he is a little boy scared, eyes wide open and tears streaming down a face held taut in panic.
he is a little boy frozen, only able to utter the one word buried deep in his heart.
he is a little boy calling for his mama.
it's as the call for the maternal is wailed out into the space around us and my eyes automatically search out it's source.
and that man, the one who stands stoically every time i pass by his counter, the one whose humour was dry and sarcastic and threw me off guard all of those months ago when it was my turn to have my face plastered on that plastic, the one who i had assumed had no warm or caring bone in his body...
he rushes around that counter and reaches out his hand,
leads the trembling, tiny boy to a corner quiet and calm.
he bends low and asks for the mama's name and calls it out to the ones who have gathered to search.
and then?
he gathers the little one up in his arms and begins to rock with a rhythm meant to soothe.
have you been one lost in a rushing tide of people, decisions, changes or things?
have you been one scared - heart constricted with that terror of what you don't understand?
have you been one frozen - too shocked to even find the strength to move?
and you have seen Him, Jesus.
He's been in your background,
on the outskirts of your life.
you feel that He has let you down,
or He is too busy,
or too distant,
or maybe, just maybe, you think Him too unapproachable because of all that you have done.
so you let one encounter colour your perception
and you carry on
because everything moves so fast.
but then
you find yourself lost.
and all you can do is cry out that One Name...
and He is there,
rushing in to gather you close,
to pull you into His Peace in the midst of all that chaos
and to remind you of His tender Love that He gave up all to show.
and the one lost
becomes found,
cherished,
accepted,
dearly loved,
adopted,
holy,
pure,
made right,
His.
and when one is found by Him,
one cannot help but give thanks...
1273. breakfast with all 6 of us
1274. watching them run and watch His amazing creation
1275. the way Jesus shows His Love through this father here
1276. the way He stripped it all away
1277. our life to live here
1278. the way He forms a new family to surround
1279. those books at the bottom of the shelf
1280. a lost toy found
1281. their faces in sleep
1282. making dinner and giving it away
1283. making cookies and giving them away
1284. filling my arms up with their hugs
1285. directions written out so i can find my way
1286. homemade valentines
1287. a money gift slipped in with the rest
1288. getting up early
1289. resting and recovering instead of going out
1290. that trip to the park with friends
1291. extra help
1292. the way they join hands and pray
1293. that he always points out "mama's chair"
1294. cold glass of milk
1295. pages printed with black ink
1296. a clean toilet
1297. the friend who comes and takes my three because i had been sick all night
1298. that he loves like a father and sits with my three so i can keep sleeping until tony gets home
1299. that tony takes all three to class so i can keep resting
1300. the ladybug box that reminds us of nana
1301. the windows that let in the sun
1302. this table we eat and draw and rest on for the last 10 + years
1303. that phonecall
1304. eye drops for infected eyes
1305. being squished between liv and lyla before we all wake up
1306. that favorite cookbook
1307. that new read
1308. those knitting needles
1309. seeing my quirkiness passed on in my kids
1310. watching them talk to themselves in the mirror
1311. my smile reflected in the joy of his own
1312. that amyrillis bulb breaking open
1313. crumbs on the floor - we have food to eat!
1314. hope in conviction
1315. leaving "home"
1316. waiting on Him to show us where to go
1317. He places thanks in our mouths when it seems there is nothing to give thanks for
