Adopted

Of all the different aspects of who God is, I think the one I like best is that He is a Father - one who brings us into His family, close to His heart, and embraces us with belonging and acceptance. Working in the past and present with children who live in tough situations, I find that the revelation of my Father and His love for little ones like these is often one that resides in me. Six years ago, I worked at a battered women's shelter. During my time there, I got to connect and spend time with children who had been abused on every level. Memories of when I got to visit the children who lived in the city dump in Ecuador also fill my mind. As I held the baby in my arms whose diaper had been used over and over again and whose body was covered with filth, my heart began to realize just how much this God of extravagant love gave for them. Though it has not been much, I am blessed to have spent time among the poor, the fatherless, and the forgotten. For it is in looking in their eyes, that I see the my Father. It is in sitting with them, talking with them, and befriending them that I learn about the heart of friendship my Father longs to extend to us. It is in opening my heart to them that I realize the incredible truth that Jesus' heart is open to us. My Father loves extravagantly and He is not afraid to embrace us in our weakness and imperfection. "He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart..." Isaiah 40:11 He wants to pull us in close to His big heart where there is room for everyone. He has enough love to heal every wound and scar of the past and wants to nurture us to completion and wholeness by His love. There is a place in His family for everyone...and oh it feels so good to have this kind of Father...it feels so good to be in His family!