Beyond Goodnight Kisses

Here are some random pictures from this past week. The first one is a neighboorhood girl who carried water back to her family. Her brother and her make trips to get water for their family. The next one is scenery from the walk we went on. It is awesome to get out and see new things and meet new people, which we try to make happen each day. The next few are from the toddler house, which house kids from 3-13 years old. When we get "home" from the main house the toddlers attack us, which is so fun because we love to play with them and make them smile. We have started going around to all the kids at night and giving them kisses before they go to bed. I feel kinda bad, because the nannies have them calmed and bathed, and we walk in and make them a little excited. We go from bed to bed, and say bonui (we means goodnight). They smell so good because they are powered and all clean for bed. They are adorable. I love to go to bed to the hum of the children singing Jehovah Jirah..He is my provider, which is such a great reminder for me. When the children sing this song they mean it and really do rely on the Lord for their needs. Tonight I had some energy left over, and was missing camp; so I decided to put all that to good use. I grabbed a few girls hands and started doing ring-around-the-rosie with them...they were giggling and enjoying the...and we all fall down part. A few minuates later I would guess we had a circle of 15-20 kids. Soon after that I proceeded leading the chicken dance, and then a line of a train. It made me really happy, and I was laughing hard. These kids are adorable, and I have really enjoyed developing relationships with them. Each day the kids would ask me my name..so I decided to respond with, Lollipop. It is good, because they remember it, but it is not good because they think they have the right to lick an bit me because of my name. :) (I don't know if I shared that story yet or not, but i enjoy it). The kids are doing great, and I am stil working on getting them to take more steps, get stronger, and become more happy. I have learned to cherish the moments with these kids. I love to look into their eyes, and see such hope and joy; whether they physically show it or not.

There has been a lot of things that I have been thinkng about this week. I feel like the longer I am here the more I fall in love with the children, but especially the people of Haiti. They are so special, and I don't know how to put it into words. I love the community feel, and I enjoy the walk in the morning, because we pass many of the same people each day. I feel like I am learning more and more what service looks like. I feel like I have been doing a lot of the same things each day, and each day is pretty predictable. I can't let that limit my day, and limit what God can do. I feel like this is an awesome foundation of serving, which I hope to continue to build on this experience and become better and more willing to do what the Lord leads me to do. It has been hard at times, but serving can be fun, but doing the same things each day has taught me that serving is a mindset, and you can choose to serve with a positive attitude or not. It is easy to become frustrated or tired, or too hot, but when I realize the amount of time I have with these children the least I can do is complain or become negative.

The weather has got increasingly hot, and it makes for a lot of time in the pool for the kids, which they love. The other volunteers have continued to be very encouraging and I feel very blessed to have had these times with them. The Lord is working in our lives, and we have had good times of sharing on many different topics, which have been affirming and challenging alike. The Lord has really reavealed himself through the children to me. One example, when we go into the nursery for our kids...and each hour we get one of them to work with...if we choose one and not the other at that moment..they show their discontent in our decision. I feel like God was saying the same thing to me...I can choose to follow him, or choose other things to do instead of spending time with HIm. The times that I choose not to be with him....hurts him, because he desires to spend those moments with me. The creator of the universe wants to spend time with us...what an awesome privledge, and so many times I choose other things. Well, I think that is all for now...but Happy July 4th to everyone. I am sad to miss out on picnics and fireworks, but thankfully we are having a little picnic ourselves at the new orphange site that overlooks the city or Petionville. It should be fun, but times like these is when I realize how blessed I am to be surrounded by such amazing people! Blessings!