join the rescue mission

Thursdays are my day off. I get to hang out with Tariku, do some housework, read, and try to relax a bit.

I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning listening to Crazy Love by Francis Chan writing some email on my laptop while Tariku was playing in the dish water. After a few minutes TK came over to sit on my lap and wanted to watch me... but that always means pressing buttons - so I successfully redirected his attention to a small fold-able book lamp. So as he sat with me, all of his concentration was on that little movable light and I continued typing. After a few minutes, he laid his head on my arm still sorta playing with the light... and then fell asleep. I let him sleep there for a while. I didn't want to bring him to his bed - too cool of a moment.
... but I did eventually get up and lay him in his crib.

It got me wondering about Ashebir though. Currently Ethiopia is 8hours ahead of us here in the EST zone. So he's hopefully sleeping soundly now too, but I wonder what goes on in his little mind these days. I wonder how aware he is of his situation. The detailed social report we got a couple days ago reveals a lot about how he's developing and interacting with the wonderful care providers, and his young friends. The report says that he's a strong willed and very healthy kid - but I wonder how he'll adjust to our family and life here. I wonder how he'll connect with his new sisters and with TK.

I'm just thinking about my son on the other side of the world - wondering how much he knows he's loved. I would do anything for him. Just like I would do anything for my three kids that are here now. That leads me to this thought... regardless of how much HE knows he's loved, and how much HE knows he needs to be embedded into a loving family... it doesn't change the truth - He is loved, and he needs to be an intimate part of a loving family.

Regardless if he KNOWS he's "desperate" at some level- it doesn't change the fact that he is- and that I would give my own life to overcome any obstacle on his behalf.... (Don't misunderstand me here, Ashebir is in excellent care... but he wasn't created to live in an orphanage. He needs a rescue, and I wonder if he grasps that.)

I'm a sucker for rescue stories... I'm always at the edge of my seat watching a rescue - whether it's a movie or on the news.
I think it's because there's always sacrifice of something big in a rescue mission...

One of my favorite stories of a rescue mission is in Donald Miller's book Blue Like Jazz... I think it's on pg. 33-34... Miller writes:

A long time ago I went to a concert with my friend Rebecca. Rebecca can sing better than anybody I’ve ever heard sing. I heard this folksinger was coming to town, and I thought she might like to see him because she was a singer too. The tickets were twenty bucks, which is a lot to pay if you’re not on a date. Between songs, though, he told a story that helped me resolve some things about God. The story was about his friend who is a Navy SEAL. He told it like it was true, so I guess it was true, although it could have been a lie.
The folksinger said his friend was performing a covert operation, freeing hostages from a building in some dark part of the world. His friend’s team flew in by helicopter, made their way to the compound and stormed into the room where the hostages had been imprisoned for months. The room, the folksinger said, was filthy and dark. The hostages were curled up in a corner, terrified. When the SEALs entered the room they heard the gasps of the hostages. They stood at the door and called to the prisoners, telling them they were Americans. The SEALs asked the hostages to follow them, but the hostages wouldn’t. They sat there on the floor and hid their eyes in fear. They were not of healthy mind and didn’t believe their rescuers were really Americans.
The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. They couldn’t possibly carry everybody out. One of the SEALs, the folksinger’s friend, got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of theirs. He softened the look on his face and put his arms around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were Americans and were there to rescue them. Will you follow us? he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go. The story ends with all the hostages safe on an American aircraft carrier.
-----------------------------------------

We all need to be rescued... regardless if we think we do or not.

I'll leave you with this... When we're rescued, what should our response be?
To leave with a handshake into a "life as ordinary/average?"...or something else?
... c'mon, are YOU compelled by ordinary and average?

Were you rescued? Do you live like it?

For those of us that have been rescued, we must position our life in such a way to do whatever it takes - to help rescue others.