all the days

Mary is five. John is seven. Every weekend they play together. They don't speak the same language but they communicate ok through gestures and guessing.

A couple of weeks ago I watched John and Mary play hide-and-seek. He'd count to twenty in English while she ran away. Then she'd take her turn and count in Khmer. There was, however, one strange thing about the way they played: these two kept hiding in the same places! Technically, they had failed to grasp on of the fundamental strategies of this game. Hide. They hid really badly! But they loved being found! Each new discovery brought fresh laughter, screaming and some playful shoving. I couldn't help laugh too when Mary and John found each other. They just loved being found.

Last week I met an expat friend from Cambodia in Bangkok. We had a drink and wandered around one of the shopping centres in the city. We talked. I bought stuff. When I became tired from the lights, music and shopping-mall overload, we said goodbye. I went to the bathroom. From inside the cubicle my phone rang. I'll explain that I'm not in the habit of answering my phone from inside the bathroom but since I was in a different country and I didn't want to miss any calls I answered it. It was the friend I'd just left a few minutes earlier. Where are you? Ummm... in the bathroom actually. Can I meet you again? Sure. Won't be a minute. So we met again.

My friend wanted to give me some money. She wanted to contribute something towards the ministry in Poipet. No receipt or tax-deduction necessary... she just wanted to give. I was surprised- caught off guard. But I thanked my friend and we said goodbye.

A few minutes later I bumped into her again on the way to the train station. She had decided she was done with shopping too. So we walked together and carried on our conversation. As we arrived at the ticket booth she asked if she could pray for me. I agreed. There were crowds of people streaming past us but nobody seemed to mind. For me, it was a huge blessing to pray with someone because in this city of 8 million people she's the only one I know.

As we said goodbye for the third time that day I couldn't help but be moved by my friend's expression of love. She chased me down. She risked. Her love pursued me. And I liked it.

There's a verse in Psalm 23 that says, "Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. " Right now I get this feeling that God's love is chasing me down. And I like it.

Your love will pursue me. Your goodness will chase me. And I will love being found.