Growing up whenever I ended a phone conversation with my dad or if he tucked me into bed, he would always ask me, "Boo, how much do I love you?" And I would respond "More than anything in the whole wide world."They are little things like that from your past that stick with you. The nicknames. The expression of love. The little inside jokes. The "one on one" time.
I'm feel like I'm really learning how to build these types of relationships with the kids here at the orphanage: Niños en Victoria.
Robby is one of the cutest little boys I have ever met. He is pure sticks and bones, but has the cutest smile ever. He came to the orphanage wearing dirty rags for clothes, smelled of body odor, had over 300 lice in his hair, and hadn't eaten in a while. He said the most horrible words you can imagine. He flicked people off. Bit people. Spit in faces. Smacked girls butts. You name it and he did it. He has come from a background of abuse and violence, but God has truly done a work in his life and has changed him.
Earlier today I was at the orphanage in the office working on organizing the kids' legal paperwork and one of the older boys brought in Robby crying. Apparently one of the boys had hit Robby in the head. He couldn't stop crying. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say to him. So I just picked him up and hugged him. He is small enough that I was able to sit down and cradle him like a baby. I sat there with him on my lap crying for a good 10 minutes and I prayed for him out loud. After praying he looked up at me and smiled. I told him that I loved him. And I asked him "How much do I love you?" And then I explained to him how I love him more than anything in the whole wide world. Then I told him that Jesus loves him more than anything else in the whole wide world too. And I closed off the conversation by asking Robby, "Who is in my heart?" And I think he got it, because he told me, "Robby and Jesus!" :D
It is so much fun to build these relationships with these kids and truly learn how to love them and help them grow.We are learning so much on the administrative end of how to run a "casa hogar" (orphanage), but I feel that they are the experiences like this one that happen daily that fill me with the joy and excitement of being able to have our own "casa hogar" shortly down the road!
Thank you for your prayers and financial support that allow for me to serve here in Guadalajara!
