Answered Prayer

  My day yesterday started off with a phone call, a phone call that changed the course of my day. I was packing my bag and throwing some last things together when Pastor Ruth called me and told me that Tereza, Bogere's mom, refused the house that we had purchased for her. I was so confused. Ruth told me that she did not want to leave her abusive husband, she wanted to stay with him, so she refused the house. I'm going to be honest, I was a little hurt. I was trying to help them and I thought for sure that this would be the best solution. With this house she would be away from the man who beats her and she would be safe and her babies would be safe. Tereza refused the offer that we had given her. So now we had to think of another plan for Bogere. The stepfather still wanted Bogere out. Now my head was full of ideas, questions, comments, concerns for the life of my little boy. 

  Once I got to Smile, I found Bogere in trouble with Michael. I have to say I was not surprised, especially because of the day we had before. I knew that he was going to be upset, so I was kind of expecting this. I gave Bogere his medicine and took him to the babies room to play with Caleb and to eat. While that was happening a group of men came to deliver the fridge that I had purchased for the babies room. I was so excited to see it! We really needed a fridge. All the medicine that required us to refrigerate after opening, we could not, so it went bad. This was very important and all the teachers and the nurse were so excited about our new fridge! Thank you Pastor's Casey and Wendy Treat for your generous donation! Bogere thought it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen. He was fascinated. Once our fridge was in place, the 2 women that had come the day before, came back. They asked me if I would show them around the slums, they really wanted to see where these children came from. I told them I would take them, so I grabbed my camera and off we went.

   When we arrived at the slum I showed them around and pointed to different childrens' houses. I then saw Bogere's mom. Tereza came over to greet me and she thanked me for me help. I told her that I cared about her and I just wanted her to be safe. Tereza walked away from me and came back with a bag of clothes. As she handed me the bag she said that Bogere was not allowed to come back home. She informed me that if he came back home the stepfather would not be happy and Bogere could get seriously hurt, or killed. I had enough of hearing that Bogere might die and I was not just going to sit there and do nothing. I took the clothes and thanked her for caring about her son's life. The 2 women that I brought were shocked at what just happened. They said, "Does this happen to you often? How do you deal with that?" I said, "It would appear that way wouldn't it...and I don't know how to deal with it either, I just pray...a lot!" I couldn't really say much after that, I was thinking of all my options with Bogere. I called Pastor Ruth and we worked some things out. Mama Ruth then said, "Okay Paris, Bogere can stay at Smile Africa." My heart just about leaped out of my chest! "Are you serious?! He can stay?!" This was what I have been praying for! I have been asking all of my friends and family to pray that Bogere could stay at Smile, and now he can! This was my dream come true, and his. I told Bogere that he would be staying at Smile Africa and that he needed to behave himself and listen to the teachers so that he would remain there. The biggest smile came over his face. He literally cartwheeled down the street. Bogere was laughing and running, I have never seen him so happy in my life. 

   The rest of the day Bogere was so well behaved, he helped me take care of the babies and had a wonderful attitude. He was making baby Eric laugh so hard!

 Bogere's happiness was contagious, all of his friends were happy too and they all started playing nicely together. I could not believe what was happening. This is what I have been wanting, this is what I have been praying for and asking everyone else to pray for as well. I was so shocked and so happy. Now I will be praying that God continues to do major work in his attitude so that he is a well behaved boy and does not get removed from Smile. I just looked up to Heaven and fell to my knees and said, "Thank you Jesus, Thank you so much!" It's funny to me how we can aggressively pray for something, pray without ceasing, and then we are shocked or in disbelief when God answers our prayer. We will say all day long, "I believe in the power of prayer!" But when it is something that is so personal to you, then we have our doubts. It's as if we tell ourselves that our prayer will not come true, so that just in case it doesn't, we aren't disappointed, but reality we need to trust God with our prayers! He hears us, loves us,  and wants the best for us. Can I give you a thought for the day? Have you ever prayed for something and felt like God did not answer your prayer? "God please let me marry this man! God please give me this job! God please give me this house!" And you were frustrated because you didn't get what you wanted and you wondered, "Why didn't God answer my prayer? He didn't hear me or He wasn't listening!" Well can I challenge you to know that God did hear you, but maybe, just maybe, His answer was no? I prayed that Bogere's mom would accept the offer for the house, but God said, "No, I have something better." And now I got what I was praying for in the first place, something better. Bogere is staying at Smile Africa! Always know that God's plans are better than we can ever imagine.