photo of the week

i love looking down and seeing this precious girl wrapped to me.

i want to cradle wrap her every day.

God's timing

On our way home from visiting our mamas at the knitting shop we got a call from the children's department saying that there was an abandoned boy and we welcomed baby boy Solomon to haven of Hope!

He is probably 1 1/2 years old, is able to walk, speaks clear Kiswahili, and is very happy to be in a home, clean and dry!

He came to us in a VERY stylish knit orange outfit. nice.

God has been really good in showing us His timing and provision over these kids, the home and ministry. Today we also met and began the fostering of our precious boy Eli. As we are loosing these babies we began to worry what it would be to have so few babies in the home...but the day Hopey met her mother? God blessed us with baby Annabelle. the day we met Eli's parents? here comes Solomon...God gives, and takes away. as the season of caring and loving Eli comes to a close we begin a new season with Solomon.

and seeing Eli's parents confirms that God's plans for these kids are GOOD. They are from Nairobi, both police officers. His father has a great spirit, full of joy, just like his little boy. Eli has a dad to look up to, and follow in his footsteps.

this little boy is so special. Hilarious. Beautiful. Full of complete Joy. and has incredible potential.

I will so miss waking Eli in the morning, seeing his beautiful smile getting hugs and kisses from him. laughing at his funny antics and loving him with my whole heart.

mix of emotions

it has been a very emotional, busy week here at the baby house, experiencing a lot of firsts...the biggest being the first adoption of a haven of hope baby.

little hopey went home this week to be with her forever mama.

having worked in the states with adoption/foster care i have been excitedly waiting to see the process unfold: getting to know hope for who God made her to be, loving her deeply, celebrating with the news of her being approved for adoption, getting chills when reading her mama's file which was immediately sent to us and then watching her bond, and go home with her new family, one that will love her and care for her as their own.

Mama Hope is a young widow who lives in the village who has experienced great loss. She has a lot of love to give and we immediately saw this love for Hopey when Mama first saw her. We are confident that Hope's love, cuddles, laugh and will share Jesus with her new family.

and though it was a very sad, emotional, day i am excited and at peace with knowing that Hope is with her family. which is all i want for her. but wow i will miss this little girl.

me with all my babies and aunties (minus one who was on her off)....

maybe this is God's way of spreading out the "goodbyes" and making it less heartbreaking for me in 5 weeks...eh, probably going to be just as hard. wishful thinking.

taste of oreos

in the care package from steph, she sent me oreos. which are indeed treasured here.

but because i love these kids, when eli and miah were in my room i let them try one.

based on this video...i think they liked it.

awesome.

promise of blessing.

while awake with Annabelle at night i was reading psalm 103.

and started to weep because it says:

"praise the Lord O my soul...who redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion"

this is a promise for this little girl that is incredibly clear.

she was in a literal pit.

God saved her life.

and CROWNS her with love and compassion, the opposite of everything in the pit.

our Father loves her so much he removed her from hell on earth and puts her in warm clothes and blankets, giving her Jesus' love through us, and reminds us of His love, grace and hope every time we look at her.

i love this little one.

photo of the week

Eli is awesome at block building. and he's very proud. and adorable.

Welcome Annabelle!

we are very excited to welcome precious 1 day old baby Annabelle to our haven of hope family!

God saved this beautiful baby out of the pit. we got a call this afternoon from the local police station: a woman found Annabelle in a plastic bag in a pit latrine and dug her out, kept her for the night and then brought her to the police station this morning.

the woman who saved her life is named Ann...Trena and I thought that was one of the final choices of names, when we went to the home, without telling the girls our thoughts, Maggie emphatically said "her name should be Annabelle!" and it indeed fits her well!

auntie jully giving her first bottle when she came home.

She is now clean, dry, and happily sleeping next to me (as hopefully she will continue to do!) she eats very well about an ounce at a time. after going to the hospital for a check-up she is very healthy, just swollen eyes and an infected umbilical cord (which when we got her was tied with yarn. now is clean and clamped) from being in the latrine. with antibiotics should be cleared within the week.

we are blessed to have this little girl and already know God has great plans for her!

off to sleep while she is sleeping!