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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Dear Child, I miss you. Love, God




 Originally Written 4/21/2011 at 1:18pm in Montrouis, Haiti


t's a hot afternoon in Haiti.  

I am exhausted.

I am currently sleeping on this "rooftop" so I can hear all the children’s’ cries. I have been up for the past few nights making sure some sick babies made it through the night.  I am currently sleep training a bunch of Haitian children as well! 

My very first child we helped rescue is Eliana.   Baby Eliana is 7 months old now.  I have had her since birth.  
She is gently sleeping on me.  My heart is hurting for the precious Haitian people. 

I am confessing publicly that is has been a few weeks since I was able to really have a quiet time with the Lord.  I got so busy with schooling my kids, and with running the organization, that I haven't had the time needed with my sweet Jesus.  I even lost my Bible!  

I have been missing my Bible reading time!  I think I know what happened to it, but that's another story for another time.  Thank God my sweet friend Natasha came to my rescue and sent me another BIBLE!!! (Thank you!) 

As I gaze down at sweet baby Ellie, I can hear my darling kids in the background memorizing their spelling words.  It's so hot here, but sometimes a cool breeze comes through and it’s like stepping in a cool stream.  I can't help but tear up as Eliana gently sleeps peacefully in my arms.  (Maybe it’s because I need a nap and I am a bit over emotional!) Eliana looks so content in my arms, her belly is full and she obviously feels safe.  Her every need is met now.  She knows that when she cries I will hear her and come running to her rescue.  

 I hear the Lord whisper into my ears as I gaze upon her... 

I hear him say....

My arms are waiting to hold you just like you are holding Eliana.
My eyes gaze upon you like you do with her.  
I can’t help but weep for you.  
Oh how I miss you.  
The times we danced across your bedroom floor.  
The times you would sneak downstairs and sit at My feet and just listen.  
The times you would spread your blanket and worship.  
I miss the times you would crawl into My lap and just be still.
How could I forget the day you decided to let Me inside of your heart?
Do you remember the times we would talk all night?  
I miss those journals and letters you would write to Me.  
I miss the time when you reached out and grabbed the hem of My garment and wouldn’t let go.   
I will never forget the times you washed My feet with your tears and dried them with your hair.  
You touched My heart. 
Oh how I long for those times again.
I long for the day you will finally trust Me with everything.
I am the one that can meet your every need, heal, forgive, and restore.


One of my favorite stories is about a man who was so in love with this woman.  He couldn’t stop thinking about her.  He had a date with her at a small cafe outside of the city.  As he sat there drinking his coffee waiting for her to enter the cafe, he kept thinking about how much he loved her.  How he longs to be with her.  Time went by and she never showed.  The waitress tried to persuade this man to move on and find someone else.  But, this man was loyal and said that this woman was worth it all. This was the fourth night in a row that she stood him up.  The cafe was about to close and there sat this man still drinking his coffee waiting for her to come through those doors.  She never showed.  The man paid for his coffee and asked the waitress to hold the table for the next night.  The waitress begged the man to give up on this woman, claiming that there were plenty of other women that wouldn’t treat him this badly. But, the man gently shook his head and said...no she is worth it.  Just as the man left the cafe, the woman he was waiting for just got dropped off by friends.  She had decided to go and hang out with friends that evening.  She was tired from her fun evening and decided to go straight to bed. As she pulled the covers over herself and was about to turn out the light near her bed she saw a note that read:  TIME WITH GOD… 7:00PM…. She quietly thought, “Oh no, I missed it again…oh well, there is always tomorrow night.”   

God is that man.  He is so in love with us that He is waiting for us to dine with Him and commune with Him daily.  He loves us so much that He died for us, sacrificed it all so that we could be free.  We serve a God who can open blind eyes, free the captives and move mountains!

God is gently wooing us back to Him.  It’s time for us to go back to the day we first met Him.  We can get so caught up in our crazy busy lives that sometimes we even forget to acknowledge Him.  He is there when we wake up waiting for us to say good morning.  He wants to commune with us all day long.  As a mother of, well, a whole lot of kids(!),  things are busy...I mean really busy.   I will never forget the day I was in my Indiana home and we were all going through a really rough grieving time.  My heart was hurting and I honestly was too depressed to move.  I felt the Lord walk into my house and completely take over.  He filled in for me while I was hurting.  He held me and got me to a place where I could function again and be the mother and minister I am called to be. 

I heard God tell me years ago, that if I invited Him into my busy day of parenting He would do miracles.  My days with my kids always go smoother when I first allow God to go before me.  When I let Him walk right into my home, and my kids and I seem to always find more time to read and touch the heart of God.  Now of course, I still have rough days but I know that I can always get on my knees that night and ask God to intervene, and He always does.  Just like my sweet baby girl always trusts that I will hear her cries.  We need to trust that God hears our cries.  It’s time we crawl in the arms of Jesus and let Him hold us.  God is wooing us back to Him.  He is whispering into our ears.  Can you hear Him? 

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry…..He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand….. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. – Psalm 40: 1-3