Well, we haven't been back a full 24 hours yet, but I figured I should write a little about our last night with the girls. Because it's been two days, I won't be able to give full details but I'd love to give you a little glimpse into our goodbye.
After I wrote the last post, I rushed over to pray with the girls before dinner. Before dinner every night, we all stand around the table, hold hands, and sing the blessing. Once that is finished, one of the girls starts praying. Most of it is just being thankful for the food, their new family members (us), and for all of the things throughout the day. This has been something I have really missed the most. My heart breaks a little every time there's a prayer being said and there's not a little girl holding my hands.
The tears started throughout dinner. At first, it would be just a few girls but once we finished our devotional and had a chance to talk a little about the week, everyone in the room had tears. Each girl would stand up and say thank you to each of us. Sometimes, there were personal messages and sometimes it was just a general "thank you". The best one was from Kiti. Kiti is nine and extremely hyper and goofy. She stood up though to thank us and it went something like this "thank you for coming to stay with us, and thank you for taking us to the beach...and *bursts into tears* thank you for the pizza". We had bought the girls Dominos the night before, and you would have thought we had given them gold. It became a joke all yesterday, as we continued to quote her, but it is such a good example of the trip. These girls were grateful for every little thing. Each water balloon, dessert, movie, they were even grateful for us cleaning with them. Nothing is taken for granted.
The goodbye was the hardest part, hands down. My heart broke into a thousand pieces as I hugged and cried with each girl. Every time I thought one of us was out of tears, it would start up again.
Each girl is so special. Their stories may involve sadness and difficulties, but it also involves rescue. If you love Jesus, you can relate. You've been rescued too, but there's something about physical safety right here and right now that can also transform you. We've left with some great memories, a TON of pictures, and some very special letters (ask us about our letters, that's something we would have to tell you in person), but we exchanged all of that a piece of our hearts.
Thank you for following our trip, I'll probably write one more post about our travels and include some pictures on the site, but your prayers and kind words have been so encouraging. I apologize in advance if you've asked me, or ask me about our trip. I haven't quite mastered talking about it without my eyes filling with tears (sorry again to those that were in Anchor this morning...something was clearly heavy on my heart). I miss the girls a lot. Everything has seemed to remind me of them and I've already started thinking about the next time I see them.
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