Walking through the door of the nursery at the children's home, I am greeted with little feet running toward me to wrap their arms around my knees. I hear little voices begging for my attention, "Tita, tita!"
One of my ministries this month has been to serve in the baby and toddler nursery. The children are beautiful…absolutely beautiful. The have sparkly eyes, shiny hair, and perfect skin. They are curious and stubborn, affectionate yet selfish. They are like most other kids their age, except these children don't have parents.
Without experiencing motherhood myself yet, I have had a taste of what a mother's love for her children is like. What a blessing for me to be able to pour out love onto them. It's hard for me to leave these babies at the end of my shift, and I look forward to the next time I spend several hours feeding, cleaning, playing, rocking, and caring for them.
Currently, there are ten children, six boys and four girls, in the baby and toddler nursery. The month started with twelve, but two boys just moved downstairs to the big boys' area since they are now five years old. And two more of the children will be leaving soon, as they are being adopted!
They each have their own story, most heart-breaking, but in some way or another they were brought in by the Kids International Ministries' children's home and live there full-time. There are four bedrooms, each with an attached shower, toilet, and sink. Thank goodness for that because I have never experienced so much pee and poo in my life!!! Much of my shift can be spent in the bathroom wiping bums, washing hands, and bathing them after whatever mess has just taken place. These kids are like machines producing that stuff and they certainly have not all graduated from potty training…
Despite their dirty, slobbery, and stinky episodes, the joy that comes from picking a child up and loving him in his messiness is powerful. That is what God has chosen to do with us. I am stained and sick, full of sin, but God chooses to love me and extends His grace right there in my filth.
He takes me and washes me clean, just as I have done countless times over the past three weeks for these children who have had an accident or found themselves in a messy predicament. And let me tell you, I don't enjoy it. It's gross…plain nasty. I have gagged and turned my head. I have had poo in places I won't repeat. And then it happens again. But through it all, that's not what matters.
The life of a child who needs care and love and gentleness is made better with each tear or snotty nose that is wiped away. And my love for these little ones doesn't change; it's unconditional, just as God's love is for us. We continue to mess up, but He doesn't turn away.
My life is made better, made whole, through Christ's blood that makes me clean. In His eyes, we are not dirty and unclean, we are His children, clothed with his perfect love and made beautiful.
My prayer for these precious children is that they would continue to be well-cared for and that they would experience the love of a family they can call their own. But most of all, I pray that they will know the God who cares for them and picks them up in their mess and loves them anyway.
