Survey the Beauty

I had the AMAZING privilege of visiting a Christian orphanage yesterday. I went to the orphanage with a sweet girl named Sam who graduated from Christ's College a few years ago. She spent a lot of her life living at this orphanage and has an INCREDIBLE testimony. I loved getting to hear her story and share some of my own, as well.

I still don't think I've really wrapped my mind around this trip. If you know me (or my family) well, you know that there are few things that stir my heart more than orphans (especially Asian ones). I kept having to silently say to myself, "You're in an orphanage in Asia, Jamie. The Father has finally brought you to exactly where you've longed to be for years."

I was only able to stay for a few hours and actually ended up being there during nap time (as you can tell from the pictures). I only was able to hold and feed a few babies (they have a total of 17 right now), but it was enough. The home also takes care of many older kids, ranging from elementary age all the way to high school. These kids were at school while I was there, so unfortunately I wasn't able to meet them.

As I sat in an old rocking chair with a hungry and sweating child in my arms, I couldn't help but reflect on the goodness of our Father. We are all orphans--helpless and in need of care--and we've been adopted by the greatest Father ever. A Father who will never leave us and will always care for our every need. What an amazing gift!

"My whole life I thought I was an orphan. But then I found out that I have been adopted by God and he will never leave me! This gave me so much happiness!" --from Sam's testimony