Well, the Lighthouse Children’s Shelter has now re-opened.  For the first 3 weeks, we had just one baby -a baby boy whose mother decided, while she was still pregnant, that she wanted him to be adopted.  Now, we have 3 little ones.  I find myself experiencing many mixed emotions.  I feel so happy knowing that these little ones are now safe and have hope for a bright future.  I feel compassion and sadness for the mothers who have each reached a point of hopelessness and helplessness that has driven them to abandon or hand over the tiny miracle now in my arms each day.  I feel a soaring hope that soon we will hear the sounds of 30 children laughing and playing and enjoying a safety they had not previously known.  And I feel such a sinking grief that there are so many children who need a place like Lighthouse.  Each day I hold each child and pray for him, his birth family, and his forever family; I am so glad that he is here, and I rejoice for the life he will have.  And many days I also cry for the life he has lost.  It’s an interesting paradox in which we live and work.  I am grateful for the opportunity to teach these precious children of God what it means to live life to the fullest.  It may not be the life that God originally intended, but it is the “good” that God has worked out for their lives!!

This week, I have been studying God’s name: El Roi, the God who sees me.  I am reminded again that although God never intended for my precious babies to be abandoned, He sees each one!  They may have been physically abandoned here on Earth, but they have never been abandoned by their Heavenly Father, El Roi!!