Bathing Frenzy

   I woke up yesterday morning with excitement to get to Smile Africa. I was not there on Sunday so I really missed my babies. Being away from them for too long is hard. Pastor Ruth insisted on driving me since I still have malaria and I have not 100% recovered yet. As soon as we arrived I went straight into the babies room. I could not wait to see my new baby, Moses. I was wondering how he was doing and how the teachers were doing with our new baby. I was so excited to be back that I insisted on doing everything as soon as I got there.

   I began by bathing, put lotion on, and dressing all 5 of our babies. It was a bathing frenzy! I began with Baby Ruth and then her twin brother Eric. As soon as they were clean and dressed I put them on the bed to play for a minute while I bathed Baby Moses. This took a little more time and care. I had to make sure that I cleaned the area around the umbilical cord and make sure that he was healthy. Once I finished with Moses, I cleaned Joshua and then Caleb. All my babies were clean, and hungry! I began making bottles and making sure that they were just the right temperature. Caleb is big enough to feed himself out of a sippy cup, so while he was eating, I fed the twins at the same time. I have gotten really good at multi tasking. By end of it all, all the babies were clean and fed and they all fell asleep. As soon as everyone fell asleep, Bogere came in the babies room. I picked him and hugged him and asked how he was doing. My sweet boy put his head on my shoulder and held on to me tight. I guessed he really missed me the one day I was gone.

   I took Bogere outside with me to check on the other children. At the well there was a group of children playing with the water and bathing each other. It looked like they were having a great time. They were splashing water on each other and laughing. I love to see these children laughing and having a good time. 

   It looked like the older siblings needed some help, so I began to help them bathe their little siblings. I took 2 babies, Baby Joyce and Baby Shunna to get cleaned up. They laughed and laughed as I splashed water on them.

   It was finally lunchtime. The bell rang and all the children went to their spots and waited to be served their lunch. I made sure that all the babies had eaten and were asleep. Then one of the teachers came to watch them so that I could go eat lunch. Once I finished lunch, I got very tired and weak all of a sudden. Then I remembered that I still had malaria and I probably shouldn’t be running around like that while I am still recovering because it can make you weak. I went back in the babies room and held Baby Moses and we both fell asleep. 

   At about 3pm I was driven back to the hotel so that I could rest before going over to Pastor Ruth’s house for dinner. Pastor Ruth told me that I need to not try to do everything and that I needed to take it a little slower so that my body can heal. It is really hard for me to not give something all my energy, but for my body’s sake, I’m going to have to try!

“Thank you Jesus for a new day! Thank you for protecting Baby Moses and bringing him to us safely. Thank you for constantly providing for these children. I pray God that will continue to heal my body. Thank you for your love! Thank you for all these beautiful children and their laughter. We all love you. Amen.”