Since they could not have a child of their own, they decided to adopt. It was a lengthy process… interviews, papers to be filled, visits at home, social workers… But finally their day came. They arrived to the Adoption Center full of trepidation. A lady welcomed them and asked them to wait in a room upstairs.
Soon afterwards, they perceived the steps of the young college student who was going to give away the baby. She was coming up the stairs. They could hear the muffled conversation between the young girl and the lady responsible at the Center. Their hearts went out when the sounds of the convulsive sobbing became audible. The weeping continued as the girl went down the steps. Mixed emotions.
After a few minutes, the couple was conducted to the room next door. They were thrilled to see the little crib and a tiny baby boy inside. On a chair beside it, a small bag with some clothes and… two letters. One of them addressed to the new parents in which she thanked them profusely for providing a home for her baby. At the end of the letter, a request. Would they allow her little son to read the other letter when he grows up? She assured them that she did not include any information about her identity. She just wanted to say ‘some things’ to her son that she wrote on the day when, with breaking heart, she parted with him.
I often wondered what this young mother wrote in that letter. What would have I written? Surely I would not have penned down trivialities about weather or politics or economics or the size of the house or the type of car… I would have tried to condense my sentiments, my love, my pain, the essentials…
Time and again I conjecture what Jesus Christ would note down if he were to put in writing one letter to me, what would be the profundities that He would speak about.
I do not have an answer. But I kind of feel that He would want me to know how caring and tender He has been with me. He would like to let me know about the Victory He obtained for me through his death and resurrection. He would want to repeat over and over again His reassuring message, “Do Not Be Afraid”.
The best things in life really aren’t things.
Jim was driving his new sales manager around the town and as they passed by his home, he asked him whether he would like to stop by and meet his wife and children. The reply of the manager was frank. “Let’s get one thing straight right away. I am not interested in your wife or your children. I am not interested in you personally! All I am interested in are results. This is what I care about – your sales record…”
In human love, there is always a demand or an expectation. Since I offered you my love, I feel it is legitimate to expect something in return. In human love, there is always the possibility of withdrawal. God is different. He loves without expecting anything in return, not even that I start doing good. God does not check my sales record!
He is interested in me, my battles in life, my anxieties, my fears. He tries to reach me not to get something but to give something.
I heard the story of a little girl sitting on her grandfather’s lap as he was reading a story to her. From time to time she would reach up and touch his wrinkled face. She would then stoke her own cheek. She did this repeatedly until she finally spoke up: “Grandpa, did God make you?” “Yes dear, He made me, long time ago.”
“Oh, and did God make me also?” “Yes indeed, He made you just a little while ago…”
Feeling again their different faces, the girl could not help exclaiming: “Don’t you think, Grandpa that God is getting better at it?!”
God is getting better trying to reach us! This is what life is all about. From day one of our existence, God tried to get our attention so that we could discover His graciousness, His compassion, His extreme care for us. Too often we ignore his efforts. But He keeps trying to win our hearts…
Perhaps finally He will succeed and then our life will acquire meaning and … happiness.