i am leah

When we first arrived at the orphanage in Simba Village—the place we worked at for three days and the place that stole our hearts—we all met the little girl Leah. As the little children were singing songs to us, she fell flat on her face. We were told that she often does this...falls down that is. She has a sad story. I wrote the fallowing as if I were Leah...

My name is Leah, and I fall down. Of course, I do this for attention. I have never known my parents, but I do know they did not want me enough because I was found on the side of the road after they abandoned me. I have never known them, on any level.

I do fall down for another reason. It is more than attention. "What is this reason?" you may ask. Well, obviously, I am physically falling, but the source of this fall is more than physical. It is emotional and spiritual. The world began with a fall, and I feel like I am a constant reminder of this fall. I fall to get attention, but I also fall because I am broken. Hopefully, one day I will allow my brokenness to be mended, but that decision is mine. And so it is for you.

You are broken. You fall. You hurt. You are abandoned. Think hard enough and you will recognize it—your own brokenness. There is hope, however. I know that there is. I believe I will find it one day because of His image in me. I hope you recognize the same image in you. It is there. It is in all of us. In Kenya. In "the states." In everyone.

In that image, in Him, the broken are mended, the fallen are picked up, the hurt are comforted, and the abandoned are found. You are a human, and you fall down. peace