revisiting Narnia

I’ve been thinking a lot about the love of God, and maybe that’s apparent from what I’ve been writing about lately. I decided that there are few better illustrations of the love of God than dear old Narnia. So for the past couple nights I have been up late reading the lovely books that helped shape my childhood, taking me back to where it’s always winter but never Christmas, with beautiful Aslan and the brave children and sweet fauns and the evil white witch.

And in an instant – I’m a little kid again, captivated by a world where animals can speak. God is a lion, who loves deeply and shines golden and compels men to bow before him. And somewhere, sometime, there is a version of our world that is exactly as it’s meant to be.

In the mind of a child – bright-eyed, trusting, and quick to see the beauty and wonder in this world – life is something to be lived and Good is something to fight for and there’s always hope and God is big enough to protect and hold you in the Palm of His hand. A child knows that he is precious in His sight. A child doesn’t doubt and fret in his mind, he is little and is dependent upon Someone bigger.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2

When we get caught in the stress and worry of adult life, we need to hold onto the fact that we are children in God’s sight. And to be like a child is to live on what the Father provides, to surrender everything to Him, to be innocent about what is evil, to walk day by day in His will.

I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3-4And in perfect union, this month, Compassion Int’l is encouraging sponsors to blog about what it’s like to sponsor a child with them. I wanted to get involved in the blogging fun and I haven’t been exactly on schedule. But the time is always right to boast in the goodness of the Lord!

When I think back to the moments when I have felt the immediate, real, heart-stilling presence of God, more than a few of these moments have to do with my sweet, sweet boy Manish who lives in East India.

Manish is 8,000 miles away from me. He is 9 years old. He lives a life that is starkly different from my own. I have never met him or heard his voice or been in his village. But I love him.

Through writing letters and praying for one another and exchanging encouraging scriptures, Manish and I have been able to develop a relationship that is centered on the breath of life – our love for our Father.

And that I can be brought to tears over the love of a stranger in India – one who is sweet and sensitive and thoughtful and who calls me his “Aunty in Christ” – for a love like that to be real and alive, how much more then can we imagine the love of Christ? How much more does our Creator adore us, who shaped us and everything in our world, who knows all of us – our fears and desires and our hearts, and who came to Earth to walk as one of us and to die for us to really live?

God has taught me through this experience that I never need to think about money when it comes to what God can do through me. The Lord always provides and I don’t even give it a thought whether He will make the monthly payment, because He always does. Not because of the balance in my bank account but because God is good.

The blessing of knowing Manish has only been possible through the grace of God and through Compassion International. I have truly seen and my family and friends have seen that as an organization, Compassion cares about each individual child. They are able to locally support them and guide these precious children out of poverty, which is a priceless gift. But above all, they are changing the lives of children by allowing someone like me to be a voice from a nation far away from their home that tells them, God adores you, He wants you. If I love you, think how much God does! You are precious!

This week, remember how Big and Good and Mighty our God is. Get small and remember Who He is, and every other little silly thing will fall into place. Like they say in Narnia:

Who said anything about safe?
‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Go to this link and please pray about sponsoring a child with Compassion:

Sponsor a Child with Compassion

You can’t imagine how much you can impact the life of a child by putting the love of God into action.