normal.

Hey there! I hope all of you are having a restful Sabbath. Today and yesterday have been very chill here which has helped me catch my breath a bit and reflect on the past few weeks. This was the first weekend we didn't go on some big outing which meant I could sleep in and I was not complaining about that!

Being here for a month now, life seems much more normal. I have pretty much adjusted to being away from my family. Thinking about the fact that I live in a third world country doesn't seem to shock me anymore. I no longer have moments where I stop and think to myself, "WHAT AM I DOING HERE??!??" Some of the staff has been teaching me and quizzing me on my Sesotho which is no longer so intimidating to try and speak. The kids know my name I know most of the kids in my house's names. It feels good being adjusted and now that I am already a month into my trip, I keep thinking of how 4 months is too short of a time!

Today, our sermon at church was about how necessary it is to have a prayer life. I have found this to be so true, especially being here in Lesotho. Working with orphans everyday can get kind of heavy when you think about all of these beautiful kids not having parents. I have learned that I can't adopt them all (I have already asked :) and I can't fix all of their problems, but I have also learned that the two best things I can do for them is smother them with love as much as I possibly can and pray for them and their adoptive families. I have also been praying a lot for my family and friends back home. When I was in the middle of life with my family and friends I found myself not praying for them as much because I was with them all the time and often I was not able to see the need being in the middle of it. Being here, when I think about the ones I love during my day, I realize I don't know what they may be facing right at that point so I just pray for them because that is about all I can do. Prayer has been the thing that has kept me sane it times.

Adoption has a very special place in my heart. It always has. For those of you who may not know me personally, I have a 7 year old sister who is adopted from Saginaw, MI. We are "best sisters" and I miss holding her hand and hearing her little voice and all of her little funny sayings. I have always known I wanted to adopt later in life because I always saw as just a good thing to do. It was not until I got to Beautiful Gate that I realized importance and need for it. You could list off the number of orphans in the world all you wanted but it was not until I saw their faces and learned their personalities that I realized that adoption is their one hope whether they are old enough to know that or not. A great as Beautiful Gate is, they can't stay here forever. They eventually must be adopted, go back to their biological families (for the un-adoptable ones whom still have living parents), or move to another orphanage. Many of these kids NEED families. That is still hard for me to wrap my mind around yet. Coming from such an awesome and supportive family, its hard to imagine NOT having a family. Yet this is these kids' reality everyday and there is not a whole lot they can do to help themselves escape it.

Currently, there is a group here volunteering from England. The lady who is leading them was here earlier this year and she wanted to come back again with her family and friends. The first night I met them, I honestly had no idea what they were saying. The thought, "Are they even speaking English?" came into my head more then once. I just smiled and nodded a lot. There are a few girls who are my age from their group and I have enjoyed getting to know them and comparing cultures. I find it so funny because a few of them dream of coming to America and they love our accents, when in America many people dream of going to England and everyone likes English accents. Strange. One girl asked me if my school was anything like the movie "Mean Girls." I had a little chuckle and thankfully I could say "no" to that. :) This group has a very wide range of talents and it is fun to see them all getting used to serve this community and Beautiful Gate.

peace and love.