I pray

My arms have yearned for a baby from the time I was little. I never really understood the weight of being a parent. It is a difficult task and a blessing at the same time. My heart was changed in the moment that Aila was born. In that moment, God entrusted the care of one of His children to us! The first time I saw her, I FELT the true intricacy of His design. She was amazing.

This time of year always makes me realize how amazing His creations are...when the world is coming back to life. The grass turns green, the flowers are amazingly beautiful. The world springs to life as proof that God loves beauty in this world of His.

The change in my heart has made it painful for me to see children who are abandoned, mistreated, and all together forgotten. I saw the 1994 Pulitzer prize winning photograph the other day (I was going to post the link here, but have decided it is such a difficult picture to look at, if you are interested, google it), and it was enough to make me cry...sitting at my desk...at work...I cried. It is a photo of a little child in Sudan during the famine in the early 90's. The child is hunched over, and there is a vulture nearby. Before becoming a mother, this photo would have made me incredibly sad, but it certainly would not have touched me the way it does now. It physically hurts me to know that there are children in the world who have nothing to eat...no shelter...no one to love them. I realize just how blessed I truly am.

The time of day that I cherish the most is when I am putting Aila to bed at night. Each night since she has been born, I cradle the back of her head in my palm, holding her cheek close to mine, and I pray. I pray with a grateful heart that guardian angels will protect her; I pray for her future friends; I pray for guidance for Dave and I as we raise her; I pray that she will grow up loving the Lord; mostly, I pray a prayer of thankfulness.

I am so blessed to have a child that I can care for, and I PRAY for the children in this world who don't have someone on this earth to care for them; I pray that GOD will take care of them. Every child deserves happiness.