This has been a very exciting week for us.  Not all weeks are like this.  Some times you go day to day with the same old stuff, same old routine, nothing to write home about.
But, oh, this week has been full of different emotions, excitement and joy mixed with some sadness, feelings I didn't thing about when we started a girls home.

Ndoto feeling very determined to figure out how this puzzle works. 

All of our girls at Mara Girls Home are settling in and couldn't be happier right not.  I'm sure a clean bed, three meals a day and fresh water are helping with that.  One little girl (Ndoto) that came from another village just keeps smiling and giggling  It's very contagious!  I had never met her before but I am completely in love with her.  I'm sure if you heard her giggle and saw her determination to try things she has never tried before, you would melt too.

Ndoto showing off her new clothes.

The day we opened the home we invited the guardian or parent to bring the child and to see for her/himself where the child will be staying.  One parent came with her daughter and first thing handed me the death certificate for the girls father.  That was very sobering.

Savannah explaining how the floor puzzle works.

An older girl we invited to stay at Mara Girls brought a few cousins and friends to see where she would be staying.  The look on those girls faces broke my heart.  I'm sure inside they were excited for their friend, but they seemed very down hearten that they would not be staying as well.  That was such a mixture of emotion for me, as well as for those girls I'm sure.
At that moment I realized,  I can't take all the girls.  As I go about in the village or go to church and I see those little faces of the girls that won't be coming to stay at Mara Girls, and I get that sad little face looking at me, I feel so broken.


So, its a mixture of feelings, excitement and sadness.  We will keep praying that God will send us the girls that He has planned for us, the girls that don't have a safe place to call home.  For now, I am so thankful for the these sweet and innocent girls that God has brought us to care for!  Each moment with them is a gift for which I am so thankful!

They got it done!

This week we also finished putting in the playground for our school and community. We are so thankful for the VBS kids at my sister's church that gave for that!  I am amazed that those kids gave so much and I hope that they will see and know just how much their gift means to the kids in this village!

I've waited for this day since I was a young girl.  I've wondered what their sweet faces would be like, where they would come from and what their names are.  I have prayed for them without knowing their names.  I have prayed and hoped that God would lead me in the right direction to meet these sweet girls.  Today we open Mara Girls Home!

As I look back on the journey God has had me on, I'm so thankful!  I see God's hand in my life so strongly.  He has given me a wonderful husband, who loves Jesus and is working hard for HIS name. He has given me 4 beautiful girls of my own to love and teach about Jesus.  He has given me my heart's desires to be a wife, a mother and a missionary.  I couldn't as for more in my life.

The excitement is brewing in my heart to get to know these girls God is sending our way today.  My deepest prayer for them is that they will know Jesus and the love He has for them.  May we be His hands, His feet and His messenger as we love these girls with the love of Christ.

 I have decided to follow Jesus

No turning back no turning back 

The world behind me the cross before me  

No turning back no turning back 

Though none go with me still I will follow 

 No turning back no turning back 

In whatever you do today...would you be His hands...His feet...His messenger...showing His love to all those around you?

I know the lady that lives behind this door.  She built this house with her own hands.  She carried the branches and sticks to build the frame.  She mixed together the mud and manure with her hands and put in on the walls.  She worked hard for weeks and weeks to make it perfect for her family.

This lady is a good friend of mine.  God saved her years ago and she has walked closely by Him ever since.  She has walked through valleys and hike up mountains and her faith remains strong.  She works hard every day to feed her family, plus many others who may come her way.  She never complains or gives up because she knows the One who sustains her will not let her go.  She preservers and stands strong against any cultural traditions that may offend her God.

I can't say enough about this lady.  She knows where her eternal home is...with Jesus in heaven.  She knows and lives in such a way that reflects that in her life.

What if you lived behind this door?  What would your life reflect?