Love Up Close

Love can't love from a distance. I've already been asked a few times "why are you adopting from Ethiopia specifically?" or "why are you going to Malawi with Newsong?" It's because Love is up close. It's personal. It doesn't admire or gaze at a distance. It gets down and dirty. It requires sacrifice. It takes a leap of faith. It's rarely comfortable.

Easter was yesterday. And it was a glaring, moving reminder to me of the incarnate Love of our God who came to be with us. He could have done everything from Heaven. He could have taken care of it all from a distance. But he didn't. He chose to be close to us, at the greatest cost imaginable.

Today, we did most of our home study paperwork. Ugh. But even as I was filling out the tedious questions about our finances, our marriage, our work, I was reminded that Love is up close and personal.

Tomorrow, we are headed for 2 weeks in Malawi. Not to hang with Madonna. To capture a glance of God's activity in his people there. And to see how Newsong can be a blessing for the next 10-15 years in that community. It's costing us a lot. It's cost our friends and family something. But love requires us to get close.

I love you, Baby Ethiopia. We promise to love you up close.