Many with No Where to go......

Yesterday started Hope's bi-monthly home visit. For many there was no family to come and get them for the 3 day visit. Many of these kids have family too far away and too little funds to travel. Some don't have a physical home to go to at all and others have family members either in jail or who have totally written them off.

With that said the one great thing about being a staff member here is that (1)... you get to see them all the time and (2)......you also have the opportunity to step up to the plate and give them some "home time".

Last night Mark and I took in four little girls. Destiny 9, Dakota, 10, Christina 10, and Christina 9. The first three girls are sisters. They also have an older sister who is 14 and an older brother who is 13. They all had no where to go.

Taylor has made many friends here including a former resident of the home Nelly. Nelly is originally from Honduras. She has graduated from Hope Christian School and is now on staff here. Hmmmm doesn't the Lord have a fascinating way of putting people in our paths for the future. Anyway she is spending the weekend with her and well Hunter he lives with the boys in the boys dorm and just comes home long enough to get a nights sleep and then he is out again. In fact he is going with some of the boys and Mark to a USF football game tonight. Josiah well he is loved by all here and is trying his best to potty train.

Before I finish with my story I just wanted to say one thing about following the Lord's will for your life. People often choose to ignore God's calling b/c they are to selfish and do not want to give up their luxury items and way of life. Well I am here to tell you that since giving up our worldly things for the Lord we have been blessed with sooooooo much more. The Lord has given us opportunities that back home we would not have had. Now, I am not saying that everyday is easy and peachy but the Lord supplies our needs.

Okay on with the story. So we took in four little girls. The first thing they did was pack for the weekend. Then I loaded them all up and went to Wal-Mart to get some snacks and things to give them a real at home feel. Now, you all who know me well know that I love to cook, so I asked them what they wanted for dinner......You will never guess what their request was. I had to laugh.....RAMEN NOODLES....UGH.....but to them it is a comfort food that no matter who makes it......it always taste the same. I did manage however to get them to change their minds and we had tacos instead. But, I did buy them some Ramen Noodles for lunch...lol... We continued to walk through the store looking at almost each isle and getting something. I had a cart full of stuff and 2 kids on each side. For the first time I knew what it was like to be Lanie, Tabatha and Maureen....lol....(those are good friends of mine for my readers who don't know....and they have 5 kids each).

Anyway, I caught them calling me momma in the store. That is something that they don't say everyday. Here they call everyone Aunt or Uncle. But they wanted to be my daughters. They wanted to stay close and look and be interested in what I was looking at. It was very heart warming to see that they just wanted to be little girls and have a Momma who loved them.

We came home and had dinner, the girls helped prepare the food which is something that they do not normally get to do. Then we ate and they were very quick to get the kitchen back to normal. We watched a movie, put on a peel-off face mask, brushed hair and had a family devotion.

You know those of you who have kids.....even though you are with them all the time...be sure to spend time with them and let them know that you love because there are kids here that just want to have a normal family and be a normal kid.