Being on the world race I was really hoping I'd have the chance to serve in an orphanage, to play with the kids & love on them. Thankfully, being at El Shaddai ministries I've had that opportunity, & it is something I look forward to everyday while I am here. The children are so well behaved (for the most part) but the common pattern I notice amongst all of them is they all want our undivided attention. They all want to be held, hugged & noticed. They sometimes even get into little fights over sitting on one of our laps or being held by one of us. It is impossible to have a free lap ever, the second one of our laps is free one of the children will come running & claim that spot for as long as we allow them to have it. Some of the kids do anything to get us to notice them, including banging a toy on the ground & saying "Hey look, look!" That sentence is one we hear constantly throughout the day, followed by “and me, me too!”. The kids will walk up to us and raise their hands wanting to be held, this also happens constantly throughout the day. Sometimes some even end up in tears because they want attention & to sit on our laps. We love on the children (mainly babies & toddlers & children under 5) from 9am until 5pm. We spend hours just sitting with them, talking to them, playing with them, & basically just enjoying each others company. For a while, it crossed my mind "am I doing anything really? Should I be doing more to help?" then I realized after only a couple days with the children how the most important thing is our time, love & attention. The ladies who work in the orphanage caring for them everyday are awesome at preparing their meals, clothing them, & taking care of them; but the one thing they can't do is give each child alot of attention. There are just too many children & not enough help to do so. I can't even begin to imagine what it must feel like to be so young & to not ever have someone you can call mom or dad. It makes me so thankful for the 24 years I did have with my mother before she passed away.
I am loving my time at El Shaddai & loving on so many of God's little ones.
