A Loving Pair of Arms . . .

"After my last summer, my eyes were open to the fact that it is good to send money, pay for surgeries... but one of the most important things you can ever send to an orphanage is a loving pair of arms."  ~ Gael Nichols who went to China last year to provide her loving pair of arms

Does it cost a lot of money to send a person to China to provide that loving pair of arms?  Yes.  Is it worth it?  Absolutely.  A lot of times there are too many children for the nannies in an orphanage to provide more than basic care to a child.  Each of us have been the first hand recipient of a child who received a loving pair of arms from some sort of organization, and it has made a great difference in how our daughter's adapted to their new surroundings with their forever families.  That's why we go.

Some of us were talking about having a "China Sunday."  A China Sunday is one where your heart just bursts with emotion for the orphan - for us it's China, for some it's America, or Uganda, or Haiti - they are all God's children.  The one sure fire way for me to have a China Sunday is to hear the song "He Knows My Name."  It was so reassuring to me that He knew our daughter's name and already had her in the palm of His hands.  That even though I had no idea what she looked like or where in China she was, that the "Lover of My Soul" DID know all the details.  My heart and soul would just heave and expel all that stress and all those questions, and I could just BE STILL and KNOW that He had her right where He wanted her.  God is good.

Now, this song rings true for another reason.  I feel like I gotta go sing it over some new children, whisper it in their ears, rock them, love on them, telling them "He knows YOUR name!"  The Maker of Heaven and earth knows YOUR name!  He has not forgotten YOU!  He is the Lover of YOUR Soul!  I just had to come tell you that IN PERSON.

Go.  Be.  LOVE.

~ Lori