Seeing True {tales of a hometown missionary}

The days filled and my heart was changed. Molded. Refined.  I looked around at what I once saw as a broken mess and realized my sight had been restored.

I was overcome with the beauty of my precious children and I finally, finally learned the lesson of true love. [read: Twenty-twenty vision]

It wasn’t just about loving what was precious and pretty but also the dirty and broken. It wasn’t just about doing the things that made me feel like I was accomplishing something for God– it was about doing what God said, no matter how small the task. 

It was staying home on a weekend, when all my friends were gone shopping together, just for the moment when little Raina toddled into my yard and asked for a Popsicle.  It was just so I could write down the memories of her blue eyes sparkling and the smile splitting her face. It was just so I could tell her that she was loved, so, so dearly.

It was so that on Monday morning when I walked to work, I could hear a voice calling and turn around to see that little one reaching for me and her two-year-old voice say, “Luv ou” as I squeezed her tight.

And if that had been all, it would have been good. 

But God did more. 

That little baby that I loved on and whispered prayers over and cried for God to spare- not too many years later would be adopted into my family and become my niece. And when all the family started telling stories about when the kids were little and what words they said first, I could talk about her.

She knew “mama” and “dada” of course, I could say, but one of her very first words was “pop-see” which meant Popsicle. She said “water” and loved to play in the sprinklers and …

The stories would go on and her blue eyes would sparkle bright. And I could feel the shudders of grace that passed through time. The grace of a God who saw so much deeper than I could. The grace of a God who loves.

 

Part One: {In Jars of Clay}
Part Two: {Wind and Waves}
Part Three: {Miracles and Mustard Seeds}
Part Four: {Labels and Trust}
Part Five: {To Flourish}