My
kids are amazing…thank you all for praying for them as well. Watching them
grow, trust, love, and learn is so beautiful. My little man who started walking
last week is really starting to get the hang of it now. He has walked across the
balcony a dozen times and he totally knows how he just decides when he wants to
do it! I love the big smile he gets on his face when I clap for him and hug him
after he has walked…it never gets old! He loves to be held and snuggled…and he
is very attached to me. He loves bubbles, swinging, and being thrown up in the
air! He can be a stinker though…he doesn’t like it if I’m holding any of the
other kiddos up on the balcony and he can throw quite the fit ha! His smile is
contagious though and his giggle warms me from my head to my toes. You would
all love him.
My
twins are continuing to blossom as well. Their personalities are very different.
One is very independent, loving, and easy to get to smile. The other twin is
more reserved, quiet, and prefers to be attached to my hip (of course I don’t
mind this at all!). Both of them have opened up so much since the first day I
met them. They were both pretty much silent for the first week or so that I
knew them but now they “talk” all the time! I’m trying to teach them small
words (swing, jump, and smile) but they communicate pretty well just by
blabbering and pointing to things they want. They both love to swing, play in
the pool, jump, dance, and read books. I absolutely love watching them come out
of their shells. I’ve gotten full blown giggles and tons of smiles from them
this week. Each giggle and smile is so precious to me when I think that just 2
weeks ago one of the twins cried whenever I tried to pick her up. We also took
them on a walk this week which was fun…we walked to get juice from a street
vendor (they of course loved the juice!). They don’t normally wear shoes in the
orphanage so it took both of them a few minutes to adjust to the feeling of
shoes ha! We all got a few laughs from watching them toddle around. They both
did really well on the walk though…they’re the sweetest little girls and I love
them both so much.
My
other little man is doing very well too! He is really getting good at holding
his head up and he doesn’t dislike tummy time as much as he did 2 weeks ago! He
is so handsome and his toothless grin kills me. I love picking him up from his
crib because when I stick my head over the side of the crib so he can see me he
gets this surprised look on his face and then he just breaks out into the
biggest smile and starts kicking his legs and waving his arms. I need to video
it one of these days so I can always remember it! He is the most easy going kid
I have ever met…always happy and smiling. His eyes are beautiful and when I
talk to him I really feel like he listens ha! I love to hold him on my chest
and sing/talk to him. He loves to lie on his back or in my arms and play with
rattles or any toy he can chew on. This little guy is such a blessing to me!
My
littlest guy is still just as sweet as he can be. He is really smiley for how
little he is he loves to snuggle. He is cooing a lot and he loves to be
sang/talked to. Most of the time when I bring him up to the balcony he will
fall asleep on me…such a wonderful feeling. I love kissing his chubby cheeks
and making him smile!
My
little baby girl (who wasn’t doing so well earlier in my trip) is doing so much
better! Last week she had to have a feeding tube and she was lethargic and
couldn’t leave the NICU. This week I was able to bring her up to the balcony
for short periods of time and she was a completely different baby. She is tiny
but so beautiful. She smiles a lot and not with just her mouth…she smiles with her
whole face. I love it! She also loves her fingers and sucks her thumb (which is
so adorable to me). I’m really excited to get to spend more time with her!
Thank you so much for the prayers for her. She is doing so much better! Her
eyes are wide open when I go in to the NICU to talk to her and she responds to
me…God is definitely healer!
My
heart aches for all of the kids at GLA…but it is the most perfect kind of ache.
I’m getting to know all of kids, not just the kiddos I specifically work with.
Every single one of the kids here has a way of stealing my heart and I wish I
could give each of them the amount of love they deserve every day.
I am
continuously amazed by what love and trust can do for these kiddos. Love and
trust give them the courage to open up and live freely. It makes me think about
how free and courageous I feel because I know/feel God’s love and trust His
plan for my life. I feel so incredibly free here. It’s hard to explain, but for
some reason I don’t feel as weighed down by fear or anxiety about the direction
of my life. I feel at peace here. The first week and a half was a lot harder
than I let on…I missed home a lot. This week it has been different. I still
miss you all but I don’t ache to BE home. My heart desires to be here
completely. It’s a wonderful feeling…but I think leaving will be much more
difficult now.
I am
so blessed to be able to be here with these kiddos. They are helping me just as
much (if not more) as I am helping them. Thank you so much to everyone who
supported/prayed for me and made this trip possible…I cannot explain how much
this journey has meant to me already.
This
verse has been on my heart this week…so much so that I wrote it down and put it
next to my bed so I can read it every night and morning. I thought I would
share it with you…love you all.
Romans
12:1-2
Therefore,
I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform
any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his
good, pleasing, and perfect will.
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