Held

When I used to think of orphans, I thought of little children who had been abandoned and were therefore very sad, shy, and maybe a bit bitter. That's very blunt, but it's what I thought. The first night we were there in China, we walked into a home for orphans and then a room full of special needs children. I was about to be surprised. Most of the kids came right to us, open arms and all smiles, ready to play and have fun with their new friends. We played for a while with the kids and were about to leave for dinner, but one little boy wanted to be held one more time. As I picked him up and held him, I thought about how if I could, I would have held him forever. I would have given anything to hold him and be there for him always. God gently spoke in that moment, as I held this boy, "that's how I feel about you." This child wanted and needed to be held. He had scars, he was an orphan and he didn't speak my language, the second he reached out his arms to me, nothing else mattered but holding him.
To many times we see our situations and pasts as too much and let it hold us back and shut us off from others. We become afraid, maybe bitter or prideful, we get discouraged. But the awesome thing is that if we reach out just like the little guy I met, God will reach down and pick us up, hold us, love us, and give the hope we need to get through. It doesn't matter if we're scarred, if we don't have the perfect words. We are never to fragile or to broken to be held by him who is waiting for us to reach out and accept him as Lord and Father. We've all been orphaned by all the mistakes and pain, but He is waiting for us to let Him into our souls and be the Father to us that He gave everything to be.