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.”
Glad you're taking Pastor Ruth's advice and taking it easy, Paris! I remember how hard it was to stay in bed when I got sick out there because it feels you have so little time to do what God has placed in your hand. But, you'll come back even stronger, mama!!
ReplyDeletePraying for quick healing!
ReplyDeleteGet well soon Paris!!!!! ....Completely!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe thank God for healing you. Thank you for loving these babies, they are never the same, to God be the glory.
ReplyDelete