Saturday, January 3, 2015

Who We Are, Is Who We Are

There are three passions in my life: God, orphans, and art. If even one of these three things were missing from my life, I would not be Amber Williams. Though each came to be apart of me at different moments, at various stages in life, each are essential to who I am. And though these three things are separate, they each tie one another together to make this extremely weird and unique person - after all everyone is unique.

It was always devastating for me to hear the stories of the orphans that I met in India. It's hard to hear any orphan's story. Because it's one always filled with the longing to be loved, but they were abandoned. They want a family, but it's them against the world; they wish for freedom, but they see no way out; they desire hope, but life always lets them down. Oh, but there is love and family and freedom and hope waiting out there for each child to grasp.

I can see it. A child sleeping on the streets. Covered in dirt, skin and clothes. The only clean spot is the streak of tears that run down his face. Everyday he is beaten, told that he's worthless, cussed at, thrown away as if like garbage. He's all alone, pretending to be a beggar in order to make money for the guy who owns him. He wonders to himself, "Is this what life is all about? Surly there's more out there than being a child slave." He is damaged, made handicapped to swindle more money out of tourists and the people passing on the streets. He kneels down and buries his face in the dirt to a false god, begging to be freed. Yet, he is told that this life is a punishment for a former one, that he deserves it. I will not, I cannot, stand by and do nothing when Christ gives me the power and compassion to forever change the lives of these children.

Some people have heard my tragic stories from India and have spoken a desire to rescue those kids, to make them forget of their once hard life, as if we could make it all go away. And no matter how much I hate that children are beaten, abandoned, used, neglected, enslaved, and starving - all over the world - I do not
wish for it to be removed from their memories. As much as I would love for everyone to be raised in a home full of love, it is impractical, and to remove an individual's past is to erase who they are. If I were to forget all about my childhood, how I felt more wrath from my father than love, then that would change everything, because it was my extreme desire for fatherly love that drew me to God. And it is the orphan's extreme desire for freedom and love that draws them to God. Our tragedy shapes who we are, whether we like it or not. We all have a sob story, and that story when told can impact some one so great we could possibly never know. So I encourage you on this day to share your story; share how Christ has completely altered your life, for God will use it to change others lives. What a wonderful cycle.

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