Staff Blog
We all take turns being on duty on the evenings when the House Parents in each home have their day off. It makes our already long day even longer but I have learned that I usually leave the home more refreshed and certainly more blessed than when I walked in a few hours earlier.
It was my night to be on duty at the Duterte Home. All the little kids had gone upstairs to bed. I gathered the older kids together to ask for prayer requests and to talk about things that they wanted to talk about. The conversation quickly became about the recent typhoon. The kids had heard stories from our workers and from friends at school regarding the death and/or destruction that the typhoon brought, some of it not very far away. The kids were unsure about their birth families experience in the typhoon as well. Everyone just seemed to have a sad story to tell. Jacob, who is 27 years old, wheel chair bound and unable to speak was in our group. Jacob has Cerebral Palsy. It was obvious that these stories were hard for Jacob to hear, he was making sounds indicating distress and was getting more spastic as time went on. I was afraid he was either going to break the bindings holding him in his wheel chair or break a bone! I asked one of the workers to take Jacob to another room. I explained that we would ask Jacob to come back for our prayer time. Jacob agreed.
For our prayer time I asked for volunteers for each of the people, families or circumstances that we had put on our prayer list. When we got to one family that the kids had told about who had lost their home in the tsunami like storm surge that came with the arrival of the typhoon in a nearby town Jacob shouted and raised his hand in the air, he wanted to pray for that family. His name went on the list. We spent time in prayer, it got quiet and Jacob had not prayed yet. I looked up at Jacob and he was looking at me, I just nodded, indicating that it was his time to pray. He shut his eyes and he prayed. A more beautiful prayer I have never heard. As I watched and listened to Jacob pray I looked around at the other kids, many of them were looking at Jacob too. I was not the only one with tears in my eyes. We could not understand one word that Jacob prayed, we did did understand his emotion and we did understand "amen!"
Later, when all the kids were in their bedrooms I went to Jacob's room. I thanked him for his prayer for the family and told him that I knew that God heard and understood every word he said. I told Jacob that I thought that God was comforting the family right then because of Jacob's prayer. Jacob got his big "Jacob smile" that takes up his whole face and even tends to make his body spastic...but he worked hard and brought his arm up in the air, got his pointer finger extended and with joy pointed straight up. Yes Jacob, God in Heaven heard and understood every word of your prayer! I knew that is what he was telling me, and I agreed. I left for home with a smile on my face and an extra blessing in my heart.
I didn't have my camera with me that night. This photo is a re-enactment of Jacob telling me exactly where his prayers go!
A rainy day...
Yesterday was a glorious day! It was overcast, breezy and there were intermittent bursts of rain. It was welcome relief from the unrelenting heat of this summer, but also, I just love a good storm! Because of the rain though, outside activities were at a minimum. Normally at 3:35pm, any available space in the yard, on the driveway or on the playground equipment is being utilized. I decided to document this rather rare occurrence...
It was definitely a riding kind of day...
Even for our Aunties! :)
And a coloring kind of day....
And a looking at books kind of day...
And a taking silly pictures kind of day...
Pretty much my favorite part of ANY day! :)
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Thank You
In a few days, Bjork and I will head back to Minnesota. There are so many mixed emotions that we have as we get ready to see family and friends as well as saying goodbye to the kids, staff, and CSC family.
I have been so thankful for the opportunity to work with such wonderful people this year. Here is a little glimpse at the American staff and some of the things that we appreciate about them.
Amy: Inviting, Relational, Adaptable
Lindsay: Thoughtful, Trustworthy, Insightful
Tammy: Fun-loving, Reliable, Optimistic
Sandy: Nurturing, Dedicated, Positive
Marlys: Dedicated, Compassionate, Inspiring
Paul: Dedicated, Hard Working, Loving
Thank you to all the American and Filipino staff and workers who have helped us and inspired us this year. Thank you to the kids for being cooler than we could ever put words around.
THANK YOU supporters from all over the world for making it possible for these amazing people to do such life-changing work.
And thank you to our God for working miracles through this place!
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Ew...
A new craze has hit the shelter. And it is one I cannot understand in the least. The current trend on the playground involves beetles.
Step 1: Catch the beetle that you fancy most.
Step 2: Attach string to the leg of your choosing.
Step 3: Run!
There is NOTHING about that that is in any way appealing to me.
Okay, okay, if I could get past touching the beetle for the length of time it would take to tie a string around its leg, it MIGHT be kind of cool to have a pet on a leash that would fly alongside me. Operative word being might.
And yet, it is an activity that currently captivates the attention of many of our children!
Check out the pure joy on the face of one of our newest kids!
The beetles (yes, more than one) are on his finger here...
In flight...
Mind-boggling happiness...
Happy Summer all! May yours be filled with joy...and bugs, if that is what it takes!
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Expression
Our kids are incredibly gifted in many forms of expression. They dance with a fluidity that astounds, and tumble and flip in a way that looks effortless. They pick up song lyrics crazy fast and belt out those lyrics without abandon. They smile readily and are prone to giggles.
We have some talented artists among us as well. Recently the kids were having fun decorating our driveway. Many were content with just autographing the cement, others were more focused in their artistry.
My favorite decoration, however, was the one you see below. "Marty love Jesus." That was written, not entirely grammatically correct, but quite neatly, by a 5-year-old. You can see his proud little feet at the top! :) I was taken aback when I spotted this message among the flowers, butterflies and names that surrounded it.
The message was so simple, so sweet...so perfect.
As adults we worry about raising the children around us in the right way, being a good witness and teaching them about Jesus. This message was fulfilling for me---this little boy gets it, if he does not get anything else in the world, he knows the most important thing.
And to tell you the truth, I was humbled in that moment as well. I was brought back to the heart of why we do what we do here at CSC. We do this work because we love Jesus.
Lindsay love Jesus too! :)
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"Juggling"
Our kids go in waves with their favorite activities. For quite a while, everyone was into waveboarding. Sometimes it's playing marbles and sometimes it's rubber bands. The current craze is a game called "Juggling". The kids take turns kicking a ball in the air. The first person has to kick the ball once, the second person kicks it twice, and so on. They have up to 3 tries to get the desired number of kicks in. Sometimes they also have contests to see who can get the most number of kicks in one try. I haven't asked everyone, but the highest number I've heard is from Maricris. She kept the ball in the air for 60 kicks in a row! Amazing!
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