A Dozen Roses

At dinner each night, we recap the day by doing thorns and roses, starting with the thorns and ending on a high note with the roses. Today was such a great day, I feel like I came home with a dozen roses!

1) Beverlyne - I just love her. Her smile just warms my heart.
2) Kaleche - When we arrived, Kaleche said to Ike "Uncle Muzungu."
3) Alice - I enjoyed spending time visiting with Alice and talking to her about school. She is now in high school. Most children attend a boarding school for secondary/high school in Kenya. There are different levels of high school depending on how well the children do on their exams. Alice scored quite well on her exams and is attending a provincial school. She gets up at 4 am every morning and is active with school activities from 5 am until about 9:30 pm. Yikes! (BTW, Marc, Alice said hello and sent you another video greeting on this trip!)
4) Obama - He is only about three. Ike was interviewing Alice on video and Obama had come up to where we were interviewing. I took him into another room and put my finger to my mouth and said "shhh." He did not say a word the entire time. He walked around the room and danced, but did not make a single noice. After the interview was done, I started talking again and he looked at me, put his finger up to his mouth and said to me "shhhh!" I wish you could see him, he is so completely adorable!
5) Colleta - Colleta is generally pretty shy and quiet. When I get back from my trips to HOREC and look through all of my pictures, I rarely find pictures with her smiling. Today, I think I must have taken about ten pictures of her smiling! WOW, she has such a beautiful smile!
6) Agnes and Alice - Rarely do we get time with just one or two children when we are here. Usually, there is a posse of children following us around, playing with our hair, sitting on our laps, etc. Please understand I am not complaining about having a posse of children following me around, at least not these children. But, it was really nice to have some time with just Alice and Agnes, to hear their story and just get to know them better.
7) Antony - I was sitting with the kids and showing them pictures from my trip last year and my safari in 2009. The entire time, Antony sat next to me and just stroked my arm. Every once in a while he would sort of pinch it or just stare at it. The kids seem to be so in awe of muzungu hair and skin.
8) Beverlyne - I was reading Beverlyne's composition called "About Me." At the end of it she wrote, "am wonderfully made by God." Ain't that the truth!
9) Lunch - We ate with the kids again today. Today's lunch was rice and beans. It was so delicious. Better than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich any day!
10) Beverlyne - At the end of the day today, she came to me with my tennis shoes and a brand new pair of white socks. It had rained yesterday, so it was very muddy at HOREC. I had taken my shoes off and changed into flip flops so as to not track mud into the dining hall. I looked at the socks and thought, mine were not that white when I came here and certainly not that white after the mud! Beverlyne had taken my socks and shoes and washed them clean. My socks were still wet when it was time to leave, so she had brought me a new pair of her socks so I would have some to wear home. A child who has so little washed my socks and wanted to give me a brand new pair of hers to wear home. I am just so amazed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of this young woman. Did I mention how much I love her? I just want to pack her up and take her home with me. This is the young woman I often dream (and, unfortunatelly, cry) about. My heart feels broken when we are apart. Life sometimes seems so unfair. I want to have a child so badly and here there are so many who need a loving home. Even as I cry when I write this, it is still a rose! : )
11) The ride home - Ike, yes Ike, drove us home from HOREC today! We dropped Christine off along the way and drove back to the hotel on our own. Pretty impressive for those of you who have experienced Kenya roads and traffic, don't ya think?!?!
12) Ike - What a neat man of God. I am truly enjoying getting to know him better.
13) (a baker's dozen) Pictures - As I look through my pictures tonight, I am seeing the pictures the kids took with my camera when I was cleaning up after our craft. I love it when they are behind the camera. The surprise of seeing what they captured is so wonderful!

Lala salama! Am hoping to share some pictures from today with you after I post this blog.