Written on the palms of your hands...

There are some parts of my job that aren't always the most fun like...waking up 12 girls super early six days a week, disciplining them, yelling about lights out...and there are some parts that are really fun like singing and praying with them, tickling them just to hear their giggles, painting toe nails and coloring...and then there's the one day we did henna...

We had just come back from the park where the girls had been somewhat of a nightmare to get to leave and I had retreated upstairs feeling a bit defeated and overwhelmed when I hear coming from the bottom of the stairs, (a rather pitiful and remorseful might I add) "Sister? Sister? You come downstairs sister...please sister..." I walked to the top of the stairs to see Nora standing there holding a metal tin and uncertain about what was inside, I walked downstairs out of curiosity...

Well, they got me.

I was hooked when I looked and saw that there was homemade henna inside.

My nannies quickly urged me to sit down and soon we were all laughing and having a wonderful time as the nannies and nurse painted on my hands, all the girls', and their own...

 Honor

Alesa

Victoria

Hannah

Rachel

and my own hand...

It was a blast and so precious as all of my girls were proud of their new body art that they would get to show off to their friends at school the next day. Even the little girls got involved as I tried to ward them away from touching my clothes...

Thinking later about that evening, I couldn't help but think of the passage in Isaiah 49:13-16a that says:

Shout for joy, O heavens;

rejoice, O earth;

burst into song, O mountains!

For the Lord comforts His people,

and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me,

the Lord has forgotten me."

Can a mother forget the baby in her arms

and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

Though she may forget,

I will not forget you!

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands...

Whenever I really need to remember something, I write it on my hand. I just can't seem to forget something that is written on my palms. Whether its when I put my contacts in in the morning or when I wash my hands, it's always before me reminding me of that one urgent thing that must be done during the day. In the same way, the henna served as a reminder of that fun night even 2 weeks later as it was left on my hands. I like to think that's why God has engraved us on His hands. With our names on His hands, He can never forget us. Every time He even glances at His palms He sees our names, reminding Him of how desperately we need Him because at that moment, we are that urgent thing that He must take care of. And most of the time it involves the use of His mighty hands to scoop us up and hold us close to His heart.

How quickly I sometimes forget that the Father never forgets me. Its easy to be with orphans and wonder how they haven't been forgotten by their Father. But they haven't been. He knows them by name and He lovingly watches over their every move as they walk through this life. I think each of my girls' names are written on their Father's hands. As we pray together or sing Telugu worship songs, I see them shouting for joy because their Lord comforts them and has compassion on them, some of the most afflicted ones in all the world. And though their mothers may have forgotten them, He hasn't forgotten them.

Like henna, our God has written our names on His hands, but unlike henna, our names will never come off no matter how many times He washes His hands or uses them to scoop us up or clean up the mess that we've made. So may today be a day that you use your hands to glorify your Father. May it be a day that you make sure that your name is engraved on your Father's palms because Jesus is Lord of your life. May it be a day that you shout for joy with the heavens, rejoice with the earth, and burst into song with the mountains because you know the comfort and compassion of our Lord. And today, when you look at your hands, may you never forget that you are not forgotten and may you grasp the hand of God to walk you through whatever this day brings you...