The Father Knows...

-Last week in Ethiopia, I saw a man who walked on all fours. His kneecaps were on the back of his legs instead of the front, so his legs bent the opposite way. My heart aches for this man, who is forced to beg on the streets and is probably gawked at continually. The Father knows what this man is going through. He sees him walking down the street each day on all fours, shoes on his hands and feet. And God cares.

-I also saw a boy with a severely disfigured face. It looked as if he had been badly burned or had acid thrown at him. Whether it happened by accident or purposely by someone who then expected the boy sit on the streets and beg, garnering sympathy and money from passersby, I will probably never know. But the Father knows. He sees. And He cares.

-After I took the photo below, one of the boys who knew English fairly well was looking back through the photos on my camera and pointed out the boy in the plaid shirt.

"He is hungry," he said. "He does not have a father or a mother and he is hungry. He wants to come to America." Again, my heart broke in two. I found out that the boy's name is Daniel, and he is probably 10 or 11 years old. Ashton is 10 and Adrian is 11. What if my boys were in this situation? Dear reader, could you stop whatever you're doing right now and say a prayer for Daniel? And to you mommas...when you tuck your children into bed tonight, can you give them an extra tuck for Daniel? When you give your children kisses and hugs, can you give them extra ones for Daniel? Because, you see, he has no one to do these things for him. No one to cook him meals, no one to pay for him to go to school. And he is only one of 163,000,000 orphans in the world. 163 million!!!

I know that the Father knows, sees, and cares, and I am praying that He will comfort and provide for the least of these as only He can.

"For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick..." Ezekiel 34:11-16