Acknowledging Difference

So I take my boys to the library near our house like once a week, and there's a playground nearby, so quite often we find ourselves at the playground. And quite often, we run into people who are intoxicated or on drugs or selling them. True story, I witnessed a drug deal at this play area, a true pass over of drugs and cash all while one of the guys watched his two little girls play with my boys.

But I digress, kind of.

The truth is, I know this stuff goes on there. I know the chances are good that we may strike up a conversation with someone who is intoxicated, and yet, we continue to show up.

Is this a good thing? or a bad thing?

The reality is, I struggle with whether I should be shielding my children from these sights, from this world that is so very different from their own, shooing them away from the things I'd rather they didn't see. And I know every single parent is going to have their own opinion on the matter.

But in all honesty, there has only been one time where I questioned my judgement and wondered if I'd made a bad call by allowing my children to engage with an intoxicated man after he become just a little aggressive. I remember thinking, maybe this was a bad idea? Maybe I should have pulled them away from him? Maybe I shouldn't bring them here at all?

But the truth is, I know that I can't shield my children forever, and ultimately that is what wins out. I want my kids to know difference, to be aware of it, to confront it and acknowledge it. I don't want them to shy away from it.

And it starts with us, their parents. 

As parents it is up to us to not let that fear of difference overtake us, if we steer clear of different or if we give into the fear of it how can we expect our kids to be any different?

It is up to us to cultivate the curiosity, to cultivate the eyes to see that every person has a story. May we stress the importance of listening and responding appropriately to that story, and to the systems that create and perpetuate that difference.

It's up to us to open their eyes to their privilege, to open their eyes to see that it's not about equality but rather equity.

It's up to us to teach our kids to not be blind or apathetic to the injustice that happens all around them, every single day.

It's up to us to teach them how to use their voice, how to use their privilege to advocate and speak on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves or whose voices may not be as loud as ours.

It's up to us teach them about Jesus and the values He lived into during his time on earth and to encourage them to live into them.

It's up to us. No pressure right? In all honesty, it makes me excited to raise up little people who have eyes to truly SEE those they share space with in this world. 

Ultimately, my desire for all of those in my family are that our thoughts and our words are pleasing to the Lord

Psalm 19:14 - May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

And all of this reminds me of one of my favorite books from last year or the year before, Wonder by RJ Palacio. 

Moments like this.

We had a few rainy days last week, and most rainy days I will forget, but this rainy day will live on in my heart forever. We (Jack and I) had such a beautiful day...minus the fact that I had only slept like six hours the night before. I just couldn't put my book down, my fault, and then Jack woke up around 6:30, not fun, but such is life right?

On this rainy morning, my son asked me to dance with him for the first time. He grabbed my hand and said.."Mama, dance!" How could I possibly refuse this little person? So we turned the music on, busted out the instruments and gave it all we had. And dance we did, in fact I danced my heart out and he loved every moment of it. My dancing moves are nothing to imitate, but he was stomping right there with me. And he laughed, and laughed and laughed...and before I knew it we were both just laughing and the room was filled with so much joy. And my heart was so incredibly full as I watched him twirl around the room shaking his little maraca and pounding his feet to the rhythm. I wanted to stop time.

This moment was so beautiful and magical, and I felt so honored to be able to share it with him. I was so overwhelmed with thankfulness and I just couldn't bring myself to hold back the tears. I threw my arms up to the Lord and let the tears of joy stream down my face. I just closed my eyes, hoping that somehow I could bottle up this emotion and this gratitude and thankfulness to the Lord and this joy to bust out on another rainy day.

The thing is...being a mom is hard. It's tiring, exhausting, and you never feel as though you are good enough. You second guess yourself, each decision, each choice. I mean I've never done this before. I have no idea what I'm doing, but it's the moments like this that get me through the hard days. I love being a mom. I love these sweet, sweet moments that will forever be etched in my heart and in my mind.

I love the joy this sweet boy brings to my life. I mean I knew joy before him...my husband and I were happily married and laughter filled our home, but I wish you could see our home now. This little person fills us with so much joy and reminds us what it really means to be childlike. I thank you child for that childlike joy you bring to our lives...you wanted to dance, so we danced, you wanted to jump in puddles, so I put my rain boots on so we could do it together.

Thank you Jesus for these moments. Thank you Jesus for these 21 months with our son. Thank you Jesus for life, for health, for moments like this.

See, a friend of a friend suffered a tremendous loss recently. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy a few weeks early, only to have to say goodbye to him 5 hours after his arrival. The grief, the pain I feel for her is simply indescribable. My body aches for her...for the loss of a dream, for the loss of her child...for the loss of moments like this. What a tremendous loss. And the sad thing is, I know she's not alone...there are so many others that have lost their children whatever the cause may be.

So this morning, when my 21 month old son grabbed my hand and said mama ...dance, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Who am I to deserve these 21 months with this sweet, sweet boy? Who am I to deserve this joy? How blessed am I to have a little boy wake me up at 6:30 by shouting mama from his crib? How blessed am I to hold this little person's hand...to change his diaper...to feed him...to raise him...to have him call me mama.

I don't deserve any of this...and yet I'm living it. What an absolute privilege it is.

Thank you Jesus! May I continue to see each day as a gift...may Your Spirit lead me ...and may I continue to call upon Your name always, in the joyful times and in the darkest days. And may our love for each other and our love for You bring honor and glory to Your name.

And so I leave you with this. This is the song that set me over the edge when Jack and I were dancing. So when we sang this song at church today, I lost it all over again.

The Chorus.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. 
Let me walk upon the waters. 
Wherever You would call me.
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander. 
And my faith will be made stronger.
In the presence of my Savior. 

I will call upon Your name
Keep my eyes above the waves.
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine. 

Sunday School.

Peter and I taught Sunday school this past Sunday, and it truly was a Sunday I will never forget!  The kids were in rare form, and they didn't want to listen to either of us.  We had a plethora of first moments - I had to separate children (never done that in Sunday School before), and confiscate toys (that's no fun, but they were fighting over them, and it was driving me CRAZY), and last, but definitely not least, Peter changed his first diaper!!  So proud of him!  I am still trying to figure out how this man made it to the lovely age of 31 without changing a single diaper.  He has somehow managed to avoid all opportunities up until now, and this time he simply couldn't get out of it.  Makes me smile just thinking about it - I am terrible I know!

Let me tell you how it went down, as I am sure you are just dying to hear it right?  Well, the morning started off as any other Sunday school morning.  We were doing a craft, after story time had failed miserably on my part - the kids just wouldn't listen!  And they were fighting with each other and stealing each other's toys - and I couldn't handle it! So story time ended a bit prematurely, but the kids weren't phased at all.

So back to the diaper story...we were doing a craft, and this little guy jumps off his seat and crawls under the table (resuming pooping position, I'm sure!).  He is stretched out on his tummy - just hanging out!  I thought something might be up - I mean he had never done this before.  And when Peter asked him if he was okay, he looked at him slightly teary eyed.  He eventually crawled out from under the table and sat in Peter's lap for awhile.  I started to smell something a little out of the ordinary - so I asked Peter to ask said child if he needed to go to the bathroom.  He sweetly replied no, he was fine!

Well turns out he wasn't fine!  Next thing we know, little boy has put his hand down his pants, and pulled out some little brown treasures.  He turned to Peter and showed him his hand and declared, "UH OH!"  Peter panicked a bit in that moment - bless his heart.  I sweetly smiled at him and said..."it's all you!"  So Peter took him to the bathroom, but he couldn't find diapers, so he just washed the little guys hands and scraped the brown stuff out from under his little fingernails.

And they came back to the classroom with boy still wearing dirty diaper - Peter thought his job was done, but little did he know it was just beginning!  I insisted that he change the diaper, and I knew just where they were.  Please keep in mind the boy is three - so he is most definitely walking and talking!  I mean what do you do in this case?  Do you put the child up on a changing table?  That just seemed weird!  So Peter took the boy back into the bathroom, with the plan that he would just pull the diaper off him while he was standing up.  Sounds like a good plan right? Well it would have been if  my darling husband could have found the tabs on the sides (perhaps the kid was wearing pampers? - hence no tabs), but he couldn't find them - so the diaper came down over the little boys socks.  And let's just say the little boy somehow managed to put his little sock covered foot directly onto his dirty diaper before it made it's way off him!  So now Peter had a dirty diaper and a dirty sock on his hands.

So what did he do?  Well he disposed of the diaper and packaged up that dirty sock in a little bag for the boy to take home!  And he came back into our classroom looking pretty pleased with himself.  Gosh I love that man!!

I am literally laughing just thinking about all of this!  While Peter was changing diapers I was confiscating toys, separating children, and dealing with the highly emotional ones. Who knew two hours with multiple 3 year olds could be so draining, yet so entertaining?  Can't wait till next time!!

Xoxo,

Malia

Newlywed Group.

As I was searching for pictures for this post...this lovely picture of Jessica and Nick popped up, and I just couldn't resist the urge to use it for this post! Gosh don't you remember this show? I know I DO! BUT ...the catch is...they are no longer newlyweds and they are no longer married! I can't even imagine having cameras follow me around all day ...taping EVERYTHING...my best moments and my absolute worst. Gosh I can be crazy sometimes...and how terrible would it be to have my crazy moments taped so that I could replay them over and over again! But this post isn't about Jessica and Nick Lachey and their Newlywed show or my crazy moments. This post is about our newlywed group...and beautiful marriages and families that are true reflections of Christ.

So ever since Peter and I got married we have been yearning to join some type of a newlywed group through our church, but our church at the time was restructuring groups...so we waited, and waited and a whole year went by and we received an email asking us if we were still interested in joining a group. We replied enthusiastically with a yes..yes..yes...BUT we have been married over a year now. Soo..the big question is...How long do you have to be married before people stop considering you newlyweds?

Well Peter and I officially joined a newlywed group a few months ago, and it has been such a true blessing! I don't even know where to begin...the couples in the group have only been married a few months. So we definitely have been married the longest, but they gave us the go ahead and said that even after a year we are still newlyweds!! So we figured we would stay in the group!!

We have met about 6 times now and begin each session by eating together! I must say one of my absolute favorite parts about our group is the couple that leads it and their beautiful daughters!! Oh my goodness...it has been such a joy to be around such beautiful and joyful children. As some of you may know I wasn't one for babysitting growing up and even now I am not surrounded by children ...and I miss it. But then I think how can I miss something I have never really had?? Well let me tell you...when Tuesday rolls around I am excited to get to the Werner's to see the girls!...don't get me wrong I love the adults, but THESE. KIDS. ARE. PRECIOUS. And their joy is contagious...I find myself yearning for one of them to sit by me during dinner...I find myself stretching out my hand to theirs...I find myself laughing at their little jokes...and longing for them to laugh at mine...I find myself making far too many silly faces...and I even find myself getting a LITTLE jealous when they are paying attention to someone else.

But more importantly...I truly find myself admiring their parents, Tiffany and Jonathan, for their strength, for their love for their family and our God, and for their willingness to host a group at their house even amidst all the goings on in their own lives!!! So let me just take a moment to enlighten you on the goings on...They just recently moved to a different house to be closer to Children's Hospital because this past January, at the tender age of 4, their daughter Michaela was diagnosed with leukamia. My heart breaks just thinking about this to be honest...and I barely know these people!! I should also add that Tiffany, the mom, was 7 months pregnant when this news broke and gave birth to Emily March in...MARCH. And please ALSO keep in mind that they have an older daughter Madeline, whose 8th birthday is right around the corner!

I could type all day about this family...BUT i won't. I just want to say that Peter and I have been blessed so abundantly by this group, by the beautiful Werner family, and by Tiffany and Jonathan's honesty...and if you are interested in hearing more about this family...Tiffany keeps a blog and she writes beautifully even if she may not know it!

I am a PROUD Wife!

And because I am a proud wife I post things like this on our blog... So as many of you know my husband, Peter, works for an organization called Children of the Nations (COTN), and they just recently launched a new component on their website... a fundraising page where you can go and read about the work Peter is doing at COTN. I am extremely proud of my husband and his work with COTN and wanted to share it with ALL OF YOU!! This past May we visited Malawi and Uganda - two of the countries Peter works closely with seeing as he is the country liaison for both countries - and it was such a blessing to be able to meet the people he talks about and to see the development projects he is working on!! These projects truly are soo important...people are soo poor and they are in dire need of income generating opportunities.

SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO AND WITHOUT BABBLING TOO MUCH... DO US BOTH A FAVOR AND CHECK OUT THE LINK and let me know if you are interested in hearing more!

http://www.cotni.org/staff/peter-drennan

If you have any questions or want more information please do not hesitate to ask!

Lately.

This past week, Peter and I met with the widows again and learned even more about COTN’s widows program. We were able to see two homes of the women involved in the program. One of them, Wezzi, was a graduate, and she was caring for her 5 children plus the child of a relative, so 6 children total. When we entered her home, my first thought was “this place is HUGE!” Of course it’s all relative, but her house had about 5 rooms – one for cooking, storing food, one for herself, one for the boys, one for the girls and then she also had a living room with one couch. Wezzi had saved enough money to build her home and put a metal roof on it to protect them when the rain’s came. Before the program her profit was 500 Kwacha per month (about $3.5) and after the program her profit increased to 2,000 Kwacha per month (about $14). It was amazing because she has been able to save money each month and she has even set aside extra for finishing the house. The other women that were there said that Wezzi’s story truly encouraged them and gave them hope for their future! Heck, the girl gave me hope. She showed me what strength, courage, faith, perseverance and determination could accomplish, and I felt extremely empowered through her.

The second home we went to belonged to Eunice Moses. She lived in this tiny house with her last born son. The house was truly two rooms - one room for the kitchen, living room, dining room, etc, and another room for sleeping. The roof was made of straw and during the rainy season rain comes in from all sides flooding the small space. And to top it all off, Peter said he saw a rat!

Their hope for the future is that the graduates will be able to loan money to the women who are just starting off in order to help them start their businesses. Thus both parties will benefit, the person loaning the money will get their money back with interest while the other person receives money they wouldn’t otherwise have received. Such a cool concept, one I believe they thought up on their own!

We bid them farewell and to be honest I was really sad to leave. Some of them hugged me soo hard, and I got a little chocked up! I will miss their beautiful singing, even though there were times when I truly thought it would never end, thus my questions would never be asked or answered. I will miss their willingness to talk to a stranger and their passion for empowerment and each other.

On Saturday morning we spent time with our family in Mgwayi. I always get a little nervous about our time because the family doesn’t speak English and they always have us doing interesting tasks! To be honest though, I love that COTN has paired us up with a family that we keep going back to. It has been such an amazing experience to get to know the mothers and the children in the village, and I love being involved in some of their daily tasks. So the moms name is Crissy and she has 4 kids – Ruth, Lute, Grace and Andrew. Her husband passed away awhile back and only one of the children, Grace, is sponsored through COTN.

So this Saturday we sat around with all the women and children and husked the corn and took the corn bits off the cob with our thumbs. I must say it was hard work sitting for that long and it was so hard on our soft thumbs! Peter got a little blister early on which prohibited him from continuing the task, but I kept on like a champion and pushed the pain from my thumbs to the back of my mind. I just kept thinking “gosh these women do this kind of stuff ALL the time – I can’t just give up!” Even when Dave and Pike (COTN staff that came with us) told me to give it up and kept checking on my thumbs I just said, “Don’t worry, I’m fine!” Well needless to say, I competed my task and all I had to show for it was a huge blister on my right thumb.

It was a great day and we sat around while the kids asked us tons of questions about America, such as what do the girls our age do? My response…umm?? Not chores like this! The girls here work soo hard and they help their mothers with EVERYTHING from cooking, to cleaning, to washing, to caring for siblings. Makes me feel as though we don’t do enough back home.

Sunday we went to church, which was of course longer than Peter and I are use to, but it was okay because we were expecting it! It wasn’t crazy like I thought it might be. The pastor spoke in English and then someone translated his words to Chichewa. We didn’t get home till about 2 in the afternoon and then spent the rest of the afternoon playing games with the COTN secondary students. All in all it has been a wonderful week and it is hard to believe our time will be ending soon!!

Villages.

Our time in Malawi has been soo busy and our schedule has been so very full! But I am finding bits of time here and there where I can write a little something for the blog. However, it is always so very delayed. So what you have in front of you is simply a brief description of the happenings from this past week, not including Friday, Saturday, Sunday – those will be for another post!

The past few days have been spent visiting people’s gardens and the various children’s villages. The majority of people in Malawi are subsistence farmers. Thus, many Malawians possess farming skills. So COTN is trying to build upon those skills by encouraging new methods and crop diversity, in hopes of improving yields, food security and profits. It was truly amazing to see all the things that can grow here. Most gardens have tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, mustard, papaya, sweet potatoes, cassava, maize, basil, pumpkin, bananas, sugar cane and beans. Tobacco and tomatoes are the most profitable crops here in Malawi. And we were even allowed to take a few treasures home with us, such as a spitting cucumber, mustard leaves and a papaya.

On Wednesday we visited Mtsiliza and 575 kids are involved in the feeding program in this village. I believe about 300 are currently fully sponsored. All the children gathered in one room with their bowls/plates and we were introduced to them, and then peter and I were able to participate in the daily feeding. Let me tell you the cooking pots that the food was in were HUGE!! They served them their staple food nsima and soy meat. Peter was in charge of making sure the kids washed their hands and I was in charge of serving the meat. The kids kept coming and I kept thinking oh no what if we run out of food? But these women do this EVERY single day so they know what they are doing! Wish I could help with that task every day really. The children are beautiful and it hurts to see their discolored hair, their distended bellies, and their hair loss – all signs of malnourishment.

Yesterday (Thursday), we visited Chilombo, which is another COTN village. While Mtsiliza is minutes away, Chilombo is a village out in the boonies. Well its not THAT far away, but it did take us nearly 45 minutes to get there by car. By bike it takes nearly 2 hours. COTN came into Chilombo only 3 years ago, and I believe nearly 300 children are involved in the program. The school building collapsed a few months ago during the raining season, so they have all of their classes outside and when the rains come class is canceled. It was a blessing to be able to visit another village, and the children are as beautiful as ever.

On Thursday we went to Chitipi again to visit the children’s home and to see the farm. I think I may have mentioned in a previous post that COTN has two farms, Chitipi farm and Chichere farm. Chitipi is a 12 acre farm, while Chichere is a 350 acre farm. At Chitipi they have chickens, pigs, maize, cassava, etc. We have yet to see Chichere, but plan on visiting it in the next week! There are two kids in particular that stole our hearts at Chitipi – Steven and Esther. Steven has been at the home since he was nearly 2, he is now 4, and Esther has been at the home since she was 4 months old I believe, and she is now 20 months. Their first memories will be at this home and they won’t remember anything before that. I met Stevens grandmother at Mtsiliza, which is where she lives and she remembers him of course, but Steven does not have any memories of her. I guess she has visited him a few times, but the distance is quite far without a car. Steven is a ton of fun and a ball of energy! And Esther’s mom died in childbirth, and her dad wasn’t able to care for her. She is still such a baby, but so beautiful. All of these children have such sad stories and it makes me soo thankful that they have a place to live!

Welcome to Malawi.

So peter and I have arrived in Malawi! It was quite the journey getting here! We woke up really early Sunday morning – about 12:15 AM to get to the airport for 2:30 because we had a flight to catch at 5:10 AM. So we were hassled about all the luggage we were carrying and told that we were going to have to pay money for the extra weight. Well that’s terrible news. So we packed our carry-ons as full as we could and ended up paying $72 for the COTN bags we were carrying! It was a bummer and the whole ordeal nearly caused us to miss our flight.

Our first full day in Malawi was spent in Mgwayi village. COTN has been working in this village for only three years, but it is really close to Njewa, where we are staying so we were able to walk there. We were paired up with a family – so we met all the members of the family – 5 children and one mom. We saw where they lived and we had little chores – I cleaned the floor by applying more mud to it, interesting concept I know! And then Peter and I were sent to the market with money and some words on a paper and we were asked to buy the necessary goods! I must say I really enjoyed that part…trying to sort out which vegetables were which in Chichewa. So we learned that matimati are tomatoes, nsomba is fish, ufa is corn flour, anyesi is onion, mchere is salt, and mafuta ophikira is oil. Then to finish off the adventure, we went back to the village and cooked some food!!

Today (Tuesday) Peter and I were separated and I must say I didn’t like it much! I mean it was fun to come back and share stories with him, but it just wasn’t the same. Maybe it was because I was the ONLY Azungu in the village today, and it is a little embarrassing to have EVERY single child in the village holler at you, stare at you, and run to see you. Also, I made a baby cry today for the second day in a row! All I did was get a little closer than they liked and waahh…waahhh…I didn’t know what to do!! Should I pick the baby up? Or will that just make them cry harder…how do I get myself OUT of this situation…most of the time I just laugh. Another time I touched a child’s hand and she wiped her hand off…hmm really?? I swear my hand was clean so that couldn’t have been why she wiped it….no she wiped it because it’s a WHITE hand.

So today peter stayed back at Njewa and the COTN office so he could meet with some COTN Malawi staff members. Fun, FUN, Fun! While I traveled a short distance to a village called Mtsiliza, where COTN has been working for 13 years. I spent all day meeting the widows involved in the widows program. It was really something to hear all of their stories. I was extremely encouraged by their grace, their sense of community, and their sense of empowerment. My only concern in regards to the program is its sustainability. They said they rely tremendously on outsiders from the West coming in to buy their products, and that they have not been able to find a market for their goods in Malawi. So when teams from the states visit Malawi they quite often buy things from the widows, thus their only clients are foreigners. All in all it’s a wonderful program and it empowers the women by providing them with skills to start their own businesses.

Leaving Thoughts.

So we are on our way out of Lira and I am typing this in the backseat of the truck. Figured it would be easier to type than it would be to write in a journal! So here I am…reflecting on the past week and my heart is aching.

We had a wonderful day yesterday (Friday). Our driver, Jimmy, and the Sponsor Coordinator, Hardson, took us to see the medical clinics in town. The first one, Gift Life Clinic, is the clinic they take the children to, and there is only one doctor and he told us he sees 100 patients per day! Crazy talk huh? It truly has been amazing to hear about the number of children who have lost both their parents to HIV/AIDS. It is rampant, and everyone has been touched by the disease in some way. So many young lives lost, so many children left without parents, siblings.

While we were talking to the doctor, two men brought in a woman who was probably in her early 20s and laid her down on the hospital bed where she remained for the entire duration of our conversation. The room was soo small that there was no room for Jimmy and Hardson to sit, thus I was hyper aware of the sick woman lying on the bed. My heart yearned to reach out to her, but 2 men were literally standing in my way. I yearned to know her story, to hear her cries. I yearned to hold her hand, to pray for her. The conversation continued between us and the doctor while the woman laid there with her eyes closed. She looked so peaceful, yet she was probably in so much pain. I wanted to break down right then and there and cry out to the Lord for this injustice. Instead, I said a quiet prayer to the Lord and briefly placed my hand upon the woman’s as I was walking out the door.

The Gift Clinic was seriously overflowing with people. So many babies were crying, people were sick with malaria, HIV/AIDs and they were so very tired. People were sitting on the ground outside waiting for their turn to come, waiting for a seat to open up inside, waiting for the doctor. Always waiting…It was a sad, sad place, but aren’t hospitals always?

The second place we went to was the clinic the children will soon be going to considering the Gift Life clinic is seriously overcrowded and the children have to wait ages to see the Doctor and some even get more sick just from simply being at the clinic. It truly was like night and day to be honest! According to Hardson, this second clinic was started and supported by white people. There were so many white coats, however, there is only one doctor, and more than 50 nurses. The facility itself is much bigger, thus they can accommodate so many more people.

In the afternoon we went to the Children’s Village for the final time. I was able to see the little 5 year olds…Pasca, Monica, Peter, and Patricia (AKA Grumpity Grump). Oh how I love them…oh how my heart breaks for ALL of them. They are so young. They sang us some beautiful songs, recited bible verses, and danced and laughed with us. Then came a time for Peter and I to share, while someone translated. Peter stayed composed while he shared and said everything I would have said, and then they asked to hear something from me. I couldn’t even bring myself to share and the few words I did share were said between tears and gasps for air. So many little eyes were staring at me while I shared my love for them, while I thanked them for their warm welcome and their love, while I squeezed the beautiful Pasca who was sitting in my lap. And I cried harder. I cried even harder when I saw the tears in Peter’s eyes. I cried for their loss…the loss of their parents, the loss of their innocence, the loss of a childhood, the loss of normalcy. These children have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS. They have lost their parents due to the LRA and the fighting. They have lost their siblings to HIV/AIDS and abduction. They have lost their innocence due to rape and HIV/AIDS infection. I cried for their joy amidst the loss. I cried for their transformation that has already occurred and will continue to occur. I cried for the Lord’s redeeming work in their lives. My heart ached as the tears streamed down my face, however, my tears were not only tears of sorrow but also tears of thankfulness. It truly has been such a blessing and honor to witness the beautiful hand of God and the beautiful work of Children of the Nations in Uganda, and for that I will be forever grateful.