The Broken Child

As a child, life should be so simple.  Days full of swinging carefree on a swing-set, putting together legos, playing dolls, building the best racetrack.  But for too many, they are busy trying to understand the cracks in their hearts.  It seems that it might be different for other kids.  Could it be that they had all their meals yesterday? Could it be that no one hit them or abused them? But most unimaginable. . .could it be that they were loved?  Could it be that their days are filled with laughter, affirmation, hugs, kisses and sweet words of appreciation?

But as time passes, she is fairly certain that it is always this way or, well maybe, it will just always be this way for her.  The small crack grows.  As hard as she tries, the hurt, abuse and, worst of all, being unloved just continues. At the early age of four, there is nothing left but shards where the heart once was.  People wonder why she won't behave. They can't understand.  Every time she tries, the shards where the heart once was cut deeply.  She wants desperately to get it back together so that she can love but the pain is excruciating. 

What must our Savior think? How must His heart break? Is He wondering why the Christians won't notice and help her? Why won't they tell her of His great love and it's healing abilities? But then He chooses them. A beautiful Christian couple who love Him.  They hear His voice and understand that He has called them to help. 

The days ahead will be challenging.  The little girl comes into their lives as a diamond in the rough.  She is tattered and torn but yet at times the beauty is stunning.  They love on her often with no return. She is afraid and the shards of her heart are far from healing.  But they persist and tell her of their Savior's love. The progress is so slow they can't even see it except looking months and even years back.  But one day. . . they realize she has been redeemed. A bright light shines from her but it is not even her own beauty, although she is.  It is the light that shines brighter than any other and for eternity.  It is the glow of a heart healed by her Savior.

Little Cups

That is truly all they are. . . little cups.  I am talking about the small collection of communion cups which I have collected.  Such a silly thing.  I don't keep them all. Just the ones where the power of the Lord God is so strong I can hardly stand.  Ever since I laid down my life to Christ and He revealed Himself to me, I have loved communion.  But for about a year and half it has been more.  It all started with a trip to the Holy Land park in Florida.  If you haven't been it is both incredibly powerful and a

bit cheesy.  Odd combination to be sure.  They have this cave-like structure there in which they host communion.  They try to make it real as if Jesus is hosting the communion.  As I went in and took my seat at the table, I thought this is definitely going to the cheesy side.  It is just hard to understand anyone playing the role of Jesus (who could ever).  But I was surprised, the Holy Spirit was so strong in that place that it didn't matter where I was or who was standing there acting on behalf of our Savior.  So the collection began with a little wooden cup cut from an olive tree from a theme park of all things.

The next cup would not be added until our first Sunday at our church which we are at our one year anniversary. That Sunday we were so exhausted from just moving and there was little left of ourselves. We humbly approached this new church and the communion service was like nothing we had ever experienced before.  You were asked to meet with Jesus and then come accept His offering.  His Spirit filled that place and His voice seemed so strong and loud.  It blew me away. As we stood, I quickly tucked the cup in my purse.  How could I not want to desperately hold onto that moment?

There is another way that I have learned to enjoy communion with the Lord.  It is through the study and understanding of His names.  They each open my heart to something new and exciting.  They humble me and leave me in awe.  I am so head over heals in love with my Savior. He is fascinating!!!  Remember when Moses approached the burning bush (I love that story) and He asked God to identify Himself.  He said, "I AM".  Then in Isaiah 42:8, He said "I am the Lord".  Both of these mean Yahweh (YHWH). Yahweh means "was, is, and will be."  In other words, God always was, is now, and always will be.  But to truly understand all this word meant, then maybe it would help us to remember how carefully it was used in early times.  Did you know that when a Jewish scribe came to the name Yahweh that they put down their quill.  They then took a new one to write Yahweh and broke it once they wrote that one word so that no other word would flow from it.  The Jews thought this name so holy that they refrained from speaking it aloud.  They referred to it as "the Name", "the extra-ordinary name", or "the ineffable name".  Priest only dared utter the name Yahweh on Yom Kipper (the day of Atonement) or to bless the people (Numbers 6:23-27).

So all this to say, how often do we think this highly of the precious name Yahweh?  When we sing Hallelujah (Praise Yah), are we in communion with Him? Humble before Him. Praising Him with all our being. Hallelujah!!!!   Praise Him that He allows us to have communion with Him! Do you realize how incredible that is? God was, is, and always will be allows us to have communion with Him!