Hi friends! I hope you’ve all enjoyed a beautiful summer! We’ve gone from winter to the kind of summer I’m used to over the last two weeks, even though we’ve just barely begun spring! All my babies are now in lightweight vests, shorts, t-shirts, and sun dresses... so precious. I apologize for the lack of updates over the last... wow, 2 months! Our baby care manager, Steph, has been on a well-earned holiday in Canada, where she’s from and it’s been a little hectic around here since since her departure. If I’d have considered us busy before she left, I’m not sure there’s a word for the events of the last few weeks since. 

Things are going very well in each of our departments: Small Babies, Big Babies, Toddlers, and Starfish- our program for children with special needs. We have been fighting illness lately, but so far we’ve managed to keep everyone healthy! That is a miracle in itself! The Lord has surely been watching over us all. Our small babies are becoming big babies to make room for all the new arrivals we’ve had in the last few weeks! In the 3 weeks since Steph left we’ve had so many new ones that our small babies department is almost completely new! I fetched our latest small one just last night and there are few things I’d rather do than chill out with a tiny baby curled up in my arms. I love loving these sweet ones.  

Our big babies department is also constantly changing. They are enjoying the sun we’ve been having as its enabled them to have lots of playtime outside! I’ve enjoyed spending some extra time in this department, getting to know these kids better. It is so full of chatter and laughing out loud (and the occasional scream as well, of course)! One of our babies just discovered his giggle about a week ago! I was laughing so hard watching him discover his hysterical laugh! It is such a blessing to be part of these precious moments. 

Our Starfish kids are little miracles! I love watching the Lord work in these lives... He is doing wonderful things! I just want to share a quick testimony about one of our kids. Nomthandazo has severe cerebral palsy. When she came to us, she was stiff and straight as a board, and could not relax any of her muscles. The only part of her body that would move was her neck and she had no control over it. She had been in hospital for months and was so badly deformed that they thought many of her joints had been dislocated due to the over-flexing of certain muscles. We started her immediately in physiotherapy, and you would not believe this is the same child! She can now bend to a sitting position! Her hips, knees and feet, which were so deformed, are now aligning and she can move them on her own! She can turn her head from side to side, and has even started bring her hands up to her face! This baby girl is a miracle... the Lord is doing great things in her, and she is already telling the world around her how amazing is her Heavenly Father!

We have had at least one adoption every week for the past month 

and a half. I still feel so incredibly blessed to be part of this work each time I see a mommy and daddy meet their new little one. One amazing event that occurred two weeks ago was that I got to place my sweet Anna into her forever mommy’s arms. The weekend before she left, I took my girl out to buy a nice adoption outfit and spent as much quality time with her as my schedule would allow. Her adoption went beautifully, and I managed to finish the baby book I had been making for her! When the time had come to match her with a family, one picture of her adoptive father made the decision. He was smiling at the camera with exact same smile I had been falling in love with every day since Anna’s arrival. The Lord amazes me... who would have thought a beautiful, dark, African baby could so resemble her adult, fair-skinned, Swedish father? I was amazed. Both of her parents are so wonderful. I have seen the family once (briefly) since her adoption day (an unusual surprise!) and I can see that she is home. I miss that girl... I can’t imagine possibly never cuddling that chubby bunny again, but the Lord is good and He is helping me to cope. We love them to life and send them home... a privilege but bitter sweet, you know? 

Along with all the joy we’ve experienced over the last 2 months, we’ve also dealt with a bit of heartbreak as well. Just after I wrote you the last update, we had a baby fall terribly ill. She had been sickly since her arrival and had just never been able to thrive. She had, of course, been loved and cared for, doted on by her aunties, and had been treated with antibiotics pretty steadily throughout the 7 weeks of her stay here. She started really battling to breath, and before tests were in, she passed away in our home Monday morning, the 3rd of August. It was extremely difficult at first, for me to accept her death. I tried so hard to wrap my brain around the whys and the what ifs. I struggled to understand the purpose in her 10 week life span. The Lord put his loving arms around me and allowed me to question Him in my grief. I don’t understand the ways of my Lord, but I trust in His goodness. He took His little one home to be with Him where she is now free from sickness and living Life! We’re all so blessed to have been able to know and love her while she was here. 

We have also been battling with another one of our tinies, and found out only a few days ago that she has full blown AIDS. She is in the hospital right now, recovering from pneumonia. I’ve been fighting with this baby girl for a while now. A few weeks ago, she stopped breathing in my arms and I raced her to the emergency room. I prayed the whole way that the Lord would keep her, and by His grace we made it to the ER. She received treatment, but has just not gotten any better. Born prematurely, she did not have a great immune system to start with, so the HIV+ took control very quickly. We have started her on ARVs and hope to see her improve well enough to bring her home soon. We are not set up to handle babies with HIV/AIDS so right now we are having to look at moving her to another home. People who are HIV positive are now able to outlive us all due to healthy living and medication (gifts from the Lord). It is my prayer that the Lord will make her strong enough to fight this terrible curse of a disease. Please be praying for this little one... 

My tots... are thriving! They are so incredible. It has been a month of firsts- 2 first birthdays, first steps, first trips to the emergency room... not all good firsts, but milestones nonetheless! We are now 8 at the toddler house- five boys, three girls. Our newest arrival came just last week through the bin. She is a big girl, but we were left no information about her. I had the privilege of giving her a name, Eliana, and she was given a new birthdate last Tuesday. Although we think it is likely that she is a year old, she was given an age of 10 months because she is a bit weak in the legs. She is getting stronger already and I hope she’ll be on the move as fast as the rest of our tots in no time. Every school day I load my two oldest kids in the car, and as soon as I turn the car on I hear my favorite request, “Auntie can you please put on Dancing Queen?” That’s right! They love Dancing Queen! Recently I turned my camera on in the car and pointed it towards my boy. Not only did he sing the song, but he gave his best performance to date! It was my lucky day! So precious... all of them are growing well, hitting their milestones, and thriving. A great feeling I am recently experiencing is the joy of noticing little snotty gifts left by my children just above knee height on my trousers every morning. It’s gross, to be sure, but those gifts are always left when the kids come running to receive their morning hugs from Auntie Beth... so I’m just going to enjoy it! 

I used a few more words than I had planned, but I hope you’ve enjoyed all this news. Please keep us in you prayers, and I look forward to sending you some more information soon. Thanks for your love, thanks for your support in every way it’s given.

Love & blessings,

Auntie Beth