Oh How He loves…

Thank you all who prayed for my safety today and my time with Diego. We had a great day :) I was able to spend time with Diego and two other boys that I also got to know 5 years ago—Erick and Denis. Two other volunteers came with me. They showed us around the orphanage (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos), which is on a huge plot of land. They have their own chickens, cows, rabbits, and fruit and vegetable fields. It was just great to spend time with them, talking, laughing, listening to music and playing a bit of soccer. All three are really fun and sweet boys. I still can’t believe how big they are now though; 5 years ago they were all between 10-12 years old and half my size! I’m hoping to visit them somewhat regularly since they live only an hour away and it’s really easy to get there.

Erick, me, Diego and Denis :) 

 Diego “tricked” me into an eating a hot chile contest, where he ended up swallowing the chile whole and I ended up chewing it and having a mouth that was on fire. I’ve never eaten something so hot in my entire life. They boys got a total kick out of it. Haha.

with Denis

with Erick

with Diego

After I got back to Emmanuel this evening, as I was spending time with the Lord I was completely overcome by how much He loves me. As I wrote in my last post, He’s been pressing into me His promise that He will never forget me, and today was a breaking point for me. Not only does God love me enough to come and die on the cross for me, which alone completely seals His infinite love for me, but He chooses, He delights to pour out His love on me in so many beautiful ways that are shaped just for me. My time with Diego and these boys 5 years ago was one of the most intense, life-changing and heart-wrenching experiences I’ve ever had. It’s an experience that touches one of the deepest parts of my heart. I didn’t deserve that experience in the first place, and so the fact that God would bring me back after 5 years to live so close to Diego, to be able to see him and these other boys again totally breaks me. I can’t put into words how cherished and loved I feel by this gift from the Lord. I serve a God who indeed is good beyond words, who cares so infinitely about our hearts, who delights in us His creation, and who loves to give us good gifts that we don’t deserve. Tonight He has filled me with such joy as I drink in His in comprehendible love. In moments like this when His love is so visible, so tangible, so overwhelming I ask myself how many times and in how many ways does He need to show me that He truly does LOVE me for me to trust Him? When I experience His love so powerfully like this, the only possible response is to joyfully and fully surrender to Him. How beautiful the times when surrender is so easy because His love is made so incredibly evident, so irresistibly true. So today I delight in the truth that I am His beloved lily that He has redeemed to love and serve Him.