Illogical Love

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;

    he adorns the humble with salvation.

Psalm 149:4

The thing that always mystified me about God is the fact that He delights in us. For some reason, that has been the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around. He didn’t just save us. He doesn’t just put up with us, or tolerate us despite our rebellion, flaws, disobedience, heck, our straight up annoying behaviors of worrying and doubt. No, He somehow genuinely loves us. Delights in us! Delight, like when you actually enjoy something, desire something, want something! Yes, I’m over-explaining a simple concept that you got the first time I said it, but are you understanding the full weight of this truth? Because it’s kind of insane!

I know that almost everything God does makes no sense by our worldly logic; but this one is my favorite. And today, I got to be a part of living into His kind of illogical love. Today, I, along with some of His other children, got to love on some kids in a way they weren’t expecting.

We showed up at the rec. center and started off our Tuesday afternoon like we always do, sitting next to students in a loud, slightly chaotic room, helping them with homework, reading books to/with them, and just listening to their stories. Then, when everyone was done their homework we each took a few of the students aside and read a few stories with them. Each unaware that those books were about to be given to them as gifts. We read them the book, asked them if they liked it, and then turned to the cover page where their name and a note was written. Most of them just stared at us in confusion as we handed them their brand new book. Smiles slowly began to form as they realized what had just happened. We let the excitement sink in and settle in, and then told them that we also had a present for each of them.

One girl just started laughing for joy, uncontrollably, for about two minutes, clutching her still-wrapped present. Others jumped up. Some screamed. One girl, who was in another room, and is usually pretty quiet, came running into the room I was in screaming and waving the new Rapunzel doll she just got. One of the girls in my group screamed, “You know me so well!!” as she unwrapped her’s.

The kid in me came out while I was shopping for these toys (toys have gotten pretty legit! since I was a 10 year old), but it was nothing compared to the pure joy that came from watching these kids with their toys. They would come up to me showing me what they got, and then go off telling me all about its awesomeness. Throughout my whole time there, there was this deep, inner, delight in me, as I saw these kids who have burrowed their way into my heart, smiling and laughing.  It was a delight to love these kids, even if there was nothing tangible they could give back to me.

They teach and show me so much. And God uses them to grow me in so many ways. So my relationship with them isn’t the same as mine is with God. God needs me a lot less than I need them (He doesn’t need me at all); but today His way of loving didn’t seem so illogical. Loving the way He loves, seemed like the best way there is to love. Delighting in someone else’s joy seemed as natural as any other daily task.

Linda, who oversees the children at the Rec. center, was blown away by today, too. She kept commenting on how nice this was, but also kept asking why we were doing this. To her, our actions were as confusing as God’s love is to me. It made no sense. But that’s the beauty of an unexpected surprise. And that’s part of the joy of living in and out of His great love. You get to experience a kind of love that doesn’t make sense, and find yourself consumed with joy by it. 

It shocks me, because it’s not what I would expect from a God. It overwhelms me, because I can’t believe that I mean this much to someone like Him. It’s a happy surprise, and I guess that’s why I love this aspect of Him so much.

When People Matter

 Maybe I’ve watched too many chick-flicks, but the idea of being seen, sought out, from a crowd, has always had this beautiful appeal to me. To stand out to someone, to matter. It could just be me, but something tells me that this desire to be seen and to matter has been felt by countless others.

I try not to let all the Rom. Coms get to my head to much, but I sometimes can’t help but hope that some movie-esk moment would happen in my life.

I suppose that’s why I’m drawn to the stories in the Bible; they just seem to be filled with them. Stories where a young Jewish girl captivates the heart of a Persian king. Or the youngest shepherd boy of 12 is chosen as king. Remember the time when the King of Kings notices the touch of sick woman amidst a crowd? Or the time the Son of God came to earth to save the life of His beloved. It’s good stuff, and it gets me every time. It’s story after story of the kind of moments we all seem to hope for.

This past Saturday we had our Christmas party for the students that come to the recreation center every Tuesday for help with their homework.  We invited every student and their whole family, including distant relatives and close friends.  We had everything ready.  Food.  Gifts.  Games.  Music.  Decorations.  It was going to be a great party.  The only problem was that none of the children that we tutor or their families came to the party.  Not one.

But one family did come.  We didn’t know them and they didn’t know us.  They happened to see one of the invitations to the party lying around at the recreation center and they just showed up.  Mom and Dad and their five year old son.  And suddenly this family became the star attraction.  We tried not to be too abrupt in the special attention we showed them; but they seemed to be enjoying it.  We had plenty of food and very pleasant conversation around the table, while their son played with the other children and some of the adults from Northeast Bible Fellowship.

For that time, those three mattered a whole lot.  All our efforts to host a party were focused on them.  Pastor Alonso shared a short but very warm presentation of the Gospel and included an invitation to trust Jesus.  For those two hours that one family mattered a lot.

Pastor Bryant waited outside in the cool evening for nearly half an hour looking for them, hoping they would attend our Tuesday Community Bible study.  They didn’t.  But our hope is that the love focused on them for two hours Saturday night will be a small sample to them of the far greater love that Jesus has for them.  For they matter greatly to Him.

One of the other guests that also attended our party was a man from an organization called Graffiti, in New York City. He came to see what we were about. His ministry is based in a pretty rough neighborhood up there, and while I was talking to him about it, he said a really cool thing. He gets a lot of comments from others about how challenging his work must be.  But his response is, “where some see challenging, I see hopeful. The city is filled with so much hope.” And it’s true. Walk down any street in Philly and you will find hope seeping out of its crevices, waiting to be grown, wishing to bloom.

I love movie worthy moments, and to be honest, it can get discouraging working in the city. But every time I stop, every time I look around me and see the lives unfolding around me, I’m blown away by the story. Because all around me are great people being used by God to pour into the lives of those around me, as they take the time to build relationships and see people in the crowd. From the kids who do their homework because they have someone who cares enough to ask them to pull it out and then sits down next to him to help him, to the family who saw one our invitation and came to our party, even though they didn’t know us. In small but beautiful ways, God has been letting us be his eyes and heart for moments in the lives of those in Frankford. He’s been using us to see others, and show them they stand out by the way we love on them.