Different? I don't know different.

A few months back I realized that one of the things that I really love about living on our campus at COTP is how accepting everyone is of individuals with special needs. All of the other missionary staff are also parenting children with special needs and the kids have grown up alongside each other so there’s actually very minimal effort we have to put into teaching our kids to accept and to include others. They’re used to siblings with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, down syndrome, or arthrogryposis. 

Both Samantha and William have cerebral palsy. They don’t play or interact with other kids in the “typical” way other three-year-olds or four-year-olds do, but they still LOVE to play and to interact with their friends! We have two next door neighbors, Robert and Danny, who are five and six years old. They come to my door almost every morning to peer in to see if Samantha and William are awake yet. They’ll come to knock on my door to ask if they can come play with Samantha and William.  They don’t see each others’ differences and they can just play and be kids together. They all get on the floor together and have fun. I love that about our community. Our missionary staff won’t bat an eye if a child is being tube fed and the kids will run to get a syringe or the milk to help. Everyone naturally makes space to accommodate the kids who need wheelchairs. Everyone speaks to the kids with special needs just as they do to the kids without special needs. The adults and the kids realize that special needs are just one part of who these kiddos are and it’s not what defines them. 

Today I was talking with Robert and Danny as they walked with me to drop Samantha and William off at preschool. I asked, “What do you like about Samantha and William?” to which they responded “I like to play with them. I like to go for walks with them. I like when Samantha laughs.” Then I asked them, “What’s the same about you as Samantha and William?” and they had a lot of examples. “Samantha likes to go to school and we like to go to school. I like to play with Danny and William also likes to play with Danny. Samantha is the same like Carly (a girl in their home, drawing the comparison that they’re both girls). William smiles a lot and we like to smile.”

Then I asked the boys what was different about them than Samantha and William. “Different? I don’t know different,” Robert said. “You don’t know what the word different means?” I asked him. “I know that word but I don’t know how Samantha and William are different.” I am constantly learning, growing, and being challenged by these kids. I pray that Samantha and William will always have friends like Danny and Robert wherever they go, friends who see their similarities first and struggle to see their differences. I also pray that Danny and Robert will be forever changed by these friendships and always spread God's love and acceptance wherever they go in the future.

*Names have been changed to protect the children’s privacy

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site. Photos take of the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Remembering Marie Lynn

I don’t take any birthday or milestone for granted with my kids because there were so many times, especially in their first years of life, that I thought I might lose them. Tuberculosis, cardiac arrests, seizures, dehydration, pertussis, they have overcome so much. Yesterday that hit home even more as one of the babies, Marie Lynn, in the Life House passed away. She was here for hospice care but that doesn’t make her death any easier. Kids with her diagnosis usually die in their first year of life. Her first birthday would have been this Saturday. Shortly after pronouncing Marie Lynn’s death I took my kids to their first day of preschool, something we’ve been looking forward to for quite awhile. I celebrated that milestone while simultaneously grieving the loss of sweet Marie Lynn. It was a tough day. Some days here are marked with such joy right along with such deep sorrow.

Marie Lynn wasn't able to see here on this earth. But as one of her sponsors shared, "It is so wonderful to know that the first thing she was able to see with perfect eyes was Christ Jesus himself." We sang this song at Marie Lynn's funeral today, a small graveside service attended by some of her nannies, one of her nurses, and a few of the missionary staff. Marie Lynn was cherished by her Heavenly Father as well as her COTP family and now she is truly free indeed.

"Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I'm a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father's house
There's a place for me
I'm a child of God
Yes I am"

Please pray for all of Marie Lynn’s caregivers as well as the other children in the Life House who are experiencing her loss.

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site. Photos take of the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Three Years

Three years ago today this little boy joined my home. He stole my heart and I think it's safe to say he still has it.  He sat on my lap as we listened to a sermon about joy at church today and I couldn't help but reflect on how much joy he has brought to my life and our home. You are so loved, W!

Three years ago...

Now...

Now his teddy bear wears the clothes he
wore the day he came home from the hospital

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site. Photos take of the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Third Birthdays

I may have gotten just a *few* months behind on the birthday posts. There are officially two three-year-olds in this house! It is such a blessing to get to celebrate these milestones with them. I can't wait to see what this next year brings for both of them!

The theme for S's third birthday was her favorite thing in life, Chris Tomlin music. She had music, friends, and lots of bubbles to celebrate her big day.

We celebrated W's third birthday with a train theme and went with our nanny and some of his special friends to a hotel in Cap Haitien for a day of swimming. He had a blast!

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site. Photos take of the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Relationship

We’re highlighting the value of relationship this week. Of all of our values, to me, this one seems like the core value behind our vision and model of care in our child homes. Here at COTP, the hard reality is that each of our kids come to us with broken relationships. Kids come into our care for a variety of complex reasons when it’s no longer an option for them to be raised by their birth families. Those first relationships in their little lives were broken and that comes with an immense amount of pain, trauma, and loss. That is why our child homes are so critical, offering kids from tough places a few key consistent loving relationships from their houseparents and nannies to help them begin their healing process.

When one of my kids came into my home as an infant he rarely cried. I quickly realized that it wasn’t just because he was a super content baby, it was because at such a young age he had already learned that people couldn’t be trusted to meet his needs. He hadn’t had any consistent relationships in his life to care for him. He cried when he was hungry or scared or wanted to be held, but nobody came, so he learned that there wasn’t any point in crying and making his needs known. This is the critical point for so many of our kids when our houseparents and nannies have the chance to step in and to make a lifelong impact in our kids’ lives. I began carrying this little guy constantly, whether he cried for me or not. When he was hungry I responded to him. When he was scared I went to him. When he just needed snuggles (or I just wanted to snuggle him) I rocked him. His nanny did the same. Through his relationships with his nanny and I, he started to heal. He learned that he was loved and valued, that his needs mattered, and that the adults in his life were relationships he could depend on. Now, not only does he feel secure to make his needs known but he is the happiest little boy. He is well attached to me and he absolutely loves his nanny and lights up whenever she comes to work.

It is an immense honor as a houseparent to care for each of the little ones who has been entrusted to us for this season of their lives; a season when we’re not only teaching them what healthy relationships look like to help prepare them for their forever families, but even more so to point them to their Heavenly Father, who demonstrates perfect relationship in every way. It is an incredible privilege to be able to play a small role in this beautiful work of redemption. 

It's so beautiful where we live...

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site. Photos take of the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas from the Manna House!

Jwaye Nwel!

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site. Photos take of the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.