Ninety and Nine

When I first started chasing Jesus - I read a lot. I mean... a LOT. The bible, books about the bible, studies, history, etc. Anything I could get my hands on. I was burning through books.

But there was one parable I had serious issues with. The whole lost sheep thing. Man - I struggled with it. You can ask Laura... I just didn't get it. Like - had God never played a team sport before? Get rid of the straggler man! Cut your losses and move forward - pour your energy into the 99 ya got!

I was a buffoon - focused on self. And I just. Didn't. Get. It.

BUT THEN IN CAME ADOPTION.

I mean the whole process. The beginning, the paperwork, the waiting, the tears, the laughter, the money, the ups, the downs, the pain, the loss, the gain, the change, the LOVE, the passion, the JESUS... and it messed my world up.

Now I wake up every morning and see these faces:

And I realize HOW FREAKING MUCH HE LOVES US.

How much He loves the least of His. How much He absolutely loves and longs for that one lost sheep.

And I look back at my life - back at my confusion of that parable - and I get it. Back then - I had NO IDEA about God's love for us. But I really get it now.

Because I WAS that sheep. I get the love He has for me. For my girls. And for every child in this broken world without a family/flock to be part of.


I look at these two and have a constant reminder of just how far God will go for His lost ones.

There is this Andrew Peterson song I used to always skip on my iPod - it's called "Ninety and Nine" and it's about that parable. I skipped it cuz I didn't like what I thought was being said there. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Today on my run - not only did I not skip it - I hit repeat on it 4x and through tears kept on running, stronger with each repeat.

Listen to the song below. In my opinion - it boldly declares how much God loves us - how much we don't even KNOW about God's love and how much we just don't know about what He did for us. And it's the definition of ADOPTION to me...

I stuck the lyrics after it - check them out. I bolded the one's that make my heart stop and skip and go crazy every time.

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold
But one was out on the hills away
Far off from the gates of gold
Away on the mountains, wild and bare
Away from the tender shepherd's care
Away from the tender shepherd's care

"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine
Are they not enough for Thee"
But the shepherd made answer
"This of mine has wandered far from me
And though the road be rough and steep
I go to the desert to find my sheep
I go to the desert to find my sheep"

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost
Out in the desert He heard its cry
Sick and helpless and ready to die
Sick and helpless and ready to die

But all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep
There rose a glad cry at the gates of Heaven
"Rejoice, I have found my sheep!"
And the angels echoed around the throne
"Rejoice for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice for the Lord brings back His own!"

Thankful for hindsight that is 20/20 and praying for vision that stays that way going forward...