August 15,
2013
Dear Ones,
I stood on the curb
looking across the street at the building before me, the fading light of the
day and the cloud cover of the storm casting a strange glow over everything. The turrets of a castle, banners blowing in
the wind, a wall, and the gate complete with its dragons on top and the gate
keeper. It could have been the site of
any children’s fairy tale land but the bright red neon characters spilling down
the side and across the top of the building tell a different story for all who
pass by to see “ Luoyang Orphanage.” The Courtyard between our two towers with
its own moat and rocky waterfall catches the light from our brightly lit
windows and casts a glow around the walking path. I
began thinking about the beautiful “castle” we live in and had to smile as I
considered the Ladies in Waiting, the Royal Physician, the Handmaidens, the
Royal Kitchen and its staff of delicacy designers who work to please the
palates of many royal littles everyday (OK- really just make sure they get a well-balanced,
nutritionally sound diet but that didn’t sound very fairy tale like). There are even Knights who guard, defend,
protect, and provide for Little Royals and so many others who keep this big
castle, filled with such a precious treasure, running smoothly. My thoughts then turned to the Royals who
live inside and I smiled thinking of little Princes and Princesses that I knew were
starting to be tucked in to royal cribs by those Ladies in Waiting and Handmaids-
when a thought struck me…They are tiny Kings and Queens. You see Princes and Princesses have mothers
who are queens and fathers who are kings and only through the loss of those kings
and queens do little ones rise to the throne.
Tragedy, loss, heartache, confusion, war, battles, fallen banners, and
banners raised, this is the rise of kingdoms and the changing of rulers. This is where little heads hold big crowns
and are not princes and princesses any longer but Kings and Queens. I
thought of King Josiah in the evil chaos and wickedness of Judah rising to the
throne in Jerusalem at the age of eight and amongst all of the, “He did evil in the sight of God” a
little boy king ruled for some thirty-one years and was laid to rest with the epitaph,
“He did right in the sight of the Lord
and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the
right or to the left.” (II Kings 2:2) What a legacy to strive toward, what
a goal to have as we raise the little Kings and Queens who belong to The King
of Kings!
As I walk back across the street up the
drive and through the gate my eyes search the glowing windows seeing little
ones waving out and handmaids swaying and soothing fussy bundles of babies. I see royal servants passing by windows on
their way to carry royal bottles, and royal diapers, I see a group of little
bodies circling a Lady in Waiting who is acting as story teller, and a knight
scoops up a little queen and dances her about the room. Yes, this is our Castle, these are the
defenders, the care givers, the ones who will strive to see Little Kings and
Queens grow and thrive and I smile to think that the Children’s Welfare Institute
has no idea how poetic a castle as part of an orphanage really is.
By His Grace,
Mariah
As I walk back across the street up the
drive and through the gate my eyes search the glowing windows seeing little
ones waving out and handmaids swaying and soothing fussy bundles of babies. I see royal servants passing by windows on
their way to carry royal bottles, and royal diapers, I see a group of little
bodies circling a Lady in Waiting who is acting as story teller, and a knight
scoops up a little queen and dances her about the room. Yes, this is our Castle, these are the
defenders, the care givers, the ones who will strive to see Little Kings and
Queens grow and thrive and I smile to think that the Children’s Welfare Institute
has no idea how poetic a castle as part of an orphanage really is.
