I was asked when being brought back to the airport what my favorite thing was about this trip, and it couldn't be Leah. That was difficult for me, because I went on this trip for a very selfish reason. To make sure our daughter was OK, physically, mentally and spiritually. I had no other motive. So my favorite part will forever be getting off the plane and walking into her arms. She is a beautiful soul!!!
From there it would be spending time with Leah and her roommates. Watching them interact. Watching how the "Do Life" together. Below is Leah's house. Her and her two roommates have a routine down and the do it well. They care for themselves. They are adults. They cook, and clean. Leah's room was even clean!!! (very shocking) (Megan's room at home is clean too. I guess they are just messy together :) They have a menu and a schedule of events. Fun to see.
Here are a few pictures of Beautiful Gate. What keeps coming back to me is, Beautiful Gate is a family. There are 5 houses, with house moms, and kids in each house. There is a max capacity of 75 kids total at the orphanage. Those girls know every kid, even though they are assigned to one house. And every kid knows them. The house mom's love those kids. They have schedules that they follow, some houses more closely than others. (same as here). What you don't see is "stuff." During playtime, toys come out, but then they are put away, to carry on with their routine. They are not bombarded with "things" to keep them occupied (games, toys, TV, ELECTRONICS), and they are happy. (I have 2, 9 year olds that were perplexed by that idea.). Simple is better. But like Leah said, it's not that how we live is bad, it's just different there. Beautiful Gate is a wonderful, safe community and family, for the kids, but also all who enter.
The kids! I LOVE the kids. The girls are in charge of "soft play" every morning for over 3 hours. That involves picking up every child, from each house that can move/roll/crawl, but does not walk. So ages vary, and some of these kids may have special needs, like Cerebral Palsy, or even just low muscle tone. They work with these kids, to get them moving, hold them, love them, give them individual attention, feed them, and change a lot of diapers. This is not for the faint of heart, or even a tired person. These kids have energy, and personalities, and sometimes they all cry :) And when they are tired, some of them just lie down and go to sleep. It's crazy! I wanted to take each one home. The hardest part for me, was knowing some of these kids are matched with families, just waiting for paperwork. Oh my head!!! Hurry up government!!! These kids have families WAITING!!!! The kids are all loved, don't get me wrong, but knowing they all having someone, either biological families that don't have the current means to care for them, or adoptive families that can't yet reach them, was something you can't dwell on or it'll hurt your heart. You just simply love them!
The land of Lesotho is Beautiful. Very hilly. Not super commercialized like here. Much more simple. Leah brought me to a "good/nice" part of town the first day. I was like, "this is ok." Later she brought me to a rural not so nice part of town, and I re-evaluated how nice the other part was :) Many times the girls walked fast. There was no stopping, because every one would come up to you, talk to you, try to get you to buy their stuff. You don't just take your phone out and start taking pictures. Some of the taxi drivers drive the girls around like they are a prize (you don't see many white girls there), others try to charge them more (because they are white).. But the girls know this. And they seem to take everything in stride and confidence.
I have so many stories, but can't fit them all on here.
I was given a gift. A gift by my family to leave for 9 days, to make sure the rest of our family is ok. Steve and the girls were very ok. They really don't need me (and that's in a good way). They can manage day to day just fine. A gift from Leah, to be shown her heart. Her love of others and her survival skills. She is doing well. I LOVED Steve's first question when he picked me up, "is Leah ok? how was her demeanor, how did she act?" Sometimes you just have to see your kids and hug them to know. I was given a gift from God for this whole experience. As a parent you love your kids no matter where they are. I saw that at Beautiful Gate. I saw a whole lot of love! I saw a need that is bring filled. I saw God's blessing. And it warms my heart.
It's still hard to leave Leah. I've cried daily since leaving her, but not out of fear, just out of pure love and joy of a great kid that God blessed us with! Never in a million years did I see myself with 5 kids. But I have never been so grateful He gave us each and every one, even if they don't all stay in the same country :)
(FYI: I know Leah is trying to keep her blog updated, but I found out first hand how WiFi and cell service works there, it doesn't work well. hahaha. So I had her set up with WiFi for a few days after I left but that doesn't last long and service is sketchy, so she'll do the best she can. :)
