Lucia, Tall and Strong

    Oh the long, long road.  Sometimes I can start to think things are hard, like I can't catch a break.  And then it doesn't take me long to shake that thought loose.  I've got some kiddo's who know the slow and steady trek all too well.  I think Lucia and Cephas have touched so many lives because they have illustrated a  crazy kind of joy under trial.  They truly are filled with a light that could only come from a supernatural Preserver and Protector.

   So this photo you see?  This is the straightest Lucia has EVER sat.  She looks HUGE to me and it seems in appearance she has matured as well.  I think it's the way she holds her head so high, and the hair that has grown (no more shaved heads!) and now even gathers just a bit at her shoulder. 

    She sit up higher in this new borrowed chair (until her own arrives) that is allowing her to see up and over our counter tops so her new favorite thing to do is watch us cook.  She is seeing the world from a new vantage point. 

    Today we went for a walk around the block and then she "helped" me pull weeds.  I noticed a new ease over her.  She asked me loads of questions.  How did you meet Dad?  When did you move to this house?  How did God show you Grace?  And as I shared the story of my life, I could tell she was expanding her processing too.  "So mom, God had to show you how to be a parent to Grace. And you had to not be scared to come back for me and Cephas."  Yes, I told her.  "God had to show me that He would take care of me every time, if I would listen to Him. Sometimes that is hard for us to do." 

   Then she said, "I don't feel scared anymore.  I have a home.  I have a family.  And God has helped me.  It took a long time."  About then a robin landed on the ground nearby and I pointed it out to her.  That bird sat for an exceptionally long time and I was reminded of Matthew 6:26 and shared it with her.  "Lucia, God says that if he can take care of all of the birds, how much more will he care for us?"  She gazed for a long time at the bird.  I swear that bird knew not to move, that she was enjoying him.  "God is good.  All the time.  Never leaves us.  He touches our hearts," she said quietly.

    I was behind her pushing her along and tears welled in my eyes.  People will never know her suffering.  Never know the kind of time and torment she has endured.  She will always express life to those who see her and yet the kind of lessons she has learned - none academic - have prepared her for so much more in this world than those who were raised "having it all."  Thoughts came flooding of those who feel sorry for her or look on her thinking she doesn't know anything....and my oh my,  she knows so much more than we can imagine.

    She is gifted in relationship.  She sees hearts.  She wants to understand them.  Doesn't get impressed by a thing, only moved by the love she sees.  So quiet she often is,  and sometimes silly, she has a precious personality.  She was a gift to me.  God chose her to quiet my own heart.  No mountain I wouldn't climb for her.  How God can take those things we are certain we couldn't do, and then mold us to be so in love with them, that we think how did we ever live without them, blows my mind! 

    
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18