We'll Always End on a Lighter Note

Literally, I've started this blog post a dozen times. 

It's just crazy to try to put detail and emotion into a post that could never fully convey it... so I'll give you the stories in a nutshell.

• I was homesick this week for the first time, though I wouldn't even call it homesickness. I hate not being able to be there for a friend in such a tragic time. Circumstances such as these make me both love and hate technology; love it for its usefulness and hate it for its uselessness. Thankfully, I was able to talk to my friend for a bit on the phone. 

• After an evening of loving and hating technology, I went to work the next morning and was placed with the toddlers. We don't have many toddlers in Bulrushes; once a baby turns about nine months, they are moved to the Suubi babies' home, where they live until they turn three and are placed in the villages. The toddlers we do have are either special needs or have health issues requiring frequent trips to the doctor, and their group is called the Giraffes. There are four girls in the Giraffes room, but this story is about one in particular. For privacy reasons, we'll just call her Baby Girl. Baby Girl is only one year old, and is absolutely beautiful. She has such a sweet little heart, and she crawls over and sits on you and leans against you and plays with your hair... super cute. She was in my lap while we played with the other three girls, when Lucy (the nanny in that room) tells me that Baby Girl has seizures very often. Not five minutes later, the tiny little body in my lap tensed, and she began to cry and kick her legs. 

I've never experienced this before, seeing someone have a seizure. Baby Girl had four of them in my arms that morning, making a grand total of seven seizures before one o'clock. I talked to the nurse on duty after the second one, and she answered all of my questions as best as she could. Yes, she had gone through all the testing. No, she was not epileptic, though the doctors didn't know what caused the seizures. No, that was not the only thing wrong- she was deaf and mute, as well, and couldn't walk. No, she didn't know whether that was due to the seizures- she hasn't been here long, and she was already like this when she came. 

I was so angry. This is a baby. She's a year old. She should not be having seizures at all, let alone seven in one morning! With all the anger that was in me, with all the emotion built up over the last few days, I began to cry and pray over that little girl. 

I wish I could tell you that I saw her healed that very day. After the fourth seizure in my arms, the nurse took Baby Girl to the clinic in Babies' Home to give her medication and let her sleep while she was hooked up to a monitor. I checked on her several times before my shift ended, but she was still sleeping by the time I left. 

Pray for Baby Girl. I know Jesus is a healer, and I know that He is Lord. 

• It's probably best to leave on the lighter note. In becoming godmother to Andrew, I felt it my maternal duty to preserve as many mementos of his babyhood as I possibly can. So last week I went to Nakumat (the grocery) and bought an ink pad and some other art supplies, and I spent the whole week stamping each of the Monkeys' (0-2 months) footprints! I've cut out each of the prints and placed them scrapbook-style with their name, date, height, weight, and a Scripture on a piece of paper. These will go in their files for them to keep once they get older. 

Thank you everyone for the prayers and support. Please continue to pray for my friend and for Baby Girl. 

Love and prayers, <3 Robin