New baby

Today we received a new baby girl here at Beautiful Gate. She is one month old. Her mother was very young and died from complications during birth and this little baby was being raised by some members of her mother's community (as she has no known relatives). They came to realize that they just could not care for an infant and gave her over to the Department of Social Welfare who then put her into our care. So tonight she is warm, comfortable and well fed and she will be receiving love, care, and comfort from the gentle arms of our Beautiful Gate care staff.

Also tonight is the last night for another of our dear children to be an orphan. His parents are coming to meet him and take him for bonding tomorrow. I love those days when new parents gaze on their children for the first time. It is a little like sneaking into a hospital room and watching new parents receive their new born child because their faces light up in the same way. Before the parents meet their child they meet in a room to await the arrival of their soon to be adopted child. Sometimes only for a few minutes and other times for many minutes and usually Bryan and I wait with them so we can use their cameras to take pictures of their first moments together. I feel bad as we make small talk(as it would be very awkward to sit in silence the whole time) because I know they want nothing to do with me or my attempts to help waste the time as they wait anxiously and I am not offended at all, they are just so eager for that moment to glimpse their son or daughter (they probably do not remember a word I say to them in those moments, hahaha). Some have waited 4 years for this moment and it is so beautiful.

I look forward to being a part of this meeting with our new little girl someday. God needed her biological mother to be with Him in heaven and He has a perfect family waiting to meet her and welcome her into their home. It is so precious and I am so blessed that God has allowed me these special glimpses into this amazing process which is adoption.
Anita

Adoption April!

April has been a great month for Beautiful Gate!  We started and ended the month with more adoption ceremonies.  In early April, we were blessed to witness the creation of two more "Forever Families" to Canada!

2 New Forever Families in Canada!

One of the most interesting facts about these families, (to me) is that they both now have more children that are non Canadian vs. the number of parents that are Canadian.  The family to our left (in the picture above) now has three Basotho children.  And the single mother to our right (in the picture above), now has two African children.

At the end of April, we celebrated the creation of two more "Forever Families" in Sweden!

2 New Swedish Forever Families

Also pictured here are many of the key people responsible for these and all Swedish adoptions.  It was such a blessing to have all these people at one adoption ceremony to see the finalization of all their hard work.

Beautiful Gate wishes these new families the very best and will pray the the Lord will continue to provide for them and their new "Forever Families" in the future!

"In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."  Ephesians 1:5-6

Bryan

A moment in their shoes

If you are a mother, father or thinking of becoming one in the near future, I want you to think about your children. What would it take for you to willingly give them up? To what extreme would you go to make sure you could care for, love and provide for your children? If all you lacked were the resources to provide food and shelter, would your family or friends or even governmental agencies come to your assistance?

This has been on my mind all day. Yesterday a brother and sister were brought to Beautiful Gate because their mother had dropped them off with their aunt saying she'd be back, and she never came back to get them. Their aunt could not continue to care for them so she contacted social welfare (DSW) and DSW brought the kids here. How desperate did their mother have to be in order to walk away and not come back?

We also have another child here whom I mentioned in a previous post. This child had some damage done to her lungs due to several illnesses that progressed a long time. She is now dependent on an oxygen machine and was stuck in a hospital room until we agreed to take her here. Her parents came to visit her for the first time since she has been here and they are in the process of discussing her future with them. They do not have electricity in their home either because they can not afford it or because they live in an area when it is not accessible, so they are discussing whether they should place her up for adoption.

I cannot even for a minute pretend to put myself in their shoes.

Picture Request

This post is a request for pictures from my family and friends who spent time with us in 2010 before we left for Africa. As many of you already know, my camera was stolen when we got to Jo-berg along with my memory card with all my pics from summer and fall of 2010. If any of you have digital pics of our family from 2010 can you email me (bageurink@hotmail.com) and I'll let you know the easiest way to send them to me, I am really hoping someone has a few from Elijah and Mercy's birthday party at Crazy Bounce and a few of our camping trips, as I have none. I am planning to work on the scrapbook of our last year in Michigan (before becoming missionaries) with pics of all our family and friends and would really appreciate any pictures you may have. I am finding that looking through scrapbooks is very good for the kids to remember places and faces as Mercy was only 3 when we left. Thanks!

Time

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven A time to be born And a time to die. A time to plant And a time to pluck what is planted. A time to kill And a time to heal. A time to break down And a time to build up. A time to weep And a time to laugh. A time to mourn And a time to dance. A time to cast away stones And a time to gather stones. A time to embrace And a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain And a time to lose. A time to keep And a time to throw away. A time to tear And a time to sew. A time to keep silence And a time to speak. A time to love And a time to hate. A time of war And a time of peace."

 We rushed on an unexpected trip to Durban (after our Lesotho clearing agent told us to go ASAP) to claim our car (that we bought 14 months ago) and get it loaded on a truck to be shipped to Lesotho. We got there only to discover that they are no longer shipping cars to Lesotho, but they'd be happy to ship it to us in Mozambique (funny how unhelpful that offer is). So it is not the time for us to have our car.

We took the kids to play in the ocean and allowed them to enjoy God's creation while we were there in Durban. The kids said it was the best vacation because they love the ocean so much. It was time to make our kids happy and bond as a family.

We decided to take an adventurous road trip home through Sani Pass because it might be the only time it is just the 5 of us and we did not have the trailer. It is an AMAZINGLY beautiful 4x4 pass through Drakensberg Mountains. We had a breathtaking view from the place we stopped for lunch. It was time to sit in awe of our Lord's majesty.

We drove for hours on pothole filled roads going up and down mountains. We hit a bad patch of potholes with lose gravel around them, lost control of the Land Rover and began to slide into the side of a mountain or the other side being a flimsy guard rail with a deadly drop. Thankfully Bryan gained control of the car. It was not our time to die or I would never have been able to post this today.

I am still silently reflecting what God's time means to me and my family...

God's Plans are Good

God is so good at turning our sorrows into smiles, turning our tears into laughter, taking our pain and replacing it with love, and showing us that through both the good times and the bad, He is faithfully loving us all and holding us close to His heart. Today, God showed me that though there may be times I get a little sad over things I cannot change, He is constantly putting plans into motion that are just amazing.

Today we celebrated 4 adoptions! The 3 siblings which I blogged about last week and another precious girl whose smile brought a lot of light to Beautiful Gate and to me. Everyday when she saw me, she'd come running with arms outstretched and a beaming smile :) Today was our final farewell with the 4 children and it was so sincere and special. They all 4 came from some very tough situations that even made our social worker want to cry when she visited their village on Wednesday (and she is not easily given to tears). Their lives did not start off well, but God was not finished with them yet.

He had 3 parents who needed these children in their lives. I know one family waited for 5 long years for this adoption day. It was hard and it tested them, but God was saying wait because I have the perfect kids for you. If they would have had the kids in their timing, then they never would have had their youngest who is FULL of joy and smiles. God kept saying wait, not yet, I am your Daddy and I know just the perfect kids for you. I made them for you and I am saving them for you. It is just beautiful.

I know they are many others who are waiting to adopt children and while we may never fully understand God's timing or why the long and painful waiting, I hope you can find hope through the story of these parents. I will never understand the timing of my sister's death (previous blog post) either, but I trust God that it was the right time and I trust Him with my future and the future of my family. His ways are not our ways, but He is full of grace and mercy! Today we rejoice through adoption!

My Sister, My Best Friend

Sometimes I hate the month of April. It can be a painful month and it lasts for 30 days with a constant reminder of who is missing from my life, April. The last 3 years, I have done a good job just celebrating her life with happy memories and I usually take a few hours to just be alone and remember my best friend, my sister. I especially remember 3 years ago when my dad, brother, and I spent a day doing all of the things that made us think of her. I bought a Harley Davidson T-shirt, we ate at her favorite resteraunt, we went to the beach, and we bought some of her favorite flowers. It was a beautiful celebration of the amazing person she is to all of us.

This year has just been tougher and I think it is because I was already a bit homesick after Bryan was away for a month seeing friends and family (mostly fundraising though). I also think that living here in Lesotho and living with poverty, pain, hopelessness, suffering, starvation, etc, has torn down the walls of my protected heart. Everything seems to hurt more so I guess it makes sense that missing April hurts more too. I also watched a movie last night and the main character reminded me so much of her that I teared up a few times. All that being said, I guess I just miss her and wish I could be sharing this new life I am living with her.

For those of you who do not know me well, my sister April took her life on April 11, 1999. 4 months before Bryan and I got married. Depression, physical and emotional pain, and tough life circumstances proved to be more than she could carry on her own. So my sister/best friend went to be with Jesus today 13 years ago when she was 23.

Here are the lyrics to a song I played at her funeral:
Good-bye for now by Kathy Troccoli

I can't believe that you're really gone now.
Seems like it's all just a dream
How can it be that the world would go on
When something has died within me
Leaves will turn, my heart will burn
With colors of you
Snow will fall, but I'll recall your warmth
Summer wind, breathing in your memory
I'll miss you


But there will be a time
When I'll see your face
And I'll hear your voice
And there we will laugh again
And there will come a day
When I'll hold you close
No More tears to cry
'Cause we'll have forever
But I'll say Goodbye for now


I can't imagine my life without you
You held a place all your own
Just knowing you were beneath the same sky
Oh what a joy I have known
On rainy days, in many ways
You'll water my heart
On starry nights I'll glmipse the light
of your smile
Never far from my heart