In the last few weeks I’ve been spending lots of time praying about and considering what God wants me to do with what I have learned. I was reading a booklet about orphan care ministry called “Building a Bridge of Hope” and it was discussing what James 1:27 means when it says “pure and undefiled religion that God our Father accepts is to visit the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted by the world”. The booklet says “there is a reason God asks us to visit the orphans. For, in the visiting, they become real to us – we get to know them as the children that they are. And in this fresh encounter, our hearts are moved as they never were before”. As you watch this short presentation, please see these children as they are, as God has created them fearfully and wonderfully in His image.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Memories of the Children
I can't believe that it's been almost a month since we arrived home from China. Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about my time there, and longed to see those precious little babies again. I really did not think that this would have such an impact on me.
Photographs are really amazing at connecting with past memories. I would not want to be without photos, and can't imagine how difficult memories must be without them. Faces fade with time, but I don't want to forget these special little faces!
One of my friends and fellow volunteers recently posted a photo she had taken of little Daniel chewing a stick. I was immediately transported back to that park, and could see his dirty little hand clutching that stick! I could feel the warmth of his skin as I pushed his hand away from his mouth, firmly telling him no, at least half a dozen times!
I can hear the funny "calls" between Luke and Emily, like two little birds chirping back and forth to each other, signaling that it was "cookie time".
I can feel Corrie so gently pulling the elastic from my pony tail so she could freely run her fingers through my hair.
I can feel Josiah climb into my lap, and then plant a soggy kiss on my cheek!
I can hear little Adam breathing heavily as he lay sleeping in the bassinet beside my bed.
I can see Hope's serious little face as she studies me from across the room.
I can feel the laughter bubbling up inside of me as I watch Joy roll across the floor singing her own little song.
And then there was the day that Jenny added Corrie's bowl of peanut butter pudding to the soup she was making for the babies, because she thought it looked good!! Though I did not taste that carrot, pudding peanut butter soup, I sure did laugh heartily!
Then coming home and hearing that Daniel and Emily's files had just been sent to an adoption agency in the US, was cause for rejoicing.
But nothing topped the news that when Luke received an ultrasound due to a mass Lynsay found in his abdomen, the Doctor discovered that the mass was actually a spleen, and up until that point Luke had never had one!! Another miracle for Luke!
I am so thankful for these memories!
The cookie munchers!
Me with cuddly Josiah!
Three little princesses, Corrie, Joy and Hope
My two "roomies" Daniel and Adam, happy to have their Aiyi back!
Photographs are really amazing at connecting with past memories. I would not want to be without photos, and can't imagine how difficult memories must be without them. Faces fade with time, but I don't want to forget these special little faces!
One of my friends and fellow volunteers recently posted a photo she had taken of little Daniel chewing a stick. I was immediately transported back to that park, and could see his dirty little hand clutching that stick! I could feel the warmth of his skin as I pushed his hand away from his mouth, firmly telling him no, at least half a dozen times!
I can hear the funny "calls" between Luke and Emily, like two little birds chirping back and forth to each other, signaling that it was "cookie time".
I can feel Corrie so gently pulling the elastic from my pony tail so she could freely run her fingers through my hair.
I can feel Josiah climb into my lap, and then plant a soggy kiss on my cheek!
I can hear little Adam breathing heavily as he lay sleeping in the bassinet beside my bed.
I can see Hope's serious little face as she studies me from across the room.
I can feel the laughter bubbling up inside of me as I watch Joy roll across the floor singing her own little song.
And then there was the day that Jenny added Corrie's bowl of peanut butter pudding to the soup she was making for the babies, because she thought it looked good!! Though I did not taste that carrot, pudding peanut butter soup, I sure did laugh heartily!
Then coming home and hearing that Daniel and Emily's files had just been sent to an adoption agency in the US, was cause for rejoicing.
But nothing topped the news that when Luke received an ultrasound due to a mass Lynsay found in his abdomen, the Doctor discovered that the mass was actually a spleen, and up until that point Luke had never had one!! Another miracle for Luke!
I am so thankful for these memories!
The cookie munchers!
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