not forgotten

Luke and I got to go to a home for kiddos who don't have moms and dads today. It was good for both of us in different ways.

We arrived at the home, and our first impressions were that it was a typical building for where we live: lots of concrete, no greenery at all, old metal playground equipment, kind of depressing. But I did notice it was clean-the outside of the building was covered in white tiles which tend to stave off the grayness that is inevitable for the concrete buildings here.

We went up to hang with some older kids. All of whom had down syndrome. Which was new for my 5-almost-6-year-old. It wasn't comfortable for him, and my normally extremely independent little boy wanted to plant himself on my lap and watch tv. But a friend had brought markers, playdoh and paper, and when the other children started drawing and playing with playdoh, I noticed Luke inching up to the table. He started telling them how good their drawings looked. He took some playdoh to play with it at the table. And then, next thing I knew, he was taking some playdoh over to a girl standing in the corner of the room, rocking by herself. She didn't take the playdoh, but smiled at him. He noticed the little girl that no one else was paying attention to. And gave her what was most valuable to him in the room at that moment. I was touched by my little man and his heart and his courage in what was, to him, an uncomfortable few minutes...

(the picture was not taken at the home--I didn't feel comfortable getting my camera out. I wanted to keep the focus away from the camera...)

Next, we saw the babies. Seven sweet babies. Two healthy babies who have people lined up to adopt them. And five who are ill. One sweet little girl captured my heart. Doctors have said she only has days to live--her liver is not good. She's seven months old, and no one has ever given her a name. I think no one thought she'd survive. And I felt so stirred by that: it seems like society has forgotten her...

But as I prayed for her, I felt that she wasn't forgotten. That her Father hasn't stopped thinking about her for even one second. And so, if she lives on this earth for 7 months and goes to meet her Creator, it'll be a celebration as her Father welcomes her home. His treasure.