A 12 year old little girl cried to come home with me. Deeply moved with compassion and overwhelmed with emotion, I went back to her, teary-eyed myself, to embrace her, to console her as best I could. With amazing strength that can only come from God, I choked back my own sobs so as to not make it anymore difficult for her.

As I sat in the front seat of the van looking out the windshield at her red face, tears flowing, I realized that a child named Luda would forever hold my heart in the palm of her hand. Tears that had stung my eyes before now flowed freely down my own face, sobs coming from a depth in my heart I never even knew existed.

I realized that in all of my human weaknesses, it wasn’t my touch, my words, my smile, that had impacted this little girl, but it was God Himself. GOD!

God….who’s watching over the affairs of billions of people,
God…who’s busy building mansions and preparing heaven for his own,
God…who’s healing the wings of a tiny bird somewhere in the middle of nowhere,

was also showing love, compassion and tenderness to a seemingly forgotten orphaned child. Time stood still as I stood before her, knowing that as a Christian, it wasn’t me who stood before her, but the very presence of God Himself, living in me. It wasn’t me who embraced her, it wasn’t me who held her close, but a loving and caring God, who Himself weeps not just for that child in that moment, but for everyone of these children that I was privileged enough to see, to physically touch, to spend time with. As a father to the fatherless, He arises to show them compassion, He longs to be gracious to them, He desires that they fulfill their God-given destiny; that they be loved, cherished and cared for by earthly parents.

As I try to find the words to express what God has done memories wash over me and my hands tremble. Their faces dance through my mind, one by one, and I’m deeply aware that my God, in His sovereignty, has forever changed my life…not by the wealthy, the powerful, the wise or the beautiful….but by children in dirty clothes, worn out shoes, no mothers, no fathers, no warm, safe place to call home.