping reigns on the kindergarten kids while watching some of their fathers come get them to take them home, I wondered how many fathers show their kids love….love the Father gives us. See most of these kids come from not so great backgrounds where they don’t have fathers, and if they do, they are usually abusive to their kids whether it is physically or verbally.
I grew up with a dad who shows me the love like the love of the Father. For as long as I can remember he has always called my sister and I his “pretty girls.” He has always treated us like his princesses. There has not been a time I felt scared or abandoned while around my dad. He has provided for me in every way plus some. He even shared his hobby of hunting, not knowing I would end up hunting all over the world. My dad has loved me even in times of disappointment. I have made several mistakes in my life but my dad has loved me through all of them and has taught me how to learn from those mistakes. He never let a day go by without telling me he loves me and is proud of me.
So it’s easy for me to see the love of God because of the love my earthly father has given me. It is hard for these kids to see that when their fathers are nonexistent or abusive. They hear that God’s love is peaceful but how can they believe that when they can’t sleep at night because they are afraid of their dad hurting them or yelling at them? So what do you do about it? Good question….simply show them the love the Father. Easy enough right? Not necessarily, especially when you don’t know their language. But it’s not all about talking to them, it’s about showing…whether it’s playing soccer with them or coloring with them or use the few words of Spanish you do know to ask about their lives. They just want to be noticed, loved, and cared for.
John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 15:12-13 – “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
1 John 4: 19-21 – “We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
This month has been hard. We have been trying to love on the kids, trying to get some rest and quiet time to grow spiritually and also trying to not get sick from dehydration and parasites, or recovering from those things. There is also a bug problem. You think you have seen tons of bugs swarming around you at night until you come here on the island. On multiple occasions overlooking the amazing view of the lake, we notice what seems to be a dust storm moving across the lake. We quickly realize it’s no dust storm, it’s a swarm a thousands and thousands of gnats migrating and it’s coming right for us. Every few days, the center is covered with gnats. We turn the lights off in the rooms, dim our computers to the lowest setting and spray layers of bug spray hoping we won’t get eaten up. Some of us look like we have chicken pox from the amount of gnat bites. The next day, we sweep them up from under the lights then wait for the next swarm to come.
We only have one week left on the island. Please be praying for a strong close to this month, for all of us to be well before we start the next leg of the race. Thank you for all your prayers and support!
