casa shalom.

I am so thankful for this season in Guatemala. 

What a gift it is that I get to be here in this place, holding this sweet girl when she’s having a bad day, when she is sad and needs some extra loving. That I get to celebrate her when she takes those few steps as she is learning to walk, or when she bravely crawls through the tunnel that she was once afraid of.

This little girl who, when we first came, didn’t want much to do with us as far as physical touch was concerned – when we would hold her, she’d find her way to wiggle right out of our arms! Now she crawls into my lap all the time, just because.

It’s not uncommon to have multiple kids on my lap at a time saying, “caballo, caballo!” (which means horse) or telling me to go to sleep (aka pretend like you’re asleep and snore, then wake up and tickle us until we laugh deep in our bellies!) I’m not really sure how that one got started, but they love it!

Each day we walk into the baby home, Anna and I are welcomed with a chorus of “Anna! Kachi! Anna! Kachi!”. They can’t pronounce the “c” in my name so it always comes out sounding like “ch”. It’s super cute! It’s like they’ve given me their own nickname and they don’t even realize it! 

The diaper changes, the snotty noses, the crying, the tantrums, the hitting and the biting. The hugging, the laughing, oh man the laughing – these kids get it. They know that laughing is good for the soul. The moments of celebration, the high fives, the tickle fights, and the kisses on the cheek. The dancing, building towers with the blocks, and the knocking down of those towers, which is always their favorite part. The moments of complete silliness and the moments of stillness when they just want to be held.

It could be easy to get in the mindset that what I am doing here isn’t that important. These kids, they have house moms who care for them, bathe them, dress them, and etc. I work with 0-2ish year olds, so I don’t have deep, meaningful conversations with them about life and Jesus and what they want to be when they grow up. Instead we stick to counting to 10 with our fingers and building towers with blocks.

Isn’t that true in life though? More often than not, what we do in our day to day may not seem like the most important, life changing, impactful thing. In fact, it probably seems pretty ordinary, simple, boring, and mundane. But God is in those moments, too. What you do, how you interact with those around you, how you invest your time, it all matters. Don’t think for a second that it doesn’t. 

Our first days at Casa Shalom were spent in training, learning about how best to love the kids there. One of the things that has stuck with me the most is the importance of something so simple as physical touch and eye contact, which might sound silly because it’s something that seems so natural to us. Y’all, it is such a big deal! Not only is it a way of showing them that they are loved, seen, and cared for, but it straight up affects their brain development. Look it up if you don’t believe me!

All of these kids have experienced trauma. They all have different stories and different reasons for being at Casa Shalom. They have all been victims of abandonment/neglect/abuse in some way, and it has affected them. That’s the heart breaking reality. 

I don’t know why, but I get to be a small part of their lives. It is a privilege to have these sweet moments with them, and even the not so sweet moments. So for now, I will take every opportunity I have to rub their back, to give them all the hugs, to kiss them on the forehead, to hold their hand, to look them in the eye and tell them they’re beautiful, they’re funny, they’re loved. I will pray for them, love them, and celebrate them.

I cherish these moments of connecting with them, simple as they may be.

I do believe the Lord has given me the eyes to see them as He does. When I look at these precious babes, I see sons and daughters, just like you and I. He calls them His beloved, just as He does you and I. That is my biggest prayer for them, that they would know how deeply loved they are. Because they deserve it. They’re worth it. 

Thank you for being a part of this journey with me, making it possible for me to be here with them.