Lately, I've had the great pleasure of seeing several of the children in my baby house get adopted or reunited with family. It's such a blessing to witness and be a part of the adoption ceremonies. I see these kids who I've come to know and love with their new parents. More often than not they're sitting quietly and acting shy (which is generally very out of character). The ceremonies are always a mix of emotions for all involved. They are full of laughter, singing, tears, and, most of all, joy. Joy for the creation of a new family. Joy for God's promises being fulfilled. Joy for another child with a hope-filled future. I love adoption days. They are the reason we do what we do at Beautiful Gate. However, they are the special days. They only happen once in a while. They aren't the bulk of what we do. While our purpose is helping to create forever families, our means of doing that is taking care of the least of these day in and day out.
The truth of the matter is the only way we can help create forever families is to have kids that require a need for a forever family. I consistently pray that the number of kids we have on campus will decrease. As a child care provider it's sort of an odd prayer because I'm essentially praying myself out of a purpose for being here, but the alternative seems like a worse thing to pray for. Nevertheless, God continues to lead new children to us and I realize there's still work to be done. It's always kind of strange for me when new kids arrive. I never know how to feel. On the one hand, it's a child. I love children, so I'm excited at the idea of getting to know and love this particular child. I'm thankful that we can provide for child needs and that he or she has a safe place to live now. On the other hand, I think about what the child may have gone through in order to end up with us at Beautiful Gate. Did his mother die in childbirth? Was she abandoned? Do they have any living relatives at all? When I think of the circumstances that must occur for a child to come to Beautiful Gate it almost feels wrong to be grateful for their presence. But I remind myself that's why we are here. I think about how much worse off the child could be if he or she wasn't at Beautiful Gate. And I remember that God has a perfect plan, regardless of how bleak or unfair it seems to me.
Over the past month or so, in addition to seeing some of my kids be adopted or reunited, we've also welcomed two little boys into our Khotso 1 family. The first boy, probably about 4 years old, came about a month ago. Neither my house mother nor myself were expecting his arrival. It had been a normal day for the most part and we were just finishing up dinner with the kids when 'M'e Matsukulu came into the house with a child I didn't recognize in tow. She said several things to my house mother in Sesotho that I didn't understand. Shortly after she left, leaving the child with us. Before I could ask what happened, my house mother was undressing the boy and taking him to the bathroom for a bath. That's when I knew he was one of ours. Those first few days he was very quiet and fairly emotionless. Until then I'd really only seen babies come to Beautiful Gate. This boy was old enough to understand he was in a new, unfamiliar place with new, unfamiliar people though. He didn't play with the other kids, he didn't say anything, and he hardly ate unless we physically fed him. Like anything, though, the transition took time. Now he laughs, jabbers, sings, and plays with the rest of the kids. He feeds himself and makes a huge mess while doing it. He comes up to me while I'm sitting on the couch, gets right in my face, and says a lot of gibberish and makes faces at me. All things considered, he's a happy child. This past week we got the second new little addition to our house. He's a two year old boy and he acts very similarly to the way the first boy did when he first arrived. This time around I'm confident he will eventually get accustomed to life at Beautiful Gate, but he needs time, care, and lots of love.
When I think about how different the first little boy is now compared to when he arrived, I'm reminded of my purpose. Though I could never imagine going through what most of these kids have in their young lives, I know that God has called and equipped me to love them well and to help prepare them for what He has planned next. It will help me walk into my baby house tomorrow, pick up that little two year old boy and whisper in his ear, "Hey little man, I love you. Jesus loves you. Everything's going to be ok."
