Called by Name

I have called you by name;

You are mine.  Isaiah 43:1b

 

There are some moments that will be forever etched in your mind--even your soul--because they take you from the everyday and give you a glimpse of that which is eternal.  It may be something small, it may even take you by surprise, but you are in it, and you know it is of God.  A video of that moment would not suffice, nothing in two dimensions could capture the fullness of that which has just happened, and a worldly representation would just take away from the ethereal nature of the moment as it is etched in your memory.

 

 

That is exactly what we experienced when we met our little boy.

 

 

On Saturday, Philip and I woke up late, recovering from two days of travel. As we waited for our driver to pick us up and take us to the orphanage, I asked Philip whether or not he was excited. He warned me, "Kristen, don't expect too much. You don't know how he will react." I knew that; we had read enough about children in such situations to know that our first meeting could go a number of different ways, some very disappointing. 

After forty-five minutes up a rocky road--filled with poverty in every direction--we stopped in front of a building surrounded by concrete walls.  We  gathered several suitcases of donations and followed our translator through a pair of doors to find children quietly sitting in two rows of small patio chairs. 

As I entered, some of the younger ones cried out with a smile, "Mama!", their standard name for any of the 'mamas' who enter.  We scanned the faces and were pretty certain that we recognized our little boy from pictures, seated in the very last chair on the furthest row.  We already knew our visit was a surprise, and nothing in his face showed any recognition of who we were.  

I whispered to Philip, "Which one is he? The one on the end?" He shook his head that he thought so. 

Then, we turned to our translator and whispered, "Which one is JP?" wanting to be sure that we were correct.

Our translator turned to face the children, looking at the small boy that we had identified, "JP?"

It took a second, but suddenly his face changed.  His eyes got big.  His grin grew.  He realized that after weeks of watching other children meet their mama and papa, someone had finally come for him. Someone had called his name.

And with that realization, he pushed himself out of the chair and sprinted past the other children.  With ease and relief and joy, he ran through the dirt and jumped into Philip's arms.  He wrapped his arms around Philip's neck; he lay his head on Philip's shoulder.

And, he just rested there, for a long time.  He had found his earthly father. And, in that sweet moment of restoration, I got a glimpse of my heavenly One.