Day one....

Well today on my first day i was so just taking everything in that this STUNNING place has to offer i didn't even take out my camera....shocking i know! haha But i did get out my video camera and got a quick shot of the sweetest high pitched voice you have EVER heard. This is Arafat. You should hear his laugh...I'll save it for another video because i'm pretty sure its right up there with mine haha.

SO i think i have so much to write i just have to wait because my eyes are getting heavy and my heart is just SO full.
But i will tell, the people here are infectious. There is something infectious about their spirit that captivates me like nothing else has before.
My luggage helper man was wonderful and SO helpful! (rolling 6 suitcases around by myself was just humorous so he thought he'd lend a hand just for the sake of my embarrassment haha)
And my driver was SO wonderful he told me to call him father because all of his daughter's friends called him that. He told me ALL about the country, crops, and people as we were driving through on our two hour ride.
I think my eyes are sore from just staring! I couldn't take my eyes off anything...i just sat in silent observance of it all. And it was a beautiful thing..... a lot of thoughts going on in my head i'll soon share for sure!
First of all i got to stop at my friend Amy's house to drop off her luggage. Amy wasn't there but i got to pick up and squeeze her little girl who ran to me with a huge  hug! It's almost like she knew i'd been waiting forever to meet her. Amina, you are such a sweetie and so precious to me.
Then when i got to my home, i was greeted by "AUNTIE AUNTIE AUNTIE" right when i got out of the car.
To say i was ecstatic and had a HUGE smile just STUCK on my face (yeah my jaw is sore haha) is an understatement.
These children who are disabled, who have been abandoned and hurt, are SO joyful...and didn't stop smiling all day.. (except the occasional fit ofcourse)
hmmm....it makes you think twice, at least it did for me, about gratitude in a deeper form than i have ever experienced.
So i have SO much more to say about these sweet kids but it'll have to wait...
I do want to mention one sweet girl though named Natasha.
Natasha was found abandoned at the hospital a little while ago.
She is about five or six but looks like an infant. She is SO tiny and can't eat solids so she drinks milk in very small amounts so she can swallow.
Natasha is so beautiful and has the grooviest afro bun i have ever seen :)
She can't really move well or talk at all. She just lays in your arms and looks at you.
The only sounds she can make are wimpering noises and cries like she's trying to tell us how much pain her little tiny frame is in.
It's heartbreaking.
But this little girl is SO loved.
I held Tasha today in the clinic as we took her to the clinic to get her IV.
I sang to her while she cried and she just kept looking at me....her wimpers and my singing making some type of beautiful melody together. Something i haven't heard before, but something that i so just wanted to hold on too.
This little girl has the BIGGEST brown eyes though and they hold HOPE. I can see it in her eyes...and i can't wait to see how this hope plays out.
Please pray for this little sweetness....that she will start gaining weight and for Emily to have wisdom on how best to treat her to help her feel better.
The night ended with a wonderful Bible study at a friends house.
I have met so many new friends here already and it's only the first day!
Well, I've made it here and i'm ready for Jesus to just DO WORK.
Because that's the whole reason for everything....
that's the reason for caring for little Natasha and everyone and eveything else...for Jesus to show up in our lives and show Himself.
Eternity..
That's what counts.
Live out loud.
thanks for all your prayers and i just love you all like crazy!
(this was meant to be posted last night but i fell asleep before i hit the post button) haha