A big gift

My little daughter's life didn't begin the day she was handed to me by an orphanage worker in a government office in China. Did God care when her parents put her in a cardboard box and walked away? Was he watching? Was this part of his plan for her life, or did he take a bad situation and redeem it for good?

I know that God did care and God did see. Isaiah 40:11 is a beautiful picture of God's concern. "He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart." I know that God had a purpose for her. Acts 17:26, 27 says, "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." My daughter's birth was planned, and it was no accident she was born in China. All the days ordained for her were written in God's book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16.

Well, that issue is settled. But did any human being on this earth care about her? Did anyone hold her close so she could hear a human heartbeat next to her own? Did warm hands comfort her when she cried? Did someone smile when she smiled? I mourn for the first year of life that my daughter and I did not share.

My son Dominic took advantage of an opportunity to visit Liana's orphanage last week. He met with the people who tended to her six years ago. What a gift to me and to his sister to learn about her first months and to see where she lived. Dominic told me after all these years and all the babies, people remember her and they care. Dominic said these women showed genuine interest in her now and commented on her personality when they knew her. This is a Big Gift to know these things. I am grateful to my son and to our Lord for allowing this trip to happen.

How you resolved the issue about whether God knows or sees or cares about your life? I hope so. Knowing God cares especially helps us through hard times of difficult relationships. What others think doesn't define us. We are secure when we realize God knows us intimately and is involved in all circumstances of our lives. But we all desire to be loved by other people too. Maybe that's why Jesus told us over and over again to love each other. "My command is this: love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12. I was so relieved to know that my Liana was loved.

Dominic has a blog too, writing about his travels through southeast Asia, including his visit to the orphanage. If anyone wants to read it, let me know.