Rescuing Love

Not all tears are grief-filled.  Some tears are shed when my eyes encounter true beauty, when God moves, when my Father whispers glorious truths to my heart.

Tonight was one of those times.  A tears-shed-from-beauty time.

It was a simple scene, really.  A child dancing.  But oh, to know the context, is to see something breathtaking.

50 of us filled the room -- family worship night -- and the words to the song came up on the screen and  voices filled the room:

"You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God -- You do not faint, You won't grow weary.
You're the defender of the weak, You rescue those in need, You lift us up on wings like eagles..."

And out of the corner of my eye, I saw children swirling and dancing and laughing as the music continued.  But one child in particular stood out -- a small boy with cocoa-colored skin and piercing brown eyes and a big toothy grin that lit up the room.

His parents stood close by.  They watched their son.  And I wonder if their minds flashed back to that day, years ago, when they first received the call.

Five years ago, dear friends, Peter and Erin, traveled overseas to Uganda, because they got a call that orphaned twins -- two precious baby boys -- needed a family.  And their hearts melted at the thought of calling them their own, and so they got on a plane to rescue their boys and traveled halfway around the world and fought legal battles for weeks and months on end so that one day, they could bring those boys home and speak over them words of affirmation and claim -- we are your mama and papa and we want you. 


And these same boys grew up in a home where love reigned and Jesus was celebrated and the days of being an orphan forgotten, because the word orphan described them no longer.  They became rescued sons. 

And TONIGHT they sing, and dance, and the words in the background speak of the God who saved them:  "You're the defender of the weak, you rescue those in need."  Their dancing affirms the very words they sing.  

And they likely have no idea.  No idea of the "would-be" life that awaited them apart from the glorious intervention of a saving God, and merciful parents, to defend the weak, to rescue those in need.  They are care-free, happy, rejoicing, loved, and largely unaware of the powerful rescue that took place those many years ago.  They sing of something larger than themselves, larger than they could ever comprehend. 

And I cry tears because I see the beautiful Gospel reminder that I too have been rescued.  Adopted.  Called out of a life of sin, slavery, and fatherlessness, and welcomed into the home of God, who gives me reason for singing and dancing.  He adopts me that I may enjoy the blessings of a Divine Family.

Sing.

Dance.

Rejoice.

Worship.

Know the beauty and freedom of RESCUE.