Hi y’all! I’ve been in Ecuador for about a month and a half now working with a ministry called Camp Hope. Camp Hope is a special needs day care for students with varying disabilities. The youngest student is 2 years old while the oldest is 35. I work in a classroom called Gozo which means joy in Spanish. My classroom mainly has the older students with high functioning cerebral palsy. I spend most of my days giving massages, spoon feeding, changing diapers, and loving on my students. I help my kids exercise their gross and motor skills, align their posture, and stretch their muscles.
One of the hardest parts of my ministry is that I love my kids so much. It takes a lot of patience and love to spoon feed someone for 45 minutes and then watch them throw it back up on your foot (true story). It takes a lot of love and will power to change an adult diaper. I’d do anything for my kids and it breaks my heart to know that when I tell them “I love you,” they will never respond with “I know.”
The other day I was sitting on a mattress with a few of my kids giving one of them a hand massage. I was playing worship music because it was the only thing that would get one of them to stop crying. The one that I was giving the hand massage to was trying to bite me and hit me the entire time but I got good at dodging her hand and chompers. As I was sitting their looking down at my girls I couldn’t help but be reminded of how much I love them. I would do anything for them. Even though I can’t get a “thank you,” or an “I love you too,” from them, I still come back the next day to take care of them.
I believe the Father is the same way. He’s so infatuated and in love with us that he’ll do so much in a day for us and will still be excited to do it the next day. He doesn’t need or expect a thank you in return. Real love doesn’t expect anything in return but who doesn’t like to be acknowledged for they deeds?
The Father doesn’t need our love and affirmation. But the King of the universe knows you and cares for you, why wouldn’t you want to tell him how much you appreciate it? Tell the Father you love him or appreciate what He does for you, He likes to know that stuff.
