With arms wide open

With only twelve days left on this journey it has really started hitting me that I am going to have to leave soon. I can't stop picturing tiny rice covered faces, messy fingers, constant bed head, and those big brown eyes who think you hold the world. I hear in my head their laughter and squeals, recitation of the alphabet with letters that don't exist, a four year old "reading" The Giving Tree from memory, Ate (Ah-tay, term of respect meaning older sister) Bitnee, Ate up, Ate read, Ate kiss.. Soon I will rock them to sleep for the last time and give the last good night kiss and have to walk away, trusting God to take care of his precious little children that I have had the chance to love on for a little while. I think I can relate in the smallest way to mothers who have to leave their children somewhere, even though I know they will be well taken care of I long to remain with each of them or at least take a few home. This summer has been filed with so much joy and I have grown so much closer to God through it all. I wrote the following poem the other night and its just a little glimpse into how I feel about these little guys:

Can I borrow you for a little while?
May I hold you close and make you smile?
Come here and let me change your clothes,
and wipe your tiny runny nose.
I will sing to you and rock you to sleep
as long as I can listen to your little heartbeat.
I don't mind it when you cry
I only wish that I knew why.
Thank you for playing with me,
how I love hearing Ate read?
Come on let's go for a walk,
I can't wait until you can talk.
Soon I will have to say good bye
and this time I'll be the one to cry.
But it truly helps to know
that God is with you as you grow.
Child, did you know that you are loved?
Yes, even when you push and when you shove.
O what joy you have brought to my life
it has clouded out my trials and my strife.
One last kiss upon the cheek
now my knees are feeling weak.
As I pry your hands away
please know that for you I will always pray.
There is one who is greater than I
He always watches from the sky.
To him love knows no bounds
and he will always pick you up off the ground.
This is not the end you see
Because God loves you and God loves me.

I know God has hand picked a family for the kids and they will be so much better off there, it is the hope of God alone that makes my departure from here possible. My supervisor is convinced I will be back soon and even jokes about it with the kids (who are luckily too young to understand in case it doesn't happen).
There has been a lot of outside ministry going on this week and the boldness God has put in my heart is so unprecedented! Daisy has expressed the desire to be baptized! I walked up to a fence where a woman was working outside and asked her if I could talk to her for a few minutes, shared the gospel with her, she prayed and asked Jesus into her heart, and I will be following up with her tomorrow morning. I presented the gospel to another caregiver upstairs who is very confused about what she believes but she asked afterward if next time she worked we could have more bible time together! I was so happy when she asked that!! Tomorrow morning we are leading children's worship at the local church and it should be fun. I am so excited about what God has been doing this week and will be on the look out for even more for the next twelve days!
Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging words, God has also expressed his amazing love to me in new ways this week. I have truly grasped that his love is great enough to sustain me in all things and I pray that upon returning home I can continue developing this love relationship with the creator of the universe.
Friends, be faithful where you. Faithfulness in the little things is great in God's eyes. God doesn't expect us to save people, that is His job, He just expects us to be obedient. So, Go into all the world and make disciples!