Most days after school, we get home around 3:15, change out of our uniforms into something a little less sweaty, relax at home for a little bit, put Emre on the leash and then head over to FOH. And, well, if I'm being honest, some days a part of me doesn't quite feel like going to FOH. Part of me feels like staying home because I just finished working and now I would like to relax. And for a moment, today was one of those days.
For the past 3 days, we've been at school until 4:30pm because of after-school meetings consisting of reading through 113, yes 113, pages worth of documents written in Spanish. It's been draining! Then today after that, we came home to change clothes, we grabbed the dog, and quickly headed over to FOH for dinner, help with kids' English homework or whatever else until 7pm when it was time to lead devotions.
However, today, when devotions ended, we ended up just hanging around for another 30 minutes. You see, every day when we get there, we're both greeted by 2 or 3 lingering hugs from kids who really just need a lot of love. They just. need. love. We aren't greeted with hugs because we're super-special, but because with 20 children there are always a few who need more one-on-one attention.
Sometimes, we get to FOH and the kids ask us why we didn't come earlier. We get ready to leave and they ask us,"ya te vas?"... which means, "you're leaving already?" It takes us 20 minutes to say good-bye each night to these kids because they hang from the windows of our car to keep us from moving. They always have something more to say to us before we go. They hug us and don't want to stop. The kids are this way with most of the adults they come in contact with at FOH. Just this past weekend, a small cross-cultural group from EMU came to visit and it didn't take long until the kids were seeking them out for love and attention as well.
These kids need direction and they need guidance, all of which the staff of FOH gives so well. For our part, we're happy to finally feel capable of giving these kids extra direction and guidance they need so much. Most of all, I'm glad we can give them unconditional love, every day. Even on the days when we might just feel like staying home to relax.
Below are just a few pictures of the kids we love.
Makes it a great Thursday,
Lauren
