Joy down in my heart.

I can not believe today was my last day teaching at CLS. This summer has FLOWN by and God could have not blessed me anymore. I am so thankful for all the memories, relationships and change that has been over the last 6 weeks.

Wednesday I took my beautiful kinder class to the beach. For many this was their first time ever driving out of Delmas 31, their first time ever swimming and their first time ever seeing the ocean. I could not stop thanking God for allowing me to be apart of this memory in their lives and being the person they get to experience it with. My word for the entire day was JOY. I could not stop singing " ive got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart" Their smiles laughs and screams gave me such an inexpressible joy that will forever be engraved in my heart.

Being able to give them their very own brand new swim suit and flip flops was such a humbling moment ( thank you mom & dad for donating and picking them out along with Janelle : ) ) That moment that they were all lined up along the wall with their suits and sandals was the first time I got a picture with ALL of them smiling their beautiful white smiles. That again filled my heart with joy that God provided these moments and provided a suit for every child to wear.

We split the girls and boys up and of course they all wanted to go into the ocean first. The boys put on all their arm floaties and JUMPED into the water quite literally. I have never seen such happy faces with a grin from ear to ear. How they were able to just play and be children. The girls and I played in the sand and built castles and buried Evensky in the sand. I wish that each and everyone of you could have been there to experience the sheer joy and excitement from these children. It made me really savor the little things and to enjoy the simple pleasure that God has given us in this world.

The girls got their turn to swim in the salty crystal turquoise water. They clung on for dear life but my the end they were swimming and kicking and just loving this freedom that being in water brings. I wanted to let them play in the water for hours and hours. The boys buried their principle in the sand, it was a funny laugh for them all to see their principle covered in sand.

After washing them with clean water, which was such a mom moment for me making sure all the sand was off of them, something that God putting on my heart more and more. We were going to try and do some "organized" games in the grass but I loved watching them all play on the swing set that was at the resort. To think that several have never swung or gone down a slide. The boys were running around with beach balls and in that moment I coudlnt stop thanking God for these children and for allowing them to BE children.

They did not want to leave and I didnt blame them. I wanted to give them the whole day at the beach, give them more and more experiences and more time to soak up Gods beautiful creations He has so willingly given us to abide in.

I bet you could all guess that the tap tap ride home was silent, oh yes it was as every single sweet child of mine was asleep from the few hours of pure child play time. I did everything I could to hold back tears countless times.

I was forever thankful to God for that special day, He kept us all safe, and provided everything for us. He picked these children to bring into my life this summer, He lead me to take on a whole new world of teaching, He graciously gave me a heart for showering these beautiful children the love they more then deserve.




Today we had a family dinner with all of CLS. Rachel and I went to the market and had the older girls in the childrens home help us prepare and cook the meal. We made... TACOS. since none of the kids have EVER had a taco before. It was so much fun to go into the market with the girls and purchase the local produce, supporting the people of Haiti. We cut everything up and put chicken and black beans in the crock pot.

Seeing how the kids reacted to setting our "outdoor dining room" up was priceless. They wanted table cloths because the table was ugly and not nice enough, they cleaned the whole area & made sure that it was just perfect. This brought so much joy to my heart to be able to share this new cuisine with them and to have this first experience with them as I am sure they dont have many " family" dinners.

We ended the night with wiggly jiggly strawberry jello that they all slurped up in a second and Monsters vs Aliens projecting on our white wall.

This was a beautiful way to end a summer that was fun of amazing memories, frustrations & new found relationships.

Now I am just surrendering the next door to open that God will guide me to the right ministry and the right position to love His children.

My verse I read this morning put it perfectly... as God always does when we are seeking His direction.

" At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen" Isaiah 60:22

Now I am just enjoying every moment I have with these amazing people God has brought into my life and waiting on His perfect timing.


Em