Patience is a virtue

Yesterday had good and bad moments. The good moments however, did outweigh the bad, thank you Jesus! Caleb was so wonderful! He is learning to be more interactive with the other teachers and the other babies as well. The second he wakes up and sees me his face lights up and he gets the biggest smile on his face. It just makes my heart so happy as he reaches his arms out to me, and smiles. I tell him good morning and I give him a big hug. Caleb gives the best hugs. He wraps his little arms and little legs around me and puts his head on my shoulder. I have never felt so loved in my life. Caleb also knows his name now, which is awesome! Slowly but surely he is learning how to communicate with all the teachers. I taught him how to wave ‘bye’ to someone that is leaving, and we started working on blowing kisses to people. He is just the sweetest boy.

The babies’ room gets so hot! It is a smaller room with little windows so we don’t get much of a breeze. Baby Eric gets so hot that he cries because he is so uncomfortable and now he has a heat rash. I knew that I could fix this problem, so I did. That morning I went into town and bought a fan! So now we have a fan in our babies room that makes it so much cooler and the babies, and the teachers, are so much happier! Thank you Jesus for giving me the resources to purchase that fan!

Mr. Bogere and I did not have a successful day unfortunately. While I was in the van with Mama Ruth heading to Smile, she informed of a phone call she received earlier that morning. Apparently Michael called her to let her know that Bogere was refusing to go to class and he was not listening to the teachers when they asked him to move. When he did not get his way and Michael told him to sit on the bench and wait for me to get there, Bogere picked up a stone and threw it at Michael out of anger. Although Michael is a grown man and it did not hurt him, the fact that he threw it at all is unacceptable. When I arrived at Smile I went to Bogere and said hello and gave him a hug. I picked him and we walked over to Michael. As soon as he saw us nearing Michael, he knew that I was aware of the drama in the morning so he tried to break free from me so he wouldn’t have to apologize to Michael. At the end of the conversation he refused to apologize, so I told him that he could not come near the babies room today. He had to remain outside with the other children and I would come talk to him before I left for the day. When I was about to leave for the day 2 little girls came running over to me and said, “ Come Quick!” I ran after them and they lead to Bogere who was beating his little brother with a stick! I was so disappointed in what I saw. I grabbed the stick and broke it. I got down on my knees so I could look him in the eyes and I said, “ Bogere, I have told you more than once that you could not hit people, especially your baby brother who has done nothing wrong! You cannot behave like this or Smile will not allow you to come back. If you are going to act this, then you have to leave.” So I took him by the hand and escorted him out of Smile. I explained that I made him leave early because of his behavior and that I would see him tomorrow. I told him that if I saw that kind of action again, that he would have to leave Smile for an entire day. Now that I said that, I have to stick to my word. Although it hurts me to see him hurting, he needs to know that when the teachers say something, they are serious and that every action will have a serious consequence. I really hated that part of the day. It is because I love him that I had to do that. I want to see a huge change in him, so that when I leave in December, Bogere can stay at Smile and grow in Jesus. This day was a true test of my patience. Thank you Jesus for giving me the opportunity to grow and please keep me strong!

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:17-18