Orphan

The plight of the orphan...wow! You know you have it in your heart, but there really is not a way to get the depth of it all.
I guess for me it is the small things that are adding up to big places in my heart.

Tonight, I decided to watch the movie with the kids after they had bathed. The baby fell asleep on my lap so I carried her up stairs. Beacon House is a "home like place" with lots of structure and good teaching. There are webs of relationship spun between 27 kids and staff...each unique and interesting to watch. Sibling groups watch out for each other ( you see them helping eachother alot) Older kids tend to lead and all the kids know the authority chain of command in the house. (the kids all have memorized the HOUSE rules which all have scripture in them....they say it to a beat and know it beautifully)
The babies are so amazing, they obey by hearing their name spoken in a low tone, then by visual cues. For example, if Jennifer (about 11 months) is walking out of the room toward the kitchen the house mom will say "Jennifer" and the baby will LOOK, then the house mom points in the direction she wants her to walk in and SHE DOES! I am not kidding! Stacey and I were amazed!
I have been taking it all in for 10 days now...tonight I had a bit of a reality check.
I went up stairs to put the baby down, kissed Victoria, went into John's room to tuck him in. He was on his mat on the floor with another little boy next to him. He was almost asleep..I knelt over him and prayed while I rubbed his little bald head. As I prayed it just hit me that as AWESOME as Beacon House is...he needs a Forever family and God picked us...Wow...this was humbling. His lttle clothes are in a tub, he is clean and has others who love him...yet it is not how God designed it.
I say THANKS to Romana for being obedient to the call on her life given to her by God to go and get these kids, and for making it possible for them to connect to a forever family.
I wept as I walked out to my guest house...thinking that in a few weeks John and Victoria will be in new arms to hug..missing their friends...have new food to eat...missing the Banku and rice balls...have new clothes on in many layers and miss the carefree play of barefoot and t-shirt..YET as they trasition into the family and new things....they will find a piece of God's heart maybe they have not yet seen....the Mom and Dad piece...the family piece...which brings PEACE!

It is like a 1,000 piece puzzle...the kids have been on a jourey with God's hand on them...pieces of their lives have been snapped together, they have had many people in their lives, this all forms a picture, but it is incomplete.
We have the privilege of helping them remember and talk about the picture already formed and the amazing gift of being the puzzle FINISHERS!

I pray we are found as Faithful workers and lovers of their souls to FINISH WELL!