They Will Know Us By Our Love

I have been reminded a little more each day just why God does the things He does in our lives. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that, "For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven." I believe God puts people in our lives for seasons, for short summers and brief falls, or for lifetime, in an unending friendship and love for one another that is unbreakable. The faces of the children I could only hold and love for a brief time, constantly run through my mind and heart. It's hard to see their faces when I look into the kid's eyes that I get to see everyday. It's hard when an infant lays their head on my chest when the one I want is a million miles away. It's just hard. My heart aches...and I never want it to stop. These kids, these precious children that just loved me because they wanted to, without any knowledge of who I was or what my past has been like, forever changed mylife. My heart is full of a piercing joy when I think of them. And in the moments when I held them I came to realize that an unconditional love does exist. That performance and possessions don't matter. But an orphan's hand in yours is real, faultless, love. And that love is pushing me to love in the absolute best kind of way. They knew me by my love in Africa...


This little beauty is Joy. I call her that because her smile was contagious and she laughed her little head off constantly. As soon as I got off the bus in Korah, she came up to me, pulled me down to her level and kissed me on the check. Instantly, she was mine! She held my hand and danced with me. We made bracelets together and I held her in my arms as much as I could. Right before I left, she smiled and told me she loved me and gave me a huge huge. I'm crying as I write this because my heart breaks the same way it broke that day every time I think of her. I will always remember you Joy!


This baby...agh. I am just in LOVE with this baby. IN LOVE. His name is Beanium. I met this sweet baby and he has a very special story coming soon. ;) I got to feed him and rock him to sleep. Basically, I was his mom for a short period of time! I pray for him every single day.



This handsome little man was a street kid in Ethiopia. He was so young to be a street kid. I call him Timothy. Just because he is shy and timid, just as Timothy form the Bible was, but with the guidance of his supporters and some awesome people in the street kids ministry, he will grow up to be a fantastic leader and Godly man. He came up to me several times and just hugged me. And on the day we left, he sat next to me on the bus and told me he didn't have a mother or father, just an older brother. Of course, it took everything in me not to cry in front of him. I gave him a huge hug, and let him get off the bus with tears stinging my eyes. He ran around the side of the bus and reached his hand up to the window next to me to touch it...and I lost it. I wanted to jump off the bus and just hug him. I truly felt a mother's love in that moment for that child. And I pray for his safety every chance I get.



This is Aiden. She was a 19 yr old mother in Korah. She was my BEST friend in Korah. She told me all about her dreams, her desires, her love for Jesus...all of it. She worked hard to provide for her boy, and had more faith in God's provisions and will than I ever have. I was inspired by this woman who had nothing...but so much. She LOVED my rain boots, so I left them for her hoping she would get them and remember me when she saw them. And coincidentally, just as we had packed up and were waiting to head to the airport, Aiden was in a van with some ministry workers and Korah and they drove by us as we stood outside. Of course, they stopped and got out to say goodbye and she was wearing my boots! =] So this picture is of us that night. Miss you Aiden!!


Those faces of Africa just push me to love, to have joy, to be me and free in that and to love God and have faith. Africa, I don't know if you know this, but I need you so much more than you need me. I'll be back soon!