I
awoke to the sound of 3 little voices. I slowly opened one eye just enough to
see Fawn, Eileen, and Fa sitting at the foot of my bed. Eileen is Roger’s
daughter, but the other two girls were new. I noticed them running around the
night before, but had yet to find out who they were or why there were staying
at the orphanage. I tried to remain as still as possible so that they didn’t
notice I was awake. I was still tired, and far from in the mood to entertain a
10, 6, and 4 year old. My plan didn’t work. I laid there for a couple more
minutes pretending I was sleeping, but then opened my eyes to see all 3 of them
perched right over me staring. “Time to wake up!” Ugh. I sat up and smiled, but
didn’t try too hard to engage with them. Then I had a brilliant idea…bore them
to death and maybe they’ll leave! Great idea. I reached over and grabbed my
Bible. Morning quiet time has been pretty hard to come by, so I thought it
would be a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Have some time with
Jesus and get rid of the kids. I was about 10 words into I Peter when I noticed
that they weren’t moving. Still sitting there staring at me. Then I literally
heard God say, “Put down your Bible and love those little girls!” I was actually
shocked by the thought…you mean you’d rather have me giggle and braid hair than
read my Bible?! The answer was a clear “YES!” Ugh…ok God, fine…you win. I put
my Bible down and as soon as I turned my attention to them I could see their little
faces light up. We played for a little while and I mostly just hugged and
kissed them since we can’t really communicate with words. There was nothing
monumental about the few minutes I spent with them before they got distracted
by something and ran out of the room, but I really felt like I did the right
thing. I found out from Roger later that day, that Fawn and Fa’s father had
recently abandoned them and their mother. They were staying at the orphanage
for a few days for support. Wow. I felt very humbled and blessed that God chose
to use me as an instrument of His love when those little girls needed a few
extra hugs and kisses.
