Under The Same Sun.: Beach Fun and Other Ramblings..

A lot has happened in these past few days! I’ll start with the very eventful weekend we had at the beach. On Saturday morning, a group of us all got the chance to take a child to the beach. Of course I chose to bring Cedar, not only because I love every second with him but also because he has never been to the beach before! And oh my word, let me just say that it was probably the happiest and most excited I have ever seen him. He squealed with laughter the entire time as the waves came up and splashed him. The first time the waves hit him in the face, I thought he would be scared but it just made him laugh even harder. As I held him in my arms while we splashed through the waves, watching his face light up with joy and listening to his raspy little laugh, it just showed me how brave he really is. Being completely blind, only hearing the rumbling of the waves and feeling the shocking and powerful impact of the water as it splashed in your face I think would be a terrifying experience. But he proved me wrong. He totally embraced everything about the ocean and loved every second of it. I am so proud of the brave and free spirited little boy he is.

By the late afternoon when we had all returned and cleaned up from the beach, my mom and I made our way over to victory home for her last visit. We both couldn’t believe that it was already her time to say goodbye. We enjoyed the afternoon with the kids and Mom got all her last kisses and hugs in. We walked out of victory home and there was a look heartbreak all over her face. My mom and I now share in the same heartbreak. As she cried silent tears in the auto on the way home, they were some of the most beautiful tears I’ve ever seen come from her eyes. She understands this love that comes and finds its home in your heart without you even realizing it. It was such a special thing to get to watch my own mother, the woman who nurtured and loved me unconditionally since the moment I was thought in her mind, nurture and unconditionally love the children at SCH, whom I love as children of my own. Even though her time here was short, it was those little moments of watching her snuggle the kids, softly pray and sing over them, patiently feed the children who were the toughest to feed, and joyfully play with them that gave me memories I will treasure for the rest of my life. It was a sad morning to wake up and realize that I couldn’t have my mom working and loving the kids at SCH by my side anymore. I didn’t realize how comforting it was to simply have her here. I hope that one day my children find the same comfort in me as their mother as I do with mine.

The next day, after lying in bed for most of the morning, Nikki and Sarah came over. Since it was a Sunday, almost everything is closed because it’s a Sabbath day for almost everyone. Except the beach is still open! Hannah made a joke that she was going to the beach, but we decided “hey why not just go to the beach!?” So we hopped in an auto and 45 minutes later, our auto driver was telling us to “close our eyes” as we drove up to the beautiful beach. The beach was full of people playing in the ocean, boats lined up alongside the shore, and fishermen getting ready to go out and cast their nets. We thought it would be fun to go out in one of these boats so we started asking the fisherman if we could go for a ride in their boat (this was in charades of course). Eventually, after just sitting in a boat on the shore, we were being taken out by a group of young fishermen. Right before we left though, we saw a young British man walking on the shore. Here in Ongole, you don’t ever see white people and so we called him over to see what he was doing here in India. He had just arrived in India a few days earlier and was planning on meeting up with a guy to do missions work in the area. He decided he would join us all on the boat ride so on he went! The fisherman were pretty pumped that they were taking a bunch of American girls on their boat so they took lots of videos and pictures of us. After getting pretty far out, we all jumped and flipped and cannon-balled off the boat. It was so fun! After a few hours of swimming and watching the men as they threw their nets out, we headed back to the beach and were completely mobbed by a group of Indians waiting to take more pictures with us. Then, we headed home in the auto and ended the evening at Ramya, a yummy resteraunt here in Ongole, with our new British friend James. We spent the night talking music, church, and differences between the US and the UK. It was a great day and definitely one of my favorite days off in India!

The next day, I unfortunately woke up very nauseated. Oddly enough, 3 other girls in the apartment felt the same way. So a sick day it was, watching movies in bed and sleeping. Today, I feel a lot better and made my way over to the apartment to work with the Ability Camp. Cedar has made so much progress since I last blogged! The other day, when Nikki was working with him, she was able to get him to put his feet on the ground when she held him up. She was also able to get him to bear weight and respond to the command “lay” which means, “stand” in Telegu. He now stands and bears weight when you pick him up and say, “lay”. This is huge! I have never been able to get him to stand when I hold his hands or even respond to the word “lay”. Today, when I went over to see him I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him standing up with Nikki. Ever since he has been working with Nikki and Sarah, I have seen an entirely different boy. With all of the stimulation he is getting everyday, he is the happiest, most alert little boy. Sometimes, I can’t believe it’s the same Cedar that I worked with last summer. I don’t fight him on falling asleep anymore, in fact, I sometimes can’t even get him to sit still now. I’ve seen his personality completely shine everyday. It just makes my heart burst with joy to watch him come alive the way he has. I feel so hopeful for him, especially in these next few weeks that Nikki and Sarah continue to work with him. Thank you for praying for him. God is listening to your prayers and working in Cedar’s life in big, amazing ways. Please continue to keep him in your prayers!

The other day, I was at victory home holding a little boy named Asher. He is such a sweet little boy who I really love to spend one-on-one time with at the home. As I was holding him, I was overcome with an overwhelming amount of pain and heartbreak. All of sudden I was trying to keep the steady stream of tears from falling from my eyes. Sometimes, it just hits me at the most unexpected moments. It’s easy to forget that these joyful, healthy, and so clearly precious children were once completely abandoned by their parents and left to a harsh world on their own. But then I have moments like this one with Asher, where the Lord leads me to enter in. I enter into the reality of his neglect and abandonment and feel the sting of his pain. I must continue to let myself enter in to these children’s pain, to recognize their stories and admire their bravery for what they have come through, and to softly speak the truth to them of whom they belong to; the truth that they belong to a God who is a father to the fatherless and a master redeemer of all things broken.