Cherished

     This past week, while we served at The Mission, we had quite long days. Shifts with the kids began at 7:30 in the morning, and the last shift ended at 6:30. We would be working 7 or 8 hour long days with the kids, and while it wasn't HARD work- mostly just hanging out and colouring, to be honest- it was exhausting.
     One thing that I struggled with all week was our early start- we gathered for worship at 6:30 every morning. At first, I really wasn't very happy about that. I am definitely NOT what you would call a morning person ;) But that half hour each morning turned out to be some of the best times of each day! I would sit there, on the couch, listening to the ipod playing and just talk to God. And He talked to me about things that I never expected, and hadn't even been on my radar!
     One major thing that God told me during these quiet moments with Him was that He cherishes me. He's talked to me a lot about His love for me during lecture phase of DTS, but this is different. A few years ago, being cherished was a big thing for me. I really wanted to be cherished. Its different from just being loved, you know? (Goodness, I have clearly spent too much time with Keisha. She always ends her sentences with "you know?"). So I honestly haven't thought about the being cherished thing for awhile, and when God said it all of a sudden, it was so cool! I'm cherished by the King of the universe. How awesome is that?! And then God told me how he also cherishes each one of those girls that we were talking care of that week (the boys, too, but I didn't really have any contact with them). So that day, I looked at each girl differently. I searched for the thing that God really cherished in each of them. For the talking ones, it was easy. But for the non-verbal ones, although I loved them, I had to really ask God what He cherished about them. Sela, who basically can't do anything, He cherishes because she is simply so sweet and patient. I can't explain exactly how I know that, but I do. He loves Jena for her joy-inducing laughter. I could go on, but really, the point is how precious each and every one of us is to God. Even those who society rejects, who society has no use for.
     The fact that God really loves those with special needs isn't new to me, of course. You all know how much I love Andrew and Bob (btws I totally miss them!)- special needs people have always brought me a lot of joy! It has always been easy for me to see His love for them. But last week, it had been challenging for me to see what He loved about certain girls, like Sela, because they are so disabled. So it was awesome to have the opportunity to see them through His eyes.
     As Aaron or Jack said, it really was a privilege to serve these girls and boys. It was a privilege to dress them, to change their diapers, to feed them, and to just hang out with them.
     Oh, and I'm not going to hog God's cherishing for myself and the kids at The Mission.... He cherishes you, too! ;)
     And look at that! 2 posts in 2 days. Pretty impressive ;)
     Blessings,
          Katie