Give me Your eyes

Last fall I went to an event/fundraiser with my parents to raise money for KAA (Kids Across America).  KAA is a branch off of Kanakuk Kamps that allows urban city kids to be taken to a Christian-based summer camp (much like Kanakuk) because of donations and scholarships given to the organization (the main point of the fundraiser we were invited to). It was a really fun "Western-themed" night-- complete with dinner, live music, and personal testimonies of children who had attended KAA and how their lives were forever changed. (It was also at Michael W. Smith's barn (hence the theme), which was pretty neat! Michael was even in attendance.)

After dinner there were about 3-4 artists who performed, one of them being Brandon Heath. (Cool fact: another one of the artists was Moriah Peters who just recently started being played on Christian radio with her song "Well Done". Pretty neat we saw her and heard that song before ever hearing it on the radio. Love things like that!) The first song he sang was "Give Me Your Eyes"--which is one of my favorites. The main chorus of the song goes:

"Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see."

I just love that and found it so fitting for two reasons. 1. Because of the event--raising money to send urban/inner city kids to camp. 2. I had just started student teaching at Gallatin and was in daily contact with students from broken homes and tough life situations.

But what a bold request to ask of God--to have Him give you His eyes, His love, His arms, His heart--for His people, especially the ones its most easy to look past, skip over, ignore, and even cast judgement towards.

I have found this song has been even more prevalent to me since moving. I'll be honest, its been a little of a culture shock from what I had spent the last 20+ years around--just with the large variety of people, cultures, ethnicities, languages, income levels, education backgrounds, etc. (Highly depicted when T and I were getting my name changed at the social security office, my name changed on my driver's license, and his driver's license changed to carry a gun-- very diverse group of people at all those places!) Every time I hear it on the radio now, I think of the people I've come into contact with--our neighbors, the Comcast guy, people working at the Wal-Mart by our house-- do I see them the way God sees them?

The bridge of the song says,

"I've been there a million times

A couple of million eyes

Just moving past me by

I swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all along"

He sees us all the same-- all in need of Him! I've been challenged to see everyone like he sees them. And I'll be honest, I have to catch myself and hold my thoughts captive. Its hard, but its a call of obedience.

I challenge you to seek the eyes, the love, the arms, and the heart of God and to possess His qualities while in contact with all the people you encounter today!

"Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.' " Matthew 25:40 from The Message

Momma and Brandon