All in a Day's Love...

I know, I know, the phrase is usually "all in a day's work"... but today I don't feel like I worked as much as I was given opportunities to love and be loved. And sometimes love hurts, if the ones you love are hurting, or hungry, or sick, or dirty, or lonely. 

Today's opportunities of love included...

~meeting the rest of Esther's family. I spent a lovely hour visiting in their home. I was so humbled to learn that they pray for me daily, that God would bless me and that He would protect me. They are very concerned for me that I live alone as that's a foreign concept to many Haitians. Many families live in a one room building or at least have several family members in the same bedroom. It was sweet to be loved on by them, and I am humbled to hear them pray that God would bless me, as I see them working so hard just to feed and clothe their family.

~hugging orphans. I had the incredible privilege of going to the orphanage today to take care of some sick kiddo's. As I climbed the steep hill to the orphanage, I could hear the children laughing and playing. It was beautiful. While there, Mari Tares, a sweet little girl of five with red highlights in her hair from malnutrition, climbed up into my arms to just hug me and smile at me. I want to keep her and let her know she's loved every moment of every day (and to stuff her full of yummy protein rich foods). They have 7 new kids there now, all orphaned during the recent earthquake. 

~treating sick kids. While there, a couple of the kids needed some medical attention. I had arrived with several meds, but I need to go back tomorrow as I realized that another girl has a fever and another has a wound that needs further care. Madame Soliet, the amazing orphanage director, looked tired. She has 58 children and only 5 workers. She made time in her day to sit with me and talk. How sweet! In the midst of telling me about the orphans, a deaf man came to the door. She welcomed him in, greeted him (by waving, and he saluted me-- how sweet!), and mentioned to me that sometimes he seems very hungry and she feeds him. She proceeded to tell me about an asylum for the very poor in our town. The people who live there have no family (kind of a rare thing in Haitian culture) and no jobs. She told me of how dirty it is and how hungry they are. And out of their meager stores from the orphanage, she tries to share food with them. She looked me in the eye and said, "We have nothing. But they need it more." Wow. I am amazed at her generosity. I am overwhelmed by the need.

~Visiting the very poor. After the orphanage, a friend and I went to the Asylum. We were greeted very enthusiastically by an orphan. He's about 13, has cognitive deficits (doesn't know his own name or age), and a crippled left foot and arm. He ran up to us, grinned, and hugged me so tightly, leaving a dusty print on my shirt and an imprint on my heart. They heard that we were nurses, so they brought out a very thin, frail, elderly woman with a fever and a man with a horribly swollen leg for us to look at. I have been told that the town supplies this home with food. I hope so. I feel that my time with them is not yet done.

Sometimes the need is overwhelming here. And so is the sweet spirit of these people... a family struggling to get by that prays for a little missionary and worries about her, orphans who laugh and hug and play so freely, and a crippled, orphaned boy who runs over to a strange white girl to hug her.

All in a day's love.