To be seen.

To be known. 

To be loved unconditionally.

Isn’t that really all we want out of life?

This little boy, his name is Ivan and you see him right?! He became my pride and joy for the six weeks I spent in Rwanda. I wish I could have taken him home. I wish I could have given him sooo much more than I had to offer. Yet I offered him all I had. 

I saw him and I looked for him everyday. He lived on our street and attended our school. 

I knew him as best as I could. I wanted to know more about him but communicating across a language barrier proved difficult.

I loved him and he loved me. Often when we would arrive home from town, I could hear him from up near his house yell my name. It was the most special form of consistent greeting I’ve ever experienced. 

He was my last hug in Rwanda and my most cherished. I wept. 

Jesus wept. John 11:35 

Jesus wept when his friend died. And I’m sure he wept (at least internally) during each one of his own hard goodbyes on earth because he also loved people really well. He also knew people and knows us more than we could understand. 

AND He sees us. He sees us in our time of need. He sees us in our time of want. He sees us when we cry. He sees us when we have the best day of our entire lives. He sees us when we’re sitting on a bus or we are in line at the grocery store. 

To be seen, to be known, to be loved. 

I don’t know about you, but lately just to be seen by those around me, or to be known by them is enough to know how deeply loved I am.  

My hope is that I can do this more and more for those I meet or pass on the street. I hope to see them, to greet them and to love them like Jesus does. 

It doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s actually very simple. Slow down, look around and bring love with you wherever you go for however long you can. One act of kindness, one greeting, one held door can change a life. Over the last six weeks it changed mine.