Embracing the Nations

Last night, I picked up my pencil and wrote...

Tears flood my eyes at the precious thought of being in the prisons again--
of remembering back to what it feels like to see a dazed 2 year old little boy standing there.  To walk over to his side and take his tiny hand in mine.

I remember what it felt like to be sitting on a concrete sidewalk, holding my own copy of the Word of Life in my hands.  I read words that can change everything in the here, in the now for a lifetime....for an eternity.  I showed the eager children who were hungry for attention, for something more, the place where my own name was written, "Moriah" meaning "the LORD is my Teacher" 

I read from the NT, too.  Whenever I got to the place where "God" was, they were reading over my shoulder and would repeat in their beautiful accents echoing, "God, God .." before I even got to that verse...it was almost as if they were scanning the page, because they knew Him, His name and wanted to search for it. 

Such a literal application of Jeremiah 29:13...which precedes the promise of verse 14.

"13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
 14I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive."



As the circle of those around me waned, I stood up to get the blood flowing in my legs again, only to see an older girl with dimples waving me over to a nice, cool spot she and her friends picked in the shade of a large bush.  I took a seat in the middle of their circle with a thankful smile on my lips. It wasn't long before another girl approached saying something in their language to the girl with dimples, who could speak English pretty fluently.  She told me this girl wanted to see my name in the Bible...apparently word had gotten around. :)  As I flipped to Genesis 22, little did I know that I would be writing this girl's own name in the front of my Bible before I left. 



She told me, "I want a Bible."  I asked her, "You want a Bible?"  She replied with longing, admiration, "Yes, I like yours."  The girl was more than likely oblivious to my inward struggle in that moment I decided...  I unzipped my backpack and pulled out my deep berry pink Bible, that had a pretty design on the front cover. I asked her to spell her name for me and letter by letter her name graced empty front page and made it personal.  I put <3 Moriah, the date and placed it into her hands with a smile...and a secret ache that was soothed by the words of Jesus that I heard the moment she asked, "It is more blessed to give than receive" It was now HER Bible.The radiant smile that illuminated her face warmed my heart and was more than enough for thanks. 



Now I have friends in these places...they are no longer just children that I have heard about, but children who I have embraced firsthand.  I pray they remember my backpack...or something about me that triggers their memory to those times last year.  



"To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him." >>John Piper

The girl who "has the dimples" is pictured in the red shirt to the left of me....
The girl I gave my Bible to is pictured to the far right of the picture (far left of me)