Jesus, the Hero of Little Girls

I want to tell you a story. It's a good story, a happy story because, like most happy stories, there is a little girl and a Hero. Only, this story is more about our Hero, and less and less about the little girl.

Once upon a time, there was a Hero. He did not come from a land far away, or a certain place in time, as most little "h" heroes do. In fact, He created lands far away; He created time. And He created all little girls, even the little girl in our story. When He brought her into the world, He did not give her to a mommy and daddy who lived together and ate dinner together, a mommy and daddy who wanted to have a little girl of their own. The Hero gave the little girl to a mommy and daddy who didn't want a little girl -- or a little boy, for that matter. They weren't bad people. The Hero even loved them -- enough to give them a little girl. But they, like all of us, had choices to make, and they didn't always make good ones. And the little girl was the result of one such choice.

The little girl grew up normally enough, but she always yearned for a family where the mommy would look at the daddy with stars in her eyes, and laugh at his jokes. Where the daddy would treat the mommy like a queen and even spank the little girl if she was mean to the mommy. Where there wasn't always so much tension in their little house. What the little girl did not know, was that the mommy and the daddy had tried to fix the things they'd done wrong with lies and more mistakes. The same way we all have from time to time.

Soon there was a little boy. People would smile and laugh, and call them "a rich man's family." They posed for pictures and went to church and had two cars. Some days the daddy would feel quite lonely and overwhelmed and he would not come home. Some days the mommy would feel quite lonely and overwhelmed when the daddy did not come home. The daddy would leave the mommy, and the mommy would threaten to leave the little girl and her brother. Eventually, they were all quite lonely and overwhelmed. And everyone wanted to leave. Except the Hero -- do you remember Him? He was there all along.

The Hero wanted to help everyone in our story. Anyone who would come to Him, who would ask Him for help. So, the little girl asked, and our Hero did. But the little girl did not think she was a little girl anymore. She was tough and fiercely independent. She thought. As soon as our Hero helped her and she started feeling better, she would push Him away and do it herself. The Hero who loved her would never gain her trust; people she trusted betrayed her.

But the Hero never stopped showing her just how much He loved her. The Hero never stopped reminding her He was there. The Hero knew just how badly the little girl had been hurt inside; He knew she needed Him. He also knew she didn't know that yet. And despite the little girl's rejection and disrespect, He continued patiently, gently calling her. For years. And, one day, she came to Him.

That is why He is the Hero still today. Because He would have waited as long as the little girl lived. Because He treated her as if she'd been there all along. Because He is gentle enough to wrap His arms around a broken little girl and strong enough to build her into a courageous, faithful woman.

The End of The Beginning...