Through their eyes

The boys I serve on a weekly basis often ask me about myself. They are curious as to where I'm from, what I do for my "job" on the days that I don't visit their orphanage, what I think about WWF and why I hate it so much, what America is like, my favorite color and my favorite professional sports team, why I think the Florida Gators are so awesome, and the list goes on and on. With my 10 and 11 year olds we sometimes we talk politics, end times theology, about what we dream about doing 10 years down the road, whether they can mess up enough to the point that I'll stop loving them or about Latin American pop stars we see on TV.

I know, based off of the questions they ask and how difficult it is for them to understand that it is literally my job to spend time with them, love and serve them, that they are convinced that I am one of the most unique/strange people they've ever met. Sometimes I honestly do wonder what these little orphan boys think of me. They are curious and well... sometimes so am I.

This past week, one of the boys drew a beautiful portrait of me. Here it is.

So there you have it. This child in particular, thinks I am a round ball with stick legs.

I had the privilege to pray with several of my older boys before bed on Tuesday night and one boys' prayers in particular left me speechless, grateful and humbled. He had committed a huge disciplinary "no-no" that day and was in big trouble to put it lightly. I prayed first and then he followed my prayer with his own. He told God that he needed to confess some things he had done that day and that he knew that if he did not confess his sins before God, that his relationship with God would be strained. He wanted to be right before God and not let the day finish without making himself right before God. He went on to thank God for making tomorrow a new day and a new opportunity to walk with Him again. As he prayed such an honest, simple and genuine prayer before God, I immediately felt convicted of my own sin and my own need to confess that before God. My sweet little man was preaching some truth to me.

This precious child proceeded to then pray for me and each member of my family specifically. He prayed for my older brother who is not a believer, that he would come to know Christ as his savior and for him to grow in his knowledge of God. Ryan - Mexican orphans are praying for your salvation - I think we should continue that discussion on whether or not science supports the creation theory. What do you say? He prayed for my mom's health and then prayed for my younger brother's decisions about what to do with his life and whether to go back to school. The details and the accuracy to which he remembered about things I've said in passing and how he prayed left me teary eyed.

He then proceeded to thank God for the fact that I am there with him and actually like being with him and that I love to take care of him and his dorm every week. He thanked God for the fact that whether or not I'm running a fever and sick, this little man knows that I will be there to take care of him because I love him.

My little man answered any doubts I might have had about what they think of me. He is a very intelligent child. I am so thankful and honored for the opportunity to speak truth into his life, to tell him that no matter what he does, that nothing can change the fact that I love him and so does God. I am grateful that he knows that being with him is my passion. Everyone else in his life might have abandoned him, but he is loved and wanted and valued nevertheless. That's the gospel. That's how God loves us. He loves us anyway, regardless of our faults. In fact, God is so passionate about us that he came down to earth to suffer and die for us so that we might become right with Him. God loves us so much...