“Mateo no jugar,” she calls out. Protesting a blocked shot and the girls hustle across the slab of pavement with a tattered soccer ball inside their compound.
At lunch, she smiles and calls him “gatito.”
It is another day of shared laughter and broken conversations.
A day like any other.
It wasn’t until the next morning that we realized it was our last.
Early Tuesday morning, she and two other girls escaped the rehab facility, assaulting their caretaker.
Over the past few weeks, over shared meals and soccer games, we have come to love the thirteen girls that live at our rehab facility.
We don’t see them for their failures or addictions, but as the beautiful creations God has made them to be.
This past week, five girls left the facility.
And, in the grief of losing them, I caught a deeper glimpse into God’s character.
I felt a fraction of the pain that God feels when we turn our backs on Him.
Despite the manner in which they left, I still want good things for them. And, my heart breaks for them.
God does the same for us. He doesn’t force us to stay with Him. But, His heart longs for us to experience the fullness of His love. The grace, mercy, and healing that He provides.
He knows our potential to turn away, yet He loves us anyways.
Ane, just like in the parable of the Prodigal’s Son, He is always waiting with open arms for our return.
And, that is so incredibly powerful.
