Who knew that heart strings could be stretched so far or that we could have the capacity for so much love? My heart has been stretched across half of the globe and somehow I still find myself falling in love with new little ones everyday! I feel like my heart breaks a little everyday, and yet it feels so full and refilled with every divine encounter and every sweet conversation that the Lord reveals and reminds me of His purpose! We have another little girl in the house named Maurine, and I love this little 5 year old like I can’t believe! This morning we had church and we got to dress her up in one of the cute new dresses we bought for her at the market this week, and she smiled so big! Not a lot of words yet, but I was thrilled to have a response that shows she understands that we love her! She comes from a home of abuse, so I know she struggles with fear and security issues. She sat on my lap for a while after dinner and was content to just sit and have her back tickled for a long while and even wandered into the kitchen and stood next to me until I hugged and kissed her tonight, so she is even feeling comfortable enough to seek physical comfort from us! Her smile is so beautiful!
Faith is getting so big, I cannot believe it! Even in the few weeks I’ve been here she has grown a ton, and is now just a chubby looking 2 year old! She is so active and has been playing and talking up a storm! Its just my favorite to run and play “hide and tickle” with her in the mornings and hear her shriek with excitement as she finds me behind doorways!
This morning I taught children’s church at Acacia Community Church, and that was pretty funny! The church is outside, and this morning was windy and threatening to rain on us, which just added another dimension to the chaos! There were about 50 kids and myself and two other helpers, which would not be too different from bible study here at the house, but I tried to do a craft and two games this morning on top of the lesson! It went much better than it could have gone, but I heard later that the adults could hear all of our activities going on the other side of the house despite my attempts to keep the activities relatively contained and quiet! I think the kids enjoyed it though, and I know I certainly did!
I cannot even communicate how the Lord continues to remind me of His wonderful faithfulness! I learn more here everyday than I feel like I teach, as our sweet Counselor leads me through each day, each lesson plan, each unexpected event and reminds me of His greatness, His glory, His wonderful compassion and sweet mercy! I find that every day I am falling more in love with Jesus as I fall in love with the people that He’s made and is continuing to make in His likeness, and as He works and moves in my heart to draw me to Himself! It is a beautiful, beautiful life!