“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5
Joy is beautiful. She is eight years old and is the youngest girl at Abba House. With her darker skin, she looks almost Indian because she is from southern Thailand. Her mischievous eyes reveal her playful, fun-loving personality. She is quick to laugh. She is silly. She is quieter and more shy during English class but she comes alive when we play games. She loves to be tickled…and to tickle (she knows how ticklish I am so she always gets me back J)! She is a cuddler. She loves holding hands. She loves piggyback rides. She loves hugs.
It’s hard for me to understand why anyone wouldn’t want this incredible little girl? She has captured my heart and I’m finding it difficult to comprehend how I’m going to say good-bye to her in just one week. I heard her story this past weekend and wanted to share it with you.
Joy has experienced a lot of rejection in her life. At a young age, her mother brought her to a Buddhist monastery and left her there. It’s much more common for Thai boys to grow up in monasteries and girls rarely live in this environment. Because of this, Joy was frequently picked on and bullied by the boys. She longed to run away and escape their abusive treatment.
Eventually Joy did run away from the monastery. But she had nowhere to go so she lived on the streets. I have no idea how long she lived on the streets but it scares me to think about what she experienced out there and what could have happened to her.
Thankfully, Joy was rescued and brought to Abba House a year ago. She was seven years old at the time. Her hair was infested with lice. They tried everything to get the lice out of her hair but finally had to shave her head to completely get rid of it!
Now Joy has been given the love and care that she needs and is thriving at Abba House. But she still experiences hurt and pain and rejection. Many of the girls receive phone calls each week from their mothers, but Joy’s mother has only called her two or three times during the year that she has been here. Sometimes this makes her sad and she cries because she wonders why her mother never calls her.
Francis (he and his wife Nid are house parents to the girls) told me Joy’s story this weekend on the way to the village. It broke my heart. When we got back from the village this weekend, most of the kids were inside but Joy was playing outside. When I got out of the song tao, I saw her and opened my arms wide. She lit up and immediately came running. She jumped into my arms and I spun her around. She held onto me and neither of us wanted to let go. Now that I know her story, I hold on a little tighter and a little longer. I don’t let go so quickly when she comes and sits on my lap and hugs me.
Joy has experienced a lot of injustice in her life and she is so hungry for love and affection. Even though it’s so hard for me to think about how she’s been hurt and abused by so many people, I see the grace and love of God so clearly as I look at her life. He loved Joy so much that He rescued her and brought her to Abba House. Before she was bullied, but now she is accepted and has lots of friends to play with. Before she was living on the streets, but now she has a home and a bed to sleep in each night. Before she was abandoned by her mother and had no one to care for her, but now she has a family. Before she didn’t know Jesus, but now she knows and loves Him deeply.
Joy isn’t her real name but I chose to use this name because I see such incredible joy in the way that she lives her life. There was a time of sadness and rejection in her life, but now this is a time of joy! She is alive and healthy and loved. And even though I’m leaving Abba House and won’t be here to take care of Joy, I know that God is protecting her, caring for her, and loving her in a far better way than I ever could. He knows what she needs. God loves her so much more than I do. Joy is His precious daughter and He knows her by name. She is in His hands.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
For I am the Lord your God.” (Isaiah 43:1-3)
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