A Hug

All of my boys are incredibly special.  They are special to the creator of the universe who decided to put each one of them into my care and later into the depths of my heart.

They are also trouble makers, tantrums throwers, manipulators, liars, cheaters, thieves, hurtful and down right annoying at times.

For those reasons - many people in this world like their teacher, school principal or orphanage director - would agree with me and God in saying that they are for sure "special" but not necessarily in a good way on account of their frequently "bad" or otherwise "special" behaviors.

They are not easy to love.  But I'm going to let you in on a secret that not even my special boys all fully realize....

God - the almighty, powerful and compassionate God - is absolutely, 100%, without a shadow of a doubt in love with each of them.  He is crazy about them.

One of the privileges of my past 9 months living with these boys has been to witness some of this immeasurable love that God has for these orphans.

In the Bible, God promises to love the orphan, to make them a home, to hear them, come to them, be their helper, give food and clothing to them, protect them, lift them out, to rescue them...

My boys have all been abandoned, neglected, abused, ignored, shot down, beat down, put out and tossed aside - all 9 of them - no exceptions.

But God is pursuing each of them with unrelentless love day after day.  One of my boys let me hug him this week and for the first time ever, he leaned in.  He lingered.  He almost seemed to hug me back but didn't move.

Y'all that is a mountain in this child's emotional development and God is moving that mountain right before my eyes.  Praise Him!