Sweet Sleep Journeys

If you want a little glipmse at how AWESOME our God is, just take a gander at this statistic: 1 day in Uganda=0 mosquito bites for Kelsey!! :) (for those of you who don't know me this is a BIG deal because usually I am the first to be bitten and the last to stop itching!) Here's a couple of other stats just in case you're interested: # of times Meghann has verbalized her excitement about the fact that the driver is on the other side of the car and that they drive on the other side of the road=1,000 and counting, # of sandwiches "lost"=1/2, # of sandwiches found=1/2, # of times being winked at=1, # of times being blown kisses to=2, # of girls to rub the makeup off of my face and put it on theirs=2 and finally # of kids who have willingly left Stuart to come sit with me=2 :) (haha)

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So, today was the first day for us to meet all of the sweet sweet children that we will be working with all week! I think that I speak for the whole team when I say that our hearts melted instantly the moment we pulled through the gate to the Caring Heart orphanage and were greeted by a massive mob of children singing "we are so happy, so happy to see you here!" x25 :) All of the children and teachers and the directors of both Caring Heart and Africa Greater Life were SO welcoming and made us feel right at home! I can't wait until tomorrow when we get to see all of their precious faces and bright smiles!

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I never cease to be amazed by the difference certain actions, that to us seem so insignificant, can make in the lives of the world's orphaned and abandoned children! Today, while sitting among the mass of children that God has allowed us to come and serve this week, I began to notice that every time I would make eye contact with one of the kids and smile at them they would smile to themselves while looking away bashfully. After experiencing this response several times it kind of clicked with me and I realized that they responded this way because of 1: nervousness and 2: they weren't exactly sure how to respond. Through this realization I came to another one: These kids are constantly up against hundreds of other kids to win the attention, even for just a split second, of their care takers. Because there are so many children the care givers' attention can't be focused on just one thing, they must focus on countless different things all at once! It is likely that many of the kids have rarely, if ever, had the undivided attention of someone and the opportunity to be singled out and made to feel special. That's what the simple action of making eye contact and smiling and waving to them did for these kids, it gave them a moment to feel special, noticed and loved. I have no doubt that these kids are loved by their teachers (who are absolutely FABULOUS by the way) but I also have no doubt that it is close to impossible for them to focus completely on one child and givehim or her the undivided attention that he or she so deeply longs for when there are hundreds of other kids always around longing for the exact same thing! 

So, I guess all of that goes to say that if the only thing I accomplish this week is making a child feel special and sharing God's love with him or her then I will be 100% satisfied because the love that I have for each and every one of these precious children here in Uganda comes from one source and one source only: the God that created them! and even though we have to leave in a week, He will still be here and His love that He allowed the team and me to to express to these kids will still be here and if there is one thing that will never fail them it's the love of God, our Father and theirs! I'm going to leave you with 1 Corintians 12:3-8 because there is no better way to describe the love of God than that!

-Kelsey Drennan-