Bittersweet Day

I was a bit too tired to blog last night but wanted to share about our day. It was a bittersweet kind of day. The morning was the bitter part. The management team decided a few months ago to shut down the preschool here on grounds for many good reasons, but with that decision came the unfortunate job of letting some of the staff go. There is one staff that I admire greatly who is a preschool teacher and we had her farewell yesterday. She is a woman who shines the love of Jesus so brightly that you can feel it. Her love and admiration for children is an example to other staff. Her smile and ever ready singing brighten every one's day. Her attitude and perseverance are admirable too and it saddened my heart that we had to let her leave Beautiful Gate. I wanted to share my thoughts with her and give a little speech, but I had a lump in my throat and tears streaming down my cheeks (I know that seems to be an everyday occurrence for me now doesn't it!). I went home and wrote her a letter about how special I think she is and I am praying a new position will open up soon so she can work at Beautiful Gate again.

The sweet part of my day was when 3 Swedish families showed up to pick up their new children for bonding. It was beautiful as usual to see their anxious expressions as they waited for their children to arrive then change to huge smiles as they were handed their daughters (all 3 couples got girls which is highly unusual). I took pictures for one couple and then left the room so they could bond.
I went home to prepare lunch for my kids and then heard Elijah yelling into the kitchen that someone was at our house. I went to the door and there was one of the girls who was being adopted (about 3 years old). Her new parents asked her to show them where her house was and she brought them to my house. I know that she KNOWS where her house is and found it really sweet that she brought them to my house ;) She is one of the little girls who yells M'e Anita every time she sees me and wants me to play, and I guess she wanted to make sure she got to say good-bye or wanted me to meet her parents. Whatever the reason, I was touched that she came to see me and then I walked her parents to her real house ;)

God is in the process once again of moving kids around. These 3 left for bonding yesterday and a new little girl moved in. Plus we had the other 2 kids we were expecting move in last week. We had one girl go home with her aunt last Friday and another little girl go to her grandmother's house yesterday. I am guessing that December is going to be a busy month with adoptions and a few older BG kids being reunited with family, so hopefully there will be many happy Christmas celebrations coming up!
May God bless you as you take time to think of Him during this busy holiday season!
Anita