Meet my best buddy!
This is 5 year old Jodi. I have been blessed to spend some extra one-on-one time with this precious little girl. She has lived at Sarah’s Covenant Home for four years now. Jodi has cerebral palsy and Hepatitis B but has let neither of those things slow her down. Jodi just learned how to walk June of 2013 and loves to show off this skill every chance she gets (even when it’s in a direction she isn’t supposed to go when no one is watching).
I love her strong and determined spirit. She sets her sights on something and goes for it. She may or may not plow any other kids over that are on the ground in between her body and her object of focus, but she is so zeroed in on where she is going – with the cutest look of determination on her face – you can’t get upset. Falls and trips do not phase this little one. Jodi is mute, but her eyes tell all about the joy she has when we go on walks or the peace she feels when I hold and rock her as we listen to music. This little girl has stolen my heart and I cherish every moment I have left with her in India.
Today we were able to take our best buddies to the beach, the Bay of Bengal, for our last day of ministry in India. I was so excited to take Jodi; so much open beach for her to run til her little heart is content. As soon as I picked her up from her room, she was full of energy and ready to go! She didn’t know where we were going but she was all about getting out to go do something. When we all pulled into the auto, Jodi was on my lap next to the window, we hadn’t even started moving yet and she had stuck her head out the window to see all that was going on and was banging the side of the auto to let us all know that she was ready to go. The full 45 min drive I was clamped on to Jodi as she had her head flung out the window with an intense look of curiosity plastered on her face.
When we finally arrived, as soon as Jodi’s feet touched the sand she was immediately enthralled. Her eyes were beaming, arms flailing, and her feet never stopped moving the entire two and a half hours that we were there. It was exhaustingly amazing. Man, this girl was running around the whole time fascinated by the sand under her feet, loving the waves crashing up against us and attempting to sneak a sand snack every so often. Even when the other children were tuckered out and took a break sitting further up on the beach with their buddies, Jodi just kept running with a smile cemented on her face. It was glorious. On the ride home she just melted into me, completely relaxed yet still keeping her eyes wide open, taking in every moment. Apart from me feeling like I could have past out from feeling like I just sprinted a marathon trying to keep up with Jodi, I could have just stayed in that moment forever just holding her close. But as soon as she recharged she was right back at the window, hanging her head out looking to see what was coming.
(photos from the beach will have to be shown later since I have none of my own due to chasing Jodi around the sand and waves, unable to take photos of my own. not even sorry about it)
Saying goodbye to her once back at Sarah’s Covent Home was definitely NOT my favorite part of this month. Hugging and kissing her goodbye ripped my heart apart. I pray that my precious girl will be adopted, I pray that more teams will come through in the mean time and just shower her with love. Check out Jodi on SCH’s web site http://schindia.com/children/jodi/ and keep my girl in your prayers!
