Sunday afternoon

Yesterday, as we were toward the end of our church service, I saw a familiar truck drive up to the orphanage, followed by two vans. As I walked over to see what was going on, children began piling out of the vans like crazy! I'm thinking, "No, no! I can't take all these children!" Come to find out, these were all the children from the orphanage that was destroyed by the hurricane ... all the children who stayed here during those days following the tragic event. They had come to say thank you for helping them and had a few songs prepared to sing for the children. It was great fun and there were many many hugs following!

After the children were gone, we began the great adventure of making sandwiches, snacks and juice to take along with us to the beach. I had found out that morning that there is a different beach, a little further down that is literally 1/5 the price of the one we normally go to. The children were THRILLED when I said that anyone who wanted to go was welcome to come with. There was a whole lot of yelling and screaming and excitement in the hour before we left and throughout the trip there. The van was packed with 27 children ... and Nick and I. Once there, the children LOVED this beach and had a great time playing in the water and hanging out together.

Of course, the photographer in me took over and I had the best time taking all sorts of different photos. When I had taken almost 60, I realized that was probably enough for one afternoon :)

The mountains are so magnificant and the sunrise was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The emotions were inexplicable as I was photographing the sites and enjoying the children. Several times, I had to wipe a tear trickling down my face as I thought about our first 5 weeks here and next 5 to come.

Something that I have not been able to get out of my mind for the past few days is a visit that we had at the orphanage. A group of 15 people came walking in the gate the other day, one older woman, 3 or 4 young ladies, 3 or 4 young men, and the rest were children (maybe 10-15 yr olds). As they were all chatting amongst themselves and then to an employee here, before he had to tell me, I understood that they were the family of one of our little 6 year old boys. He came out to the front porch to meet with them and was very quiet, couldn't look anyone in the eye ... I was told (by an employee) that this is the first time he has ever had his family come to visit him. My heart broke as they walked away after spending 5 minutes here. My heart ached as I looked at him and wondered what he must be thinking, seeing them leave WITH SO MANY CHILDREN. What about him? It was very difficult for me and I cannot imagine how much more difficult it was for him.

He speaks very few English words ... but I merely walked up to him and gave him the tightest squeeze I could and told him that I loved him. He smiled and hugged back and said he loves Mama Shelly too. A few minutes later, he took off on a scooter and was back to himself. But I can't help but wonder what he was thinking as he fell asleep that night. I can't help but wonder what a lot of these children think, the things they have been through ... it breaks my heart over and over again and makes me want to not only squeeze my own daughter a little tighter, but love on these kids more and more each day. God gave us an incredible opportunity in being able to spend our summer here and when I leave, I want each and every one of these children to feel a little more loved ... by me and by their heavenly Father.