Our Berry Amazing Journey: Jesus Loves the Little Children

Our morning began at a bright 6:30 AM as Isaac awoke ready to seize the day! He hopped out of bed and immediately turned to make his bed and brush his teeth! Gaidon woke up wanting to know where Uncle was. Once he found that he was still in bed, he wanted to wake him up. The above pictures show the somersault he did to make this happen! Not long after Gaidon was awake and it was time to make breakfast. It was obvious that once he was up, than everyone else was going to be up too! Mark was the latest riser, but woke up full of joy and ready to go!

We began to make breakfast and the boys were eager for bacon and eggs. Gaidon and Isaac were eager to help in the kitchen, while Mark wanted to run and play outside in the cool Boone air! Isaac knew how to make the eggs and Giadon helped to make muffins for our hike that we were planning to go on (I later burned them because I was so caught up playing with the boys!). It was fun to see John with Isaac working together to make some mini pancakes. Breakfast was yummy! The boys enjoyed it with a heavy coat of Texas Pete for Gaidon and Mark and ketchup for Isaac. No syrup was necessary because hot sauce was good for even the pancakes. They did like the strawberry jam that I had made back in the summer! I had cooked half a pound of bacon, but after the prompting of Gaidon and Mark, I cooked the other half! They loved it.

After breakfast the boys played, sang and wrestled. It was so much fun to listen to the laughing coming from the children. We prepared ourselves to go for a hike with all 16 children and all the other host families that took the day off! Marsha, Jenny, Jarrett, Adam, and myself all took off work to play with the kids! It was well worth it. I heard Jarett say it was the best day off he has ever had! We ran to Wal-mart and grabbed some waters for everyone. The boys enjoyed playing in the buggy and racing.

We joined all other children at the church and enjoyed a little play time inside. We then all hopped on the bus and had a little snack. They loved apples and bananas, but were not too excited about the teddy grahams because they were 'too sweet', as the children would say with crinkled up faces. On the way Gaidon and Little Rose enjoyed wearing Auntie Marsha's sunglasses. He thought he looked like a ninja and was excited to look at his pictures on the camera. We finally arrived. The children were so excited about the idea of seeing a real waterfall. Isaac said he had only seen one in a movie and couldn't wait to see it with his real eyes. I can just hear his little African accent as he spoke. The children all had to take turns going to the bathroom. Once the boys found this out 'Uncle John' showed them the privileges of being a boy--going to the woods! They were laughing and loving this! They all came back yelling and grunting! Such boys--no matter what country or what color their skin is! I love that and think that so many Americans are ignorant of this. They are just like us. Just wrapped in their poverty stricken situations that limit them in their opportunities.

We made our way to the waterfall and the children got so excited once they saw the water. It was hard for everyone around us, that wasn't with our group, to not notice the difference in the children. Many asked questions about where they were from or what they were doing? It was an awesome opportunity. A nice couple took the group picture with about 8 different cameras. They were mesmerized by the excitement of the children. You can see from the pictures how proud Isaac was to see his first waterfall!

On the way back everyone was asleep in a matter of minutes. We traveled back to Boone on the parkway and Gaidon was staring out the window at all the beautiful mountains and trees saying 'Auntie take a picture...take a picture auntie!' We took everyone to Chick-fila and they enjoyed chicken nuggets and french fries. Our boys wanted more and ended up having 9 nuggets each and splitting a second fry! They played in the play center for a with all their friends.They enjoyed their time together with everyone. Everyone in Chick-fila, including a family with some unruly kids were amazed at their incredible behavior!

We ran to the grocery store and got all kinds of fruits that they saw as we we went in the produce section. We had a real coconut at Gaidon's request; a green melon looking thing that he called Elephant fruit. Mark wanted a mango. All three boys loved the mangos and it was a lot of fun watching John and the boys break apart the coconut.

We came home and had dinner. Everyone wanted something different for dinner so I agreed to make both spaghetti and tacos. Mark and Isaac ate up some spaghetti, while Gaidon ate his weight in taco meat. I loved serving those kids. They were so grateful. Isaac kept saying, 'thank you auntie. thank you for everything!' How precious.

They wanted to look at pictures of us as we were married. They loved it. They wanted to know about my rings and why I didn't have them on. They made John go and get them. Isaac said, "In Uganda when you put on a ring- you NEVER take it off.' We looked at pictures from our El Salvador trip and the boys shared things about their homes. Isaac shared how his home was made our of wood and straw and Mark and Gaidon said their floors were dirt. We listened with open hearts as the boys shared their dreams for the future. Isaac wants to be an engineer. He shared on a news story that he hoped to build his mother a home with a roof like the ones he has seen in the United States. Gaidon wants to be a preacher. He preached to us at dinner about how everyone is special. This was prompted by Isaac saying that he was made fun of for being' too black' in his country. Gaidon told him that God made him the way that he was! An eight year old was preaching to an eleven year old about how precious he was in God's sight. Not to mention that Gaidon is an eight year old with nothing. From what he said he lives with a neighbor and his father is dead. He told us that his mother was alive, however he said he doesn't really get to see her because she lives so far away. Gaidon even blessed my soul when he left me this precious letter that is to the left.

Mark seemed to have the most active childhood of them all. He mentioned his father having a laptop and that he had family including his grandfather. I am sure his living situation is not that great since he is sponsored by someone through the World Hope.

As we prayed that night the boys took turns. Isaacs prayer brought me to tears. He prayed in his broken English with a heavy accent: "Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for auntie and uncle who have opened their home to us. Thank you for everything they have done. Please bless them for what they have given to us. amen"