It's the Little Things...

     It's the little things like listening to a six-year-ld girl sing out loud as she bathes in the morning before church, helping a child hand wash his clothes, singing random songs to the top of my lungs while we clean the dining hall, seeing the children hide under the covers when I come in at 5:30 in the morning singing songs to wake them up. It's learning how to cook pancakes over an open fire. It's taking silly pictures with fish before we cook them for dinner. It's finger painting with a bunch of highschoolers. It's having a child giggle as she jumps into my arms. It's toast and strawberry jelly for breakfast. It's understanding a new word in Cebuano. There are so many "little things" that evolve into a big picture. It's when God uses those little moments to encourage me and to remind me why I'm here.
    I hae continued to ask God why He brought me back here. One morning this week, I was sitting in our room journaling and God told me, "daughter, I brought you here to love the children...to show them my love." That may seem like a simple and obvious answer, but to me it was really encouraging and exactly what I needed to hear. I love children. I love their smiles, laughs, interesting questions, watching them use their imagination and watching them discover new things. I love hearing them sing out praises to Jesus. No matter what the language barriers are, children will shout out the name "Jesus!" It's incredible.
    This week has been a lot smoother now that we have gotten used to our schedule. We started a new project renovating the orphanage's library. It's every future teacher's dream...so many children's books to sort through. It's been fun already. The other day we went into Ace Hardware(you can imagine the stares we had). We bought supplies to sand the walls to get ready to paint. It's going to be a fun activity.
    Wednesday Jennifer and I went with Ate Susan and her daughter to the market. It was such a cool experience. We watched her as she picked out all of the fruits and vegetables, spices and fish that she needed to cook for the children throughout the week. We went to many different vendors and collected all of the things she needed. It's nothing like a trip to WalMart(it didn't take nearly as long). My family knows that trips to WalMart with my mom and I are day-long adventures. :) When we got back to the orphanage, we began to prepare the fish. She asked us if it was okay for us to touch the fish and we said, "yes," not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. We cleaned the fish, gutted the fish, took pictures with the fish, and fried the fish. It was definitely an experience. Ate Susan is such a fun person to be around. She's my mom's age and treats me like one of her daughters. She remembers my favorite meals from last summer and cooks them a lot. She's such an encouragement to me.
   I've started my own recipe bok: this week I added Pabolon(aka: cookie crumble). It's flour, sugar and margarine in a frying pan plus powdered milk mixed together. Four delicious ingredients mixed together makes for a delicious treat. See what I mean? It's the little things.
    Friday we did a Bible study at a nearby home. There were about 4 or 5 adults and about 10 children. We had prepared a study from Matthew 6:25-34 about not being anxious. We did not know the family's circumstances until we arrived and when we asked, they said they were worried about financial problems. It was completely God that worked through that Bible study and gave us the words to say. God continued to give us scripture throughout the evening to share with them. It was awesome! After Bible study, we made pancakes for a snack. I sat on the floor over an open fire trying to make the best pancakes possible. I did manage to make a Mickey Mouse pancake which tickled the children. Then they asked me to make Goofy, so I just resorted to Mickey and circles. I told them I would have to practice on Goofy.
    Another sweet moment happened the other day. I was getting ready to leave for community outreach and one of the little boys at the orphanage whispered in my ear, "please don't go home again." It's not even close to time for us to leave again, so this was really hard for me to hear. It's God reminder to me that I am a part of their family.
   God has continued to encourage me throughout the week and has shown me scripture to lift up my spirit. Romans 12:9-12 has been in my mind this week. It says to "rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." I've definitely had to do that lately. I have gotten down at times, but I'm in God's word and in constant communication with Him.

                               Melanie and I cooking rice at a home Bible study.

Chrezty and me.

   Again, I thank you all for the prayers. They are felt here for sure. I ask that you continue to pray for my team and I as we teach in the school, go into the nearby communities and villages, and are with the children at the orphanage. God is definitely working here!