As a proud aunt should, I have alerted almost everyone I know about the coming arrival of little Levi (cute name, don't you think?!) And already I love him. Though ultrasound pictures are quite incredible these days, I still don't really know what he will look like...but I know without a shadow of a doubt that he will melt my heart.
And I am not sure what he will like to do, or what his personality will be like, but I do know that God created his inmost being...He knit Levi together in his mother's womb. I also know that God declares that Levi is fearfully and wonderfully made!
Wonderfully made. The apple of God's eye. Made in God's image (wow!) And he will be told these truths by his parents (and Aunt!) and will grow up knowing that God loves how he is made.
Not everyone is as blessed as little Levi will be to know these things. The kids I hang out with often have never heard anything like this. In fact, they often hear the opposite...or nothing at all. I will never forget one night at SOZO Kids a few months ago when a dad came to pick up his son, "Treandre" and yelled at him for several minutes in front of me. "You are so stupid...you don't do anything right...why would anyone want you here..." Treandre, not surprisingly, has been really hardened by years of hearing things like this.
This month, we have taken every week to teach about what is in God's heart about each of the kids. We spent a lot of time in Psalm 139:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
God has so much in His heart for each of these kids. He knows that they make mistakes, that they do things that hurt others, but he sees their hearts.
Last week, we gave each of the girls tiaras and declared the scripture from Song of Solomon 4:7 over them as they were crowned. All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you. What girl (no matter if they are 8 or 58) doesn't need to hear this? When God looks at our hearts, He says we are beautiful and says there is nothing wrong with us...and He calls us my darling.
The boys were knighted with swords and were told, like Gideon in Judges 6, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Gideon thought he was the weakest, but God saw to his heart and declared with confidence that he was a mighty warrior.
Can you imagine how you would carry yourself if you believed yourself to be a mighty warrior for God instead of stupid and unwanted? After hearing more about how God sees him a couple of weeks ago, Treandre was grinning from ear to ear (I have never seen him like this) and eager to talk about what God thought of him (again, he has rarely interacted with us and it's usually not very positive when he does). Truth brought life to this mighty warrior.
Tacoma is filled with girls who are beautiful and flawless and boys who are mighty warriors...they just have never heard it. I am convinced that if more knew that God believed these things about them, there would be less prostitution, gangs, drugs and drop outs. I am thankful that there are more who know the truth after this month.
God's works are wonderful, I know that full well.
