Kings & Queens

I love music to a fault. But there  are those songs that hit you right between the eyes, you know? Gotta love it. Depending on your circumstances, some songs cause you to weep, others to rage, some give you that silly, stupid smile. Once, a friend of mine drank an entire bottle of wine, crying her way through Someone Like You by Adele after a friendship took a wicked nose dive into destruction. It's times like those when the lyrics are so spot on, your heart squeezes and tears prick your eyes because it's your life story they are crooning through the speakers. 

For me, that song is Kings and Queens by Audio Adrenaline. It comes on the radio and life goes on pause as I listen, and let's be honest, boohoo while our story is being sung. 

"Little hands, shoeless feet, lonely eyes looking back at me
Will we leave behind the innocent too brief
On their own, on the run when their lives have only begun
These could be our daughters and our sons
And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating
I know my God won’t let them be defeated
Every child has a dream to belong and be loved"

And there's the rub: that last line! It gets me every time, gripping my heart like a vice. I think of Tong, and I wonder if, when or how often he has wished for someone to make him their little boy. Bryan and I were having the discussion last night about how fortunate he has been thus far in life. He's been in a foster home of sorts, kissed and hugged by his caretakers, taught about Jesus, prayed over his entire life. People all over the world who have volunteered at SHH and have met our son, tell us how affectionate and playful he is, and I am so thankful. Thankful, he's been shown love and can show love. I'm thankful for people who have chosen to love him, knowing, hoping even, to one day let him go as they pray for those two people who will sweep in and fulfill this child's inherent right, a Mama and Baba.

"Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in Your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout your name in victory
When we love when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these"

Christ exhorts his disciples, "let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these". (Matthew 19:14, NIV) I am so thankful that SHH paved the way so our son would know who the person of Christ is. I am so thankful that God knew we were to be his parents before the foundation of the earth. He is certainly an amazing God, looking out for our little boy. I am already praying for the day to come that Tong will know not only who Jesus is, but will recognize Him as Lord and Savior.

Break our hearts once again

Help us to remember when

We were only children hoping for a friend

Won’t you look around these are the lives that the world has forgotten

Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open

If not us who will be like Jesus

To the least of these

If not us tell me who will be like Jesus

Like Jesus to the least of these

What breaks my heart, though, are the ones we won't be bringing home. The ones who, like Tong before them, are still waiting. Like the little bird who asked, "are you my mother?", these sweet little babes are looking for their mother. Are you their mother? Are you their father? It's a question we had to ask, and it's a question worth asking yourself.

*lyrics from the song, "Kings and Queens", by Audio Adrenaline