Back to reality---is that even possible...

Well, Sean and I have been home officially for 7 hours, and I am mess. I cannot keep thinking about those kids that we left behind. Sean was flipping through his photos last night on the plane, and I just cried as I saw each one of their faces. We truly fell in love with them....

Sean kept talking about each one and the different memories we have about them....their little dusty butts, their shy smiles, their clinging to your neck when you give them a hug wanting you to never let them go, their school uniforms that were just way too big for them, their poor looking shoes, their absolutely melt your heart singing, their excitement as they opened their gifts, the grins they gave you once they began to know you more, calling Sean and I "Sean and Madame Sean"....as so many, many more....

To me, the hard part, I don't believe is wrestling with living in America and the wealth that we have as Americans---the hard part, for Sean and me, is going to be living in America without those kids...My mind is working overtime to figure out, first of all, how to get each one of you down to that orphanage to meet those children, then, the second part is to figure out how to get those children here to the States so they can have a forever home with a family.

The orphanage directors are some of the most astounding people you have ever met--pretty sure they are stellar compared to Haiti standards, and you probably would have a hard time finding an American couple with a bigger heart too...I spoke with her through a translator and I asked how does she enjoy being the mother of 38 children!!! She said she loves doing the Lords' work, but she hates that she does not have the time necessary to give the children the one on one attention, love, and hugs that they so desperately need. Between her and the 5 nannies, a basic day is merely survival. A typical day starts at 5am with every getting breakfast ready for the 38 children, 5 nannies and 2 directors (45 people total), then getting all the children up and dressed for school---not THAT is an amazing task! Out the door for school.....while the children are at school, the workers wash laundry, clean the orphanage and fix meals....now, please remember, they are washing with no washing machine ladies... this is washed in the river and laid out on the rocks to dry. They also must walk a great distance with 5 gallon buckets on their heads to get enough water for cooking, bathing and drinking.

When the children get out at noon, it is lunch time, and shower time for all 38 children. They get a sponge bath by the workers--you cannot imagine the dust. Clothes are changed for playclothes. The children then have chores & homework. Dinner is next and then clean up. By this time it is dark and about 8pm...time for all the children to go to bed.

It is a very full day and they do a great job meeting the needs of the children....it is just that their #1 need---love---is hard to fill....as the director's wife said.

I know that I will never be the same as a result of this trip. God has completely given Sean and I a new direction in our hearts and a love that we cannot explain for these little Haitians...can't wait to see what happens next!!!!