But
Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to
Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14
About a month ago, we received a
two-day baby announcement: we were bringing home an eight-month year old! Two
days later, we moved the crib, her clothes, some diapers, and a little bit of
formula. We welcomed in our baby
girl. The questions and worries we
had during that two-day period faded as we received this tiny but grand
blessing. Ana, which means favor
or grace, is truly one of our greatest gifts from God. How good is He to gift us with this
bundle of joy, silly noises, and cuddles (plus some poopy diapers, which aren’t
so bad). We do not have legal
foster parent status, but within the institution of the Fundacion, we are her
primary caretakers, 24/7. All
cries during the night, all diapers, all meal times, all giggles and
milestones, all doctor appointments and court hearings, all of this is our
blessing.
Our life has changed in many ways
in this past month, as you can imagine.
From learning about diets of malnourished infants to teething, we have
come a far way in our baby know-how. Sweeping more, tiptoeing to the bathroom
during nap time, peek-a-boo, and working our blender to the grind is our new
normal. We still have to figure
out how to not lose her teeny-tiny socks and how to respectfully navigate
parenting advice from others, but overall I think our happy baby approves of
our novice parenting skills. As
for our other girls (now 7), they are excellent big sisters, making sure she
never puts anything small in her mouth and that she has constant interaction
and stimulation (though sometimes I have to tell them to tone it down a
little). It has been especially
rewarding to see our youngest 5 year old who has a similar past as Ana, and who
is still malnourished and developmentally the size of a 3 year old, grow out of
the role of baby into the role of big sister. More than that, one of our most particularly troubled girls,
who previously rejected almost all forms of love, has somehow softened and has
had more joy in her attitude and interactions with others since helping take
care of Ana. Grace truly does
cover this entire troop of ours.
As for now, we have to get back to the dishes and cleaning before Anna
wakes up!
No pictures of Ana yet (we're terrible at picture taking), but here's three of our girls doing their thing!
