I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18**
I think of them — those little ones under my roof and their friends on the other side of the ocean — but You, also, think of me.
They came to us with parched lips and cracked skin and hearts clamoring for the delight of another in them. They were famished, inside and out. Hungry for a Father’s touch.
And I came to You, fully robed and well-fed, with parents at every game and recital, yet You still saw the orphan parts of my heart that needed Your promise. You knew the wholeness I craved was one that only Your Spirit could fulfill.
You made me to crave. You.
You made a deposit. In me. Of Yourself. You not only made me to know You as Father but You pulled me right into Your family-fold. You came to me with the wholeness that only a family — a holy family — can provide. And in Your trinity, I can shed orphan skin.
There is a place for me in You. You came, not to give a congenial handshake that allows me ticket into Your holy inheritance, but You enfolded me into You. It’s here that I have a forever-home.
I adore You Father who embraces all of me with all of You.
Your coming means my losing me inside of You and, thus, finding who I really am under the banner of Your authority and love.
You loved me whole, God. I adore You for fathering my weak-heart. Your coming to me is indiscriminate, yet You know me all the while. You are the perfect Father, not ignoring my weaknesses but enfolding them and changing them with the touch of Your life on mine.
I praise You, Daddy, for making a daughter out of me.
Because to truly be a daughter is to be whole under the name of another.
And that is what I am, under and in You.
**So what do I do with these posts, you ask, other than just read them? First, if you haven’t yet, read: Why I Adore and Morning Chai, Explained to give you a context for this little space on my blog.
If you are so compelled, I invite you to participate. Set up a space and time in your own life to begin adoring. Over laundry or dinner dishes, on your commute to work, or in the wee morning hours — five or ten minutes is a great start. You can use the verses I list here every day or two as a launch pad for your own adoration. (Showing Up gives you some practicals.)
Then practice praise.
I promise your weary soul won’t regret it.
Thanks to Mandie Joy, who took the chicken-scratch from my moleskine journal and made it pretty, we have an adoration guide for the month of July. It’s never too late to start looking up — I invite you to join in as we adore Him, the God of hope.
And, if you are following us on instagram, Mandie Joy has adoration instagrams for each day we’re adoring. [The girl is amazing!]
You can easily subscribe to these devotional meditations as they are delivered, by using this feed: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/chai or by entering your email address in the second box on the right-hand side… (scroll up a bit)
Additionally, all of the Morning Chai Posts can be seen, in the order of posting, by clicking here or adding this address to your reader: http://EveryBitterThingisSweet.com/posts/chai
First, third and fourth photos compliments of Mandie Joy.
