My Sweet Sweet Boy,
I’ve currently been residing in Nepal for three weeks doing wonderful work and growing even more into what God has for my life. I would however like to take a second however, and backtrack to remember the sweet sweet children of the Jehova Jirah Children’s home. Many times when I read blogs, I often see the comparison of the heart of children to our relationship with Jesus. By the joy of children and they’re behavior, you can see how Jesus desires for us to operate and approach our relationship. All I can say is in this case, that comparison could not be more true.
What made India such an amazing experience at its core was the children that we saw and ministered with every day. Very simply, they made all the other cares go away. Their smiles and sense of play overpowered your own worries. When you were in their presence, nothing else mattered and they didn’t let y ou think about anything else.
“Uncle Seth Come!” “Uncle I show you!” “Watch this Uncle!”
This talk was within the first 5 minutes of getting to ministry at the children’s home. We walk in and they are there waiting for us expectantly. Open arms and smiling faces are ready to show us all that they’ve done and about to do. There was also a simple desire to play. It was so simple yet like many things children do, so profound. The way the children loved us was so focused, unconditional and passionate. They always wanted to be with our group and did not hold anything against us. It reminds me of someone I know very well.
Many times people say that children do more ministering to us than we do to them. That’s true to a point but honestly it’s a two way street. God loves us just as much as the Indian orphan children. We also have to understand and question what age is in the Kingdom of God. It’s two groups of people coming together but one God creating the fellowship. We lived in relationship with the Jirah Home children, we made them laugh, paid attention to them, helped them and even taught them a thing or two about Jesus. Ultimately we were there to build them up into their identity into who Jesus is and encourage them to further that intimacy. It’s one of the things where we put structure to an already existing joy at the home. Some don’t have parents, some parents are not able to take care of them and some were just not in the picture. The simple fact that Jesus loves them enough to provide us a way to bless them in some way is mind blowing and the yet, we were so transformed by them too. I guess that is a glimpse into the manifested wisdom of God.
I’m going to share a short story that summed up my experience and even my Spiritual life up to this point. On the night before we left the Jirah home, we had a time of remembrance over the last month. We shared pictures and memories with the children. Later we then went down a line giving hugs and last words. My heart was already broken at this point and little tears started flowing down because I was so effected by all that happened. One thing my grandma would always say to me when she was alive was “You’re my sweet boy.” She would rub my back and say it until the day she died almost 3 years ago. I was rubbing this child’s back and saying, “You’re my sweet sweet boy, I’m so proud of you. You’re doing so good. I love you.” Then suddenly as I was comforting this child, I felt God say to me, “You’re my sweet sweet boy. I’m so proud of you, I love you so much.” Any restraint I had was lost and I went to roof to cry in front of Him for a while. So what He intended and is intending all along, is for me to give what I already have.
It was His love and he wanted to give it whether I felt like it or not. The amazing fact is that as I was loving these children, he never lost sight of His little Boy. His sweet sweet boy named Seth. This Seth who felt inadequate, had trouble accepting that love from Him and His children. This is the same Seth who would focus on how bad he felt sometimes versus the opportunity to love some of the children in India fully. So really, what I have to give is what I already have in relationship with Papa. I have the furious, undivided love of the Father in me to love authentically and with focus. The thing is God loves these children of the Jirah Home despite myself and my distractions. I was loved and I loved. All the while in the arms of the Father cheering me on saying, “My sweet sweet boy, I love you and I’m proud of you.”
