Best weekend ever!

This past weekend must rate as one of THEEEEEE BEST weekends we've ever had! It's impossible to even begin telling you just how much fun we had... I think the best thing I can do is just load pics of everything we got up to with the kids. Because words will never do it justice.

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We took the church children away and the kids we took stole our hearts. They were so grateful for every thing done for them. The night we arrived, one of our assistant pathfinder leaders had to show some of the kids how to sleep with bedding. They didn't know that you actually sleep between the sheets. This was so shocking to me! Their families are so poor that children sometimes sleep three to a bed, and all share one blanket. To arrive at the dorms and find not only one blanket, but also two sheets, two pillows and a duvet per bed (with spare blankets in their wardrobes) was so intimidating for them, that they just lay on top of the bedding. One little boy (about 9 years old) was having such difficulty falling asleep in his bed that he approached one of his friends and asked if he could sleep head to toe with him, because he wasn't used to sleeping alone in his bed, without his brothers. Way to make my heart bleed!

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The first night we arrived there was a warm meal of pasta, vegetables and ice-cream for dessert waiting for us. One of the boys there said he never knew you could eat so many different types of food at one meal!

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Oh how God blessed us! Spending time with those kids, most of whom were seriously underprivileged, put things into perspective for me. Mother's Day weekend is usually the worst weekend in the year for me. Going away with this group of kids was so life-changing that it turned into one of the most memorable weekends of my life. This was the first Mother's Day since 2002 that I can say without hesitation that I enjoyed EVERY moment, and that I didn't feel like I was crushed and devastated and heart-broken. This Mother's Day held promise for me. I awoke feeling energised and excited and exuberant. Besides having such a ball with the kids, just the idea that next year I might actually BE a mommy - well, there's nothing like that feeling.

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How incredibly blessed I am and so grateful to my Jesus! In just two short days, we will start the long process to adopt our babe from Russia. Wooo hooooo! Even while I'm typing this, I feel like shaking my bootie.

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So anyway, I could write so much more but I still don't think that anything I write could quite capture our time away with this incredible group of kids. Have a look at some pics.