"These three remain"

For the last few weeks we basically moved into the kids' homes because of house parents taking their vacation days back to back. We always have spent a lot of time with the kids, but during these last weeks we've been living with them for a change. First of all, we are so much more appreciative of the work the house parents do. It is tough to handle all these kids at once, and your own children, and feed them, and keep their house and clothes clean, and give everyone your undivided attention. It could get exhausting easily.

One of the last nights we spent in their house, Kelvin took all the kids to the house next door to watch a movie after dinner. I stayed in the house washing dishes and straightening up from dinner. In the busyness of chores, I could hear those kids next door (including the biggest one, Kelvin) playing and laughing so hard and so passionately that it almost brought tears to my eyes! 

What was I doing? Anyone could wash dishes and clean a house, anyone could feed kids and put them to sleep... but not anyone can love unconditionally.

I immediately remembered Paul's love chapter, because sometimes its not easy to show love through the everyday stuff. Sometimes we can get caught up on what we think the necessary is, and we forget that this is how we are making a difference in the kids' lives. Not because we feed them well and give them new clothes, but because we spend time with them and show them we love them, even if they behaved like a pest through out the day.

We don't know much about these children's past; we don't know the conditions they lived in their original homes; we don't know if their families ever held them, read to them or played with them. There's so much uncertainty about what they can remember or not, or if there will be any psychological scars from their past experiences. What we do know is they are in a loving and caring home now, and we will show them this as much as we are able.

1 Corinthians 13:13 " And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." NIV

As long as we serve in this ministry, this will be our prayer. That we'll instill faith in their minds, bring new hope in their hearts, and most importantly, love them unconditionally though out their lives.

Thank you so much for partnering with us to make a difference in these children's lives and those to come yet. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.