I saw him.... and loved him from afar.

I couldn't help but notice him. His hair made him hard to miss (((**~smile~**))). Even when restricted beneath the restrains of a football helmet, his dreads stuck out and hung long. And to be completely honest about his affect on me, he didn't just catch my eye, he kept it! Even now, ten days later and away from the field (though I'd never seen him before until then and will probably never see him again).... I can see him still. And though I don't know him at all.... I like him a lot!

I've talked a lot about him since. I've thought about him more. And the crazy thing that astounds me most about it is that: he's totally obvious to it all, he isn't even aware, he doesn't even know that I saw him.... he doesn't know how much he impressed me, he doesn't know that I carry him close in the confines of the memory of my mind, he doesn't know how much I liked him and still do.

I grabbed my cell the moment I saw him to text my daughter to tell her, "i want #18 on the other team. he's black. and his hair is longer than mine."

She texted me back, "Awwww!" (She so understands me!)

During the time that I wasn't watching my own son in the game, I watched him, #18 from the other side. I was rooting for him, wanting him to do good, willing him to play hard. I was "for" him in the wildest of ways. I prayed he'd do exceptionally well! I prayed that God would show him favor! And that if he didn't know Him already, that he would come to know God.

Several years ago on a mission trip to Africa I met lots of precious children. Just the mention of the name brings to mind so many that I'd met. I so loved it there! I loved it's simplicity. I loved their faces! I loved their hearts! I loved the rags they wore... and how they seemed oblivious to it. I love that they wore the same thing everyday, whether the zipper still worked or it didn't, whether it was torn in places or not, and even when it no longer had the buttons originally sewed onto it to keep the garment fastened. And I loved watching their day wake up, seeing them light their fires and start sweeping their dirt. Not to mention the stars you could see there at night. You can't see stars like that here.

And yet, there was one that to me was especially precious! To this very day his face is the Icon of my trip. He followed me all day everywhere I went. He grabbed my hand and wouldn't let it go. I was happy that he did, cause I didn't want him to. Some could speak English. He couldn't. So we couldn't understand each other's words verbally, but our hearts understood what our language couldn't. Man, I loved all of them. But he was my favorite! He didn't have a home. And I would have brought him to mine... but they wouldn't let me. :) Malawi won't let you adopt their children. They feel that they are responsible for their orphans. You've got to respect that. But it'd be nice if they'd bend the rules a bit. I think about him a LOT. And pray about him too. I could write eons about it. I knew most of their names, but never knew his. When I'd talk about him I'd call him the brown-shirted boy. Finally, I thought that wouldn't do anymore. So I named him myself. I gave him a Hebrew name. "Yapheh." It means "beautiful." I got it from Ecc 3:11 where we're told that God makes "everything beautiful in its time." I'm trusting God to do that for him and to use him to do great things for His Glory. You know what? I believe He will. I didn't get to take him home with me in bodily form, but God gave me that child. He's in my heart and won't go away... and thus I know I'm called to pray.

I told a friend about him once and in his response he questioned me, "Do you ever wonder why God gives you such a profound love for a place and people, especially if He isn't going to allow you to do something about it?"

Yes, I answered him, sometimes I do. And then I told him that sometimes loving can be hard. But if you didn't love and it didn't hurt then most times we wouldn't remember to pray. I've decided that every pain is like a call button that's prodded into a person in order to prompt them to. For when we seem to have need of Him most - that's when we're usually most fervently bowed humbly to our knees at His feet. Praising Him is one thing. Pleading with Him through earnest tears is a whole different ball game. Both are needed. But the latter is seldom done with true gut fervency (or for a very long period of time) if not for the pain behind it that pushes it out of us.

Back to his question, "Do you ever wonder why God gives you such a profound love for a place and/or people, especially if He isn't going to allow you to do something about it?"

Maybe He does? Maybe your praying about it is the very reason you're given the "profound love" for the place and the people in the first place? And maybe He IS doing "something about it"... just not in the way that you were thinking at first that He would or He should? Take Yapheh for example, maybe there's no one else specifically praying for him but me? Maybe that's one of the real reasons I went? Maybe he'll one day know God and love Him like crazy because I did? Maybe he'll be saved and thus turn and help save another... all because one person went across the waters to see him so vividly that she still sees him after 4 years? I'm totally convinced (because I've seen Him do it in my life) that God burdens other people in the wildest of ways to carry someone in prayer when they need it the most. Like the song Somebody's Praying Me Through ... woe, has He ever done that for me in someone that was praying for me at a time I think I needed it most by someone that I didn't even know.

Do I ever wonder why God gives us such a profound love for someone???... and perhaps, someone that I don't (and won't) ever really know? Yes. I have. I do. I sometimes wonder it lot.

Let me share with you my newest adventure. I've met a new wonder! Her name is Alyssa. I'm sure to write more about her later. But today, I just wanted to introduce her and to say this. I often wonder of all the people we meet, why do some stick to us more than others do? And why the particular ones that do? Why Mr. Dreads... and Yapheh... and Mikayla.... and Alyssa? Why (adults in my life) Tommy... and Rick.... and Bart.... and Michele.... and Jennifer... and Monica.... and Ellen??? Why is it that some people you meet you merely bump into, while another's bump is a touch that won't quit.... even if you never see them again? Why do some invoke a touch still felt years and years after you've met them?

My only sane answer to that in an effort to make sense is: God! For reasons beyond our conscious knowing I do believe that sometimes God specifically and intentionally places people in our paths that we can't just pass by or step over and leave. Some, we actually stop and speak and somehow physically help. Others, aren't so apparent. Others we pick up as we pass... and even without them knowing it they're somehow placed in our hearts. I think those are the ones that God purposely puts there so that we wouldn't just wonder and think about them... but so that when we did, we'd take them to Him and ask Him to bless them, ask Him to help them, ask Him to know Him if at the moment they don't.

Who have you noticed and picked up even though the one you did (on this side of heaven anyway) will never know it? Don't miss your reason! Perhaps you were meant to take them to Jesus.