Her little eyes looked at me as she furrowed her brow. She had heard the crack in my voice, and I’m sure she could now see the water welling up in my eyes. I kept reading as I repeatedly told myself to get it together.
For our English station, we were reading books in small groups. I sat on the ground with a small friend on each side and the tiniest one sitting in my lap. I was handed a book that I am very familiar with- Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.
I’m assuming that you have read this story. Just in case you haven’t, it’s about a mother rocking her son to sleep as she tells him that she will always love him and that he will always be her baby. As the story progresses, she continues to rock him as a teenager, young adult, and grown man. She always says, “I’ll love you forever. I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.”
As I’m reading this story to my girls, I think about my own family. I remember my mom reading this book to me. It is normal for my mother to tell me that she will always love me, and she definitely won’t let me forget that I will always be the baby.
But it didn’t take long for my mind to wander to the beautiful girls around me. Their story looks much, much different than mine. The girls have different stories. Some are here because they were put into horrible situations by their families, others because the family couldn’t properly care for them. Either way, the girls are still here and not with their moms. Many of their families live close by, and some even will visit their families for a week.
Sending Hope is absolutely wonderful. I love that the girls live in a place where they are well-taken care of, loved, taught so much about Jesus (these girls could easily beat me in Bible trivia), and where fun abounds. But it doesn’t change the fact that these girls were abandoned by their own moms. I wish that they had a mom wanting to rock them to sleep, even after they get too big. And I can’t help but think about how much the mothers are missing out on. These girls are fun and smart and spunky and beautiful and compassionate and worthy of love.
So although these girls barely even understood the English words I was reading, my heart for them got the best of me. My eyes starting filling with tears, and my voice cracked. And even though they noticed something was different, I just kept reading, because for one month, I can give them all the love I have to give. I can fill their days with hugs and songs and games, and above all, I can point them to the Father. Because even though their earthly families fall so short, their Heavenly Father would love to scoop them up and rock them to sleep. He promises that He will love them forever.
