I love seeing the Maas family running through the concourse at Southland! Each child in this incredible family reminds me that I too was chosen…that I had a Father who loved me as I was…a Father who refused to leave me as I was. It was His irresistible and incredible love for me that drew me in and made me a part of a family that is diversely beautiful! Southland, may we never forget that we are a family and no two of us are the same and in that uniqueness we find our strength. There really is strength in numbers! So come with your loneliness and discover that you belong. Come with your brokenness and see that healing really is available. Come with your addictions and drink from the waters of grace. Come with your fears and rest in the refuge of God’s mercy. Hope is real. Hope is waiting. Hope is here. And may we never forget that we made a commitment to our Father that on our watch we would adopt 500 forgotten children. 500 children like the Maas children. 500 children who do not deserve to spend their hours living on cold cement floors. 500 children who do not deserve to spend their days waiting for someone to lift them out of their cribs. 500 children who do not deserve to spend their years begging for food and water. 500 children who deserve to be loved the way we’ve been loved. May it continue to be our goal to put a smile on the face of children who have lost all reason to do so.