But today, I feel a bit of the sting...
In August my aunt died, and just a 11 days ago my grandma passed away as well. Maybe I'm a bit more sensitive right now to the sting of death because of them. We started our adoption journey in August, just before my Aunts passing, and I've learned of dozens of orphan's deaths since then. Today I learned of the first orphan that I'm aware of that has passed on in 2014. My heart is heavy because her parents had already met her and were nearly to that point of bringing her home. Nearly there, but now it's all finished. Any suffering that she endured has now vanished. She is Home with her Maker. She is Alive and Well with Jesus. Every tear has been wiped away, and Love has won.
In our journey to our 5, there are others who didn't make it. I'm sure at this moment that they are wishing they would have moved faster, gotten the paperwork filled out more quickly, fund-raised more effectively, and worked harder....harder....just a little harder. While we work to save our 5, there are precious angels whom we have “lost” in our journey to save others. They renew our sense of urgency for our mission. As Matthew 25 says, 34 Then the King will say to those at His right hand, Come, ...inherit (receive as your own) the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me,36 I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me.37 Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink?...40 And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least in the estimation of men of these My brethren, you did it for Me.
Oh, how my heart aches for the little ones who are so helpless, so least in our world. Oh, how I wish the paperwork were finished already, how I wish the approvals were done, the money were here, the day to bring home our kids were already here. As is written in 1 Corinthians 15:55, ""Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" While the sting is felt today, joy comes in the morning. While the sting is felt today, Victory has already been claimed.