SURPRISE!

I got another day at the internet this week!  I wasn’t expecting to come, but I was off and its a beautiful day out so I wanted to go for a walk.  So I decided to just walk up to the cafe, grocery shop, and do a post while I am here!

Side note- the cafe that I always go to has a chalkboard that they write different things on everyday.  Today it says “A man is not old until regrets start taking place of dreams.”  I like it.

Yesterday we got two new kids!  One was only two days old so he is in with the small babies but there is an older girl (about four-ish months?) who will be with us in the big babies!  Her name is Doosie, she is coming from the sick ward where she has been for three months so she will stay in the isolation room for a few days to make sure she isn’t bringing any germs to the other kids.  She is so stinkin sweet :)  Her mom is only 14 years old!  She would visit her every now and then in the hospital but then the social worker just picked Doosie up and dropper her off here.  We were warned that the mom might spend us a visit trying to get her baby back.  We aren’t allowed to let her in or let her see the baby.  Tricky bidness if you ask me...

Melissa, Katlyn, and I have been organizing all the donations they have been receiving.  The woman who usually does it has been gone for a few months so things have completely piled up.  Here is a before picture:

Craziness.  This will be a big project...

And here are a few treasures we have found:

Yes, beef rocks and cheese rocks t-shirts.  Thanks to whoever donated these!

Seriously though, we have found some really cute stuff.  My favorite being the onesie pajamas!  Of course we dressed all the kids in them last night after we found them.  Here is a picture of most of the kids with them on:

We got them all to sit in a circle!  Well- most of them..  Some were runaways.

Aren't these the cutest ever?  I can't get over it.  A teddy-bear-looking onesie and one with the frog on the back!

Yep.  You’re falling in love with them too, aren’t you?

I’ll have to show you an after picture when it is all done!  But we are organizing all of the donations by putting away what we will use and giving what we won’t use to the store.  Door of Hope owns a store in Johannesburg thats equivalent to our Goodwill.  They put the rest of the donations here and then use all the profit to buy things that we really need- like “nappies” (aka diapers).  It was really neat to see the store.  It also opened my eyes to how much help they need though!  The woman who works there is named Sibbie,  she is literally the sweetest woman!  She was begging me to come back on a day that I’m not working and help her organize and price everything that has been piling up.  Hopefully I will get to do that soon!

We (again- melissa, katlyn and me) have also made a bucket list of things we want to do here before we leave!  One thing being finish organizing that room... but the other things are much more fun.  Like going to the flea market, writing each other letters to read when we get home, going to the top of this tower thing, cook an actual good dinner instead of sandwiches and salads, go to the lion park, and a few things I can’t mention- part of our pact.  But as these get done, I hope to be able to show you the pictures as evidence!  So far we have gotten nothing crossed off our list... Haha but we will soon!

I am learning so much here.  Not just how to change nappies the quickest, how to dry clothes on a line effectively, what silly noises to make to stop the kids from crying, and different tactics to get the kids to open their mouths for the food train (which are all helpful things), but I’m also learning how deep our Father’s love goes.  I know you hear that a lot and its easy to not really dig into it, but when you get a glimpse of it, it is such a beautiful thing.  

God knit together each one of these children.  He made them so fearfully and so beautifully!  He longs for each one of them to get to know Him and fall in love with Him, no matter if they are placed in a Christian home or not.  He is the Father to the fatherless.  And when He says that, it’s not just biological fathers.  He is the ultimate Father, full of love and grace and comfort.  Each person He has created and He knows everything about!  Psalm 139 says, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I set and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know if completely, O Lord.”  Yes, this can be kinda scary that He knows you so well but it can also be super comforting.  He knows all about you, because He made you!  Even if you think you are so dirty and filthy, He still wants your heart and wants you to know Him!  “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” Ezekiel 36:25-26.  He wants to cleanse you with His living water that will go deeps into the depths of your being, even in the driest of places.  That was so hard for me to grasp for so long.  It has taken pretty extreme measures for this to really sink in, but now I feel like a pure daughter of Christ.  The chains from my past are broken, and I do not need to look back and feel guilty for the dirt in my past.  I am cleansed my by creator and I am new.  How beautiful is that?!  PTL (praise the Lord...)

That is what I pray for these children.  That no matter what measures it takes for them to know Christ, that they will be able to feel the freeing feeling of being so loved and so cherished by their creator.  Freedom from this world.  They have such a place in His kingdom and they shouldn’t feel like an orphan because they do not have biological parents in their lives.  God wants each of these children to run to Him and get to know Him.

Geez.  How great is that?  I just had to share that with you guys!  The Lord is moving in this place.

But I should get to grocery shopping so I can walk back before it gets dark (don’t worry dad, I have been very cautious and I have my pepper spray with me).  Thanks for reading this whole post!  I will put some more pictures up next time.  The internet is especially slow today.

Love love love you all,

Kell

Ps- My sister Amy’s birthday was on the 14^th.  Even though I called her a million times, she never picked up AND her voicemail box was full (per usual).  So I never got to wish her a proper happy birthday.  Soooo... Amy- HAPPY 22^nd Birthday!!!!  Pretty please pick up your stinkin phone when it is that random number, I want to talk to you.  Expect a call this afternoon (aka I’ll call you tonight my time).  Love you a whole ton :) Hope your day was amazing and you got to use your pop maker!!  Also, do us all a favor and delete some messages on your phone so we can leave you some love.  Kthanks.

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.  To a nation that did not call my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’  All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations- a people who continually provoke me to my very face.”  Isaiah 65:1-3