One night at Smile Africa

   Yesterday was a great day! In the morning as we were walking to Smile Africa, Julian and I stopped at Pastor Ruth's house to pick up her youngest daughter Esther. Esther is 2 years old and has a lot of energy, so I knew that this would be good for her. When we arrived at Smile Esther stayed pretty close to my side, but within an hour she was everywhere! She was running around with the other children and getting into everything, it was perfect. Bogere had stayed at Smile over night for the first time, so I wanted to see how it went. When I saw Bogere he ran over to me to say hello. He was so happy! It was so comforting to know that he was happy and safe. I knew that this was going to be the best situation for him, so I am just continuing to pray for his restoration. It was interesting, one night at Smile and his attitude was already loads better. Since Bogere was not surrounded by evil, he is able to grow and to flourish. 

   I am in the middle of trying to teach Bogere English and he is trying to teach me Swahili, so he likes to look at picture books and point to the animals and say them in both languages. It is very cute to watch him. Bogere just sat in the babies room quietly and looked at his book. He was being so well behaved.

   While I was playing with Bogere, Esther and Caleb, they would often fight about the toys that belonged to "them." I would explain that they had to share their toys and be nice to each other or I would remove the toys altogether. It is really hard to teach a child a life lesson like sharing or being nice to each other, when they go home and learn the opposite, from their drunk parents. I remember babysitting a pair of siblings named Ella and Andrew. They would sometimes fight over toys or what movie we were going to watch, or something simple like that. I would correct the fighting and tell them that they needed to prefer one another and share their toys with each other. What made my correction so constructive was not that I, alone, told them how to properly behave, but when their parents came home, they also were telling them how to behave. The parents and I were on the same page and we were both telling their children the same thing. That made it easier to make those kind of corrections in their behavior. It is hard to correct the children at Smile sometimes. We tell them one thing and then they go home and their parents are drunk and think it's funny when they fight or act rude to one another. It was just an interesting thought. 

   Toward the end of the day I took Caleb on a walk. He loves to be outside and now that he is getting healthier, he is able to go outside and play with the other children. Caleb's legs were very weak when he first arrived at Smile. They are not were they should be yet, but the more he walks around, he will get stronger and stronger. He is such a happy boy and I am so proud of how well he is doing at his new home. 

   Overall, the day was a success. I had 2 happy boys the whole day and we learned important life lessons that I know will stick with them. "Thank you Jesus for loving your children more then I do. Thank you for making it possible for me to be in their lives. Thank you for trusting me with the lives of your precious children. I do not take it lightly. I know that not everyday will be easy and not everyday will these boys be well behaved, but I want to thank you for never leaving my side through every battle. You have never left me and you wont start now. I love you. Amen."

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you."

Deuteronomy 31:6