8 Little Chicos

9/19/11

            It is 6:36 on Monday morning, our first school day and normal week day since we got to Familia Feliz.  I feel totally overwhelmed… we were told last night that today we are moving into one of the cabins (huts) to be house parents for 6 or 7 little boys.  They are around the ages of 6-9.  Basically we are responsible for the kids no matter what.  There are a few hours in the morning that they are at school, but other than that we are expected to take care of them.  I am so thankful that Erin and I are going to be together.  It’s going to be especially difficult at first because we don’t have a good handle on the language yet.  At first they didn’t want to switch us into the house with the little boys because they said “there are only 9 weeks left in the school year” and it’s hard for the kids to transition from one house parent to another.  That was like a reality check to me – “only” 9 weeks is longer than a whole summer at Big Lake… and camping at Big Lake doesn’t come even close to living here.  These orphans have a whole different way of life, it’s so very different and difficult to adjust to because it doesn’t follow any of the natural habits we have learned our whole lives in the states.  We’ve been given some tips on how to be good “house mom’s” but ultimately we are going to have to jump in and do our best to learn as we go.  Yes, I’ve grown up with ten siblings, 7 younger siblings, which I am thankful for and I hope will help me some with this responsibility … but my little brothers and sisters have not lived lives full of abuse, live in the poverty of Bolivia or speak a language I do not know.  I feel inadequate and unprepared for this responsibility, yet as I write I hear the children singing outside and it reminds me the reason I’m here.  To love these kids.  This is a huge opportunity to make a real impact on their lives.  I pray that I will have the courage and strength to be a witness and a loving “mom” to them.