99 AND 1

Luke 15:3-5 "So He told them this parable, saying, 'What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until He finds it?  When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.'" NASB

We had hoped that our adoption court date would be Monday or Tuesday because our flight was scheduled to leave Tuesday night.  On Monday, we found out that our court date would be Wednesday morning simply because...it's Africa.  So to be safe, we scheduled our flight to get us back home to our other three children by Friday...two days longer than we had planned...two days longer than what already felt like an unbearable amount of time for both of us to be away from our children.  But by staying, we knew that we'd have a good chance of getting the court approval part of our adoption process over with and be one step closer to adopting a little girl and removing the title of orphan over her life.

Feeling the pain of having to be away from my other three children for just two more days makes me realize that I had it all wrong in the way I understood the passage where Jesus says that the good shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go find the one lost sheep.  I had always interpreted the passage in a way that made it seem like the Good Shepherd loved the 1 more than he loved the other 99 and he was so burdened about the one that was missing that he had no remorse about leaving the other ninety-nine.  But now I realize that, while He was out looking for the one, he was deeply missing being with each and all of the other sheep that he had left safe at home.  He loves all of them the same and feels the emptiness and the heavy ache of being away from any of His.  He is like any parent who wants all of their children safe in one place at one time.  Anything other than that will cause Him to go to the ends of the earth until all are safely home.

Thank You Father, that whether I am the one or the ninety-nine, you have gone and will go to whatever measures necessary to find me and bring me home because You are a good Father who is aware of each and everyone of His children