"…I will come to you." -John 14:18
God doesn’t leave any of us as orphans.
This is something I had heard.
But something He wanted to show me this week.
Here are two stories:
1. Last Saturday.
Last Saturday was a crazy day. A crazy good day.
My team had plans. God had better plans.
Long story short, we were supposed to go into the city.
We ended up not being able to.
And instead, I got to spend the day with a beautiful daughter of The King.
On her 12th birthday.
Meet Amalia.
Amalia is the sweetest little girl I have ever met. God has been placing her on my mind, heart, and lap almost daily over the past couple of weeks. She has the most infectious smile, the warmest heart, and the most loving laugh. On the days that I am lucky enough to see her, she hugs me for hours straight. She falls asleep in my arms on buses. She giggles as I braid her hair. She is pure love and joy. I am madly in love with this little girl.
Not even 30 seconds after we found out we weren’t going to be able to go into town, I was attacked by an Amalia hug.
“Como estas, Amalia!?” I ask her.
“SUPER BIEN!” she replies, and she proceeds to tell me that it’s her 12 birthday.
And now I know why God had us stay back for the day.
“Don’t leave her alone today, Abby,” He instructed me.
[And I got that message over and over again throughout the day.]
So we spent the entire day doing 12 year old girl things.
Braiding hair. Painting nails. Holding hands. Hugging. Giggling. All day long.
“Do something special for her,” the Lord ordered me.
So I gathered my team, and we took Amalia to the nearest grocery store to pick out her favorite cake mix. I bought her a headband. And that night we made her birthday cake together.
[Sidenote: If you ever have to create an improvised icing on the spot, bananas, butter, milk, flour, powdered sugar, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla make one heck of a good icing.]
I can almost guarantee you that Amalia had her first birthday cake that day. I can also guarantee to you that Amalia felt loved that day. And that is what the Lord demands of us. To love the fatherless.
This sweet little girl’s father committed suicide 6 months ago. She lives with her sister, brother, and mother in a one room house that is smaller than most of our bedrooms. They all share a single twin bed. And probably go to sleep hungry most nights.
Even though it may look like it…
God hasn’t forgotten this little girl.
He loves her.
The world sees a poor little fatherless 12 year old.
But He sees His daughter.
A princess.
And He let me, of all people, show her that on her 12th birthday.
How humbling.
2. Yesterday.
Yesterday my team visited an orphanage.
We had about 2 hours there.
We were leading a Bible study for twenty 11-18 year old girls.
We played a couple games, worshipped to Spanish Hillsong, and shared testimonies.
And then we just hung out.
And that’s when I got to learn these girls’ stories and share their hearts.
I got to comfort a 14 year old who hasn’t seen her family in 2 years.
I got to get my nails painted by a 17 year old who has never known a single member of her family. A 17 year old who was so beyond excited to be pregnant and to have something to call family, until her baby died 4 months ago.
I got to pray for an 18 year old who could not even begin to wrap her mind around the fact that Jesus could forgive her. But an 18 year old who wanted to hear all about how this was possible. An 18 year old who tearfully and joyfully prayed to accept Christ as her Lord and Savior yesterday.
And the matter of the fact is, you guys, these kids are everywhere.
Kids all over are hurting.
Kids all over feel abandoned.
Statistically, there are 154 million orphans in the world.
But God says that there are zero.
Because He uses us to prove that HE loves them.
He is the father of the fatherless.
And He is the best father any child could ever have.
