We have had quite the two weeks! Brad says we have had a whirlwind of emotions at our house!! What words can describe them? Miraculous. Fun. Busy. Emotional. Joyful. Crazy. Emotional. Exciting. Life-changing. Emotional. Overwhelming. Blessed. Hectic. Laughter. Tears. Peaceful. Prayerful. Etc. Etc. Etc. We are dealing with two postpartum moms and all the hormonal changes that they are going through! They are amazing!! We could not be more proud of them!
One mom is adjusting to the "loss" of her baby. She chose to place her with a wonderful couple through adoption and knows this is exactly what she needed to do. However, I don't think she was prepared for how emotional she would be! We are encouraging her to let herself feel everything and cry when she needs to cry and talk when she needs to talk! But, people are...well...for lack of a better word...stupid sometimes. She has people say stupid stuff to her when they find out that she gave the baby to another couple. I don't know if people think she has no feelings or what they think. It has taken every bit of Jesus in me a couple of times not to wrap my hands around some people's necks when they say things to her! I think many people are curious about this ministry and what is going on with the ladies we minister to. I think curiosity causes them to speak without thinking! We always get lots of stares when we go places. People want to know what we are up to. I have had several stop me when the girls aren't around and ask what I am doing. That is fine and I know people are curious and nosy. I tend to be a nosy person. I like knowing the story behind what I see. I just really need people to remember that we are dealing with real people with real feelings! Many of the girls we serve have a laundry list of hurt, abuse, abandonment, neglect, etc. and they just need to be loved! When people stare and say inappropriate things, they feel like people are judging them. One thing this particular girl said to me in dealing with the emotions and comments is that she doesn't want people to think bad of her for what she did! We told her that she did the most selfless thing for her daughter! She is giving her the blessing of having a Christian home with a mom and dad who love her and will provide for her. She will have the best chance at an amazing life! She loves her. That is why she made this heroic decision!!
This girl accepted Christ last fall while sitting in my car in the Chick-fil-A parking lot in the wee hours of the morning! We have watched her grow in her relationship with Jesus and we are so excited about seeing how God is going to use her! She told a friend of mine (when they were talking about her going back home) that she is never going to let Him go! Isn't that precious?!?! She sees the contrast of life without Him and life with Him and she never wants life without Him again!!! Then, the other day, someone said something thoughtless to her and we had to help undo that damage for the rest of the day/night! I came home with her that night and she went upstairs in tears. I went and got in bed and told brad that I just didn't know what to do or say to help her. He told me that this is something she is going to have to work through herself. The next morning, she came downstairs and Brad and I were sitting in the kitchen. I asked her how she was doing and she said, "I went upstairs to my room last night and just walked around my room crying and praying. Then, I just got down on my knees. I didn't care if anyone walked by my room and saw me. I just had to get on my knees and pray and cry! Then I felt like everything was ok! I felt so much better and got up, got in bed, and fell asleep." OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Brad and I were overjoyed! To see that she is learning that she must go to God alone for strength and comfort brought tears to our eyes! That is what it is all about! She is leaving our home in a couple of weeks and she will be leaving this "bubble" and going back to her world. BUT...she is a new creation! She has new purpose and new focus. She is going to do great and we are so excited for her to go and be a light in that world! God is going to use her in amazing ways!!!!
Speaking of her going home, I must give a HUGE shout-out to TWO MEN AND A TRUCK!!!! We have had so many wonderful people give items to us for us to use to "set up" her apartment! We had things in like five places because we have nowhere to store things and plus she wants it to be a surprise so she didn't want to see everything. So, I asked Ben Darnell if he could donate two men and a truck (literally) to help us collect all her donations and move them into her apartment. He willingly helped and we had a wonderful time on Valentine's Day setting up her home. It is going to be so homey! Everything came together beautifully and she is going to be so excited! She has two sons and a daughter and we are making this apartment not only a haven for her, but a wonderful place for her to raise her children! We have books and games and puzzles and toys so they can begin to spend quality time together making wonderful memories! She has seen how a traditional family functions while living with us. She hasn't ever really seen this and now she is going to be able to take things she learned and saw and begin to create what she wants her family to look like and function like! It is very cool getting to talk to her and plan with her how to transition back into her world and back into motherhood. We love this girl so much! We will miss seeing her all day every day but we know we will keep in touch with her!!!
The other girl is transitioning well into motherhood. Her little girl is such a good baby! She is nursing her and I am so proud of her for that! Nursing a baby is a selfless thing to do because you can't just give the baby to someone else to feed. That responsibility is solely on the mom. She is doing an amazing job and absolutely loves her daughter. She is becoming more and more aware of how difficult it is to be a mom. Many of the girls who come to live with us see the baby like a "baby doll"...something fun to dress up and show off! They don't grasp the responsibility that the baby comes with. None of us do when we are expecting our first baby! They, however, are doing this alone and that makes it even more difficult!!! This mom and baby will be staying with us for about another month and it looks like they will transition into the ministry Love Works! I am VERY excited about that!!!
Both of these girls have chosen to remain anonymous so it is tough blogging about them without using their names! Anyway...the second girl's birthday is TODAY!! We have been talking about her birthday coming up and the other day she said, "I don't celebrate my birthday." I said, "Well, you are this year!!!!!!" We are excited about the couple of things we have planned for her, but then God does something so sweet!! He gave her snow for her birthday! Granted it is more like ice and sleet, but we have an amazing hill for a front yard and I bought a little saucer-like sled last Saturday in the hopes of getting some snow! We can't wait to get outside and play and act like kids and have a blast sledding! I want to help her make some wonderful memories! Her childhood was spent in and out of foster homes and group homes and she literally has NO family! She got teary-eyed the other day and said, "It is time for me to drop some seeds and allow some roots to grow. I need to plant myself somewhere and make a home for me and my daughter!" Love Works is in Hernando and I told her that I think Hernando would be an amazing place to raise a family!!!
So, as you can see, these two weeks have been busy. Not only did we have two babies, deal with all the emotions, and set up an apartment, but three of my personal children had milestone birthdays during this time as well! Josh turned 21, Kendall turned 18, and Ty turned 16!! Life is busy but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Please know that there is a reason when my blogs are few and far between!!! Please continue to pray for the ministry of Mid-South Love Home and the ladies God brings to us! He has very clearly told me that this is HIS ministry and I don't need to have any fears or worries. He freed me from the bondage of fear that I had been struggling with when, last fall, we sang this song in church. It is "Lay Me Down" by Chris Tomlin. The chorus says:
I lay me down
I'm not my own
I belong to you alone
Lay me down
Lay me down, oh oh oh
Hand on my heart
This much is true
There's no life apart from you
Lay me down
Lay me down
Oh oh oh
Lay me down
Lay me down
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