|| beauty from ashes ||
this morning I found myself driving
through the rich green rice fields of the cambodian countryside toward the
airport en route to visit my team in kathmandu, nepal.
during my ride, i felt as though the “first
world”, my seeming reality, was colliding with the “third world” i was seeped
in. i sat reading an email from some of my dearest friends on the latest iphone,
in the air conditioned car {which not too surprisingly was too cold for me},
surfing the free international data i have through my american phone plan blah
blah blah..and realising just how fortunate my life really is. it wasn’t shocking
that my eyes began to sting with tears as I read their email.
during my ride amidst the instagrams
and emails i was scrolling through i would look up and my breath would be taken
away - the vastness of the rich colour that detailed scene before me.. the bright
cornflower blue of the sky above me, dotted with fluffy white clouds, the intensity
of the green rice fields barely hinted at the many secrets cambodia holds. BUT with
each lingering look and every breath that was taken away i was confronted with
the reality of what lay right before me...the amount of needy children, the
multitudes who are separated from the crown of all creation..jesus. no amount
of beauty can mask or dull the reality that so many children live so hopelessly,
unloved and far from jesus. a
tragedy that no earthly beauty can cover up.
but then there is this email, and
with it comes a glimmer of hope..andy and rachel, tysen and pax. they are
writing to share about how jesus has once again opened the door for them to add
another precious korean baby to their beautiful family through adoption. many
many moons ago {and something that I haven’t told many people is that} i made a
commitment in my heart that there would one day come a time when i would adopt
a little girl from cambodia, giving her an opportunity to be a part of a family
who hopes, dreams, loves and cherishes one another, and who will open the door for her to come to know jesus.
with this being my first trip to cambodia
and with that hope deep in my heart, i couldn’t help but stop and admire the
beauty of each little brown face I passed by..sometimes i would need to fight
against the hopelessness that easily seeped in. but then reminders like this
email this morning would arise. i am reminded in those moments that not all
hope is lost. jesus is raising up a brave dreamers from all over the world to
see the much anticipated hope reformation that is about to spring forth.
i have never ceased to be amazed by my
two friends in the almost ten years that they have been a part of my life. their
friendship alone has made me a better person and the way they are so bravely and
faithfully changing the world one adoption at a time blows my mind. my prayer
as I was driving this morning was and still is for many more children to
be adopted in to homes like theirs. that we would continue to hear and see more
children welcomed in to families where they will come to know the one who loves them and has given their
life for them. just like andy and rachel have so selflessly done!!
as these thoughts ran through
my mind this morning I was able to reflect on their other two adoptions {boys from
korea}, the perseverance, the tears, the disappointments and disillusionment which
came with each adoption, paled in comparison to the surpassing joy that comes
as they love, hold and cherish their boys for the rest of their lives. the
moments that i get to have with them shape me as well, watching tysen as he
tries to beat me at uno :) and when i got to meet and squeeze pax for the first
time after praying for years for him to come home to his forever family, there
is nothing like it. it is in those
moments that we see that it is always worth it. the seeds that were planted
eight years ago through prayer, love and perseverance through their first
adoption is still bearing fruit today.
andy and rachel are
forerunners in seeing international laws change for adoption within korea, they
are literally changing the world one adoption at a time. their lives and
bravery continue to release hope that one day many more us will see adoption used
to make beauty from ashes.
if you would like to sow into this dream of andy and rachel’s and catch a glimpse of some of the most
courageous people i know you can check the millers out here...
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