Saturday, December 15, 2012

I love my kids!

David and I with the younger boys home

David and I with the older boys home

So... David and I are going back to the States soon and before we left we wanted to throw Christmas parties for the street children and for the kids in our home.

Our party with the street kids was fun and hilarious, the kids were quite surprisingly well behaved. We had them get in groups to decorate sugar cookies and they sat like little angels waiting for us to tell them they could begin. They played games and ended things by acting out the Christmas story. We told the boys that the best actors would be rewarded with candy, they acted their little hearts out- at one point I and uncle Abbey were laughing so hard we cried. Then we shared about Christmas, the gift of Jesus and they asked some terrific questions!

Sometimes it is hard for me being their in the programs, with so many children that come up to me and beg me to bring them into our homes. It is also hard when we bring a boy into our home and I realize just how long he was in our street programs before I had noticed him as a candidate for our home, prayed for him and then brought him home. I struggle a lot with the fact that Kato Charles and Frank where on the streets for so long and in our programs before they came home. But I have to remind myself that I am only one person, (albeit surrounded on all sides by so many who do this ministry together with us) and I can only do what I can do, I have to minister to my amazing kids to the best of my abilities and allow God to do the rest. The kids had me pray over them before leaving and it left me with so much peace. I am leaving them but God never, ever will.

We then had a Christmas party on the land with the boys and we had a lot of fun. I tried to make lots of special Christmas treats with my team of happy, cute helpers in the kitchen. There are several boys (Bob, Kato Charles, Monday, Dirissa, Solomon, Hakim and Ibra among others) who just love helping me cook and they are they sweetest things ever whenever they help! We made fudge, no bake cookies and I brought sugar cookies that they could decorate and give out to their neighbors in the village as a way to witness to them with a "Merry Christmas, Jesus loves you!"

It had been a really exhausting week and I had wanted the day to be very special but I think that all my emotions caught up with me about leaving and I began getting a massive headache about 30 minutes before we arrive at the boys homes.  By the end of the Christmas party I was really sick and was even sicker by the time we had to leave the boys the next morning. Saying goodbye to them broke my heart, especially when some of the younger boys began to cry.

God has given me an extremely adaptive personality which I am very thankful for. The only downside, is that whenever I am in a place with people that I love, I feel so instantly at home that it is really really hard for me to leave. It is like that every time I leave Uganda and every time that I leave the States.

My mom says that our bodies are often show us what our heart is feeling even if we are not conscious of it and I definitely believe it. After leaving the boys, going home and resting, although I felt pretty bummed about leaving the boys, I wasn't sick anymore. It is just so hard to say goodbye.

I love my boys so very very much. They are so sweet and caring, smart and just well amazing! The younger boys are really into writing letters, and I literally had a stack of them in the morning as we said goodbye. They were all sweet but some of them made me cry as I read them, I am going to find them so that I can post them because they are so sweet. Looking back over this last year it feels crazy to think about ALL that God has done and how many boys we have been able to bring off of the street. God has been soooo good to us



2 comments:

  1. You're amazing- it's great to read your blog and see God working in your life by the way you love your boys. My sisters and I work with girls from rough backgrounds in our little town and we love them so much and learn so much from getting to work with them. Keep up the good work!!! God bless you on your trip. (We are doing a Christmas party on Monday and decided to copy your skit idea- thanks!)

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  2. Praise God for all you do and all that He has accomplished through you. I pray you have good rest and a great Christmas in the states. Love the pics! Emma...he is too cool for school in this pic...haha:) I got his letter. It made my year! Best.Christmas.Present.EVER!!!

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