God really showed me something new last Saturday night and I wanted to carve out this moment to tell you about it. I heard a song that really touched me and gave me some insight into the heart of God.
I attended an amazing party that was raising money for Devin & Cathy Garza’s family to take their four kids on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Austin Stone Community Church. Devin has a flair for doing things in a big way and he put together an event where he and his band – Aaron Ivey & Jimmie Ingram from Spur 58, & Gina Chavez – all played in the Garza backyard. It was an amazing night with incredibly talented musicians whose sets were too short.
Aaron Ivey and his wife Jamie have been trying to adopt 2 children from Haiti for 15 months now. As of yet, they haven’t been able to get them out of the country, though they’ve fallen in love with these children and are desperate to bring them to their new home where they can love on them all the time. Aaron said that this situation has really stretched their understanding of love. For now, they are stuck seeing them only occasionally from afar. But they’re hoping for much more.
Aaron’s song doesn’t have a title yet, but the refrain is, “I will get you here.”
As he cried this out over and over, the realization struck me that this is how God feels about us. I’ve heard it said that adoption is a great picture of God bringing us into his family. When you adopt a child you are typically taking him or her out of a desperate and poor situation and bringing him or her into a warm, loving home. You make them an equal part of your family. This is exactly what God offers us. Although our parents (Adam & Eve) decided to leave God’s protection, He sent Jesus to pay the price so that we could come back into His family. We get to go from a sick, depraved, hopeless situation – to one of endless love and joy. So I had thought about this before.
What was beautiful and heart wrenching was to hear Aaron crying out this song about his very real children who live in Haiti whom he desperately wants to bring to their new home, but hasn’t been able to yet.
I felt like God was showing me that this is the cry of His heart for all of those who have not accepted the love of Christ. That He aches to protect all of us, to guide us, to teach us, and to show us His love. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, chances are you have accepted that love and He calls you His son. For those that don’t know His love, Aaron gave such a clear picture of the anguished love of your Heavenly Father who wants to bring you home.
Since the song doesn’t yet have a name, I didn’t get the impression that the song is on a cd yet, but I want to recommend blogs instead. Aaron’s blog is here: http://aaronivey.com/ and his wife Jamie’s blog is here: http://dreamingbigdreams.wordpress.com/
Spur 58 is an incredible worship band, and both blog about their experiences adopting. I know they would love your prayers that they are able to get their children home soon.
Who else do you think you should introduce to this blog?