Blessing

(When Blessing first arrived at the home you can see he was quite sickly)

When I walk into the doors of 7th Heaven I am immediately greeted by a huge glowing smile from Blessing who shouts out in excitement "Mamantha!" Blessing is the sunshine of 7th Heaven. He's always smiling and making people laugh. He is the most gentle soul and would not hurt a fly. Blessing is Angels best friend and the two of them move as though they were connected at the hip. He is constantly busy with Angel, Michelle, and Lady the youngest in the house, but as soon as his brothers come home he likes to be one of them. There are only three boys in the home so they must stick together. When his brothers are around one of Blessings favorite things to do is jump on the beds and dance with them.

(Now Blessing is a happy healthy little boy!)

Overwhelmed

I was sitting here in my bedroom writing out thank you cards for my supporters, writing them a bit about the kids when suddenly I became overwhelmed. My high spirits plummeted as I thought about all the pain that my kids have had to go through. Some have been severly abused, some raped, some starved nearly to death, their stories are overwhelming and those are just 12 of the millions of children in the world who are dealing with even more issues. As I began thinking about it I suddenly felt alone like I couldn't fight the battle. I have done just about everything in my power. I work hard and put nearly every penny to be sent to people in need or put it towards my return to them, but its not enough. I cannot do it alone. I can give everything I have both financially and in my time and love but it only does so little! Now I am fully aware that my thoughts right now are wrong. I know I am not fighting this battle alone. I know amazing people all over the world who are dedicating their lives to others and I know that my Father in heaven is above it all, but I'd be lying if I said that my heart totally grasps that all the time. There are days I have so much faith that everything is in His hands and I see all the beauty of whats going on in this world, but then other days I get tunnel vision to the pain. There is such a huge task ahead of us, why aren't more willing to join in? I have such a huge fear that one day I won't be able to continue to do what I do and I don't know if I will be able to survive. I could not handle the thought of not playing my part in all of this. But alas, I need to have faith. I need to trust the Lord to provide as He always does and place my precious little kids in His hands to know He'll care for them better than I could ever dream. Please keep praying for my babies.

Angel

This is Angel when I first began helping at 7th Heaven
Angel is our beautiful two year old, who is the Princess of the house. She tends to have everyone wrapped around her finger in an instant. When she gets in trouble she makes a pathetic face and walks around to everyone until someone takes pity on her and scoops her up into their arms! It works like magic! Angel has been at the home for around a year. She's very active and keeps everyone busy yet smiling. She loves to mimic people which is precious. Her best friend is Blessing, her brother at the home. They arrived within weeks of eachother and have spent their lives side by side bringing joy into the hearts of everyone they meet.
This is Angel now, she's grown SO much!

Hope

I want to introduce you all to each of the kids at 7th Heaven Childrens Haven and so I will begin with our youngest, Hope. Hope is 9 months old and has been living at the home since she was 2 months old. She is one of the most pleasant babies I've ever met, the only time you hear her cry is when she's hungry. Hope seems to always have a very serious expression on her face until one of her brothers or sisters at the home begin to play with her, they know just what to do to get her giggling. When layed on her tummy hope lives to kick her arms and legs as if she's trying to swim away. She's determined to move but is just trying to figure how to make that possible. The day she begins crawling is the day we say goodbye to 'easy baby hope' and hello to disaster, as she loves to get into everything!

faith

(Blessing Lady and Michelle)
It was pitch black outside as I heard loud pounding on the wall. My heart began racing not knowing if someone was trying to break in or what was going on. Being how dark it was I figured it had to be the middle of the night but soon I saw little kids begin scampering sleepily from their bedrooms to the bathroom. It was 5:30 and time to begin the morning. I was so exhausted and tried to fall back asleep but found myself unable so I soon gave up and got out of bed. In the mornings before school the 6 children that attend classes have a very set routine, they wake up and take turns showering then do their morning exercises. Because many of the children are delayed due to their pasts Nelly has them do physical therapy exercises in the morning. They are always so thrilled at this time. When they are finished they eat breakfast do their family devotionals, get dressed and head out of the door around 7:30. After the children left for school Nelly and I headed to the HIV clinic to take in a couple of children for their medication. As we walked Nelly explained a bit of the situation that was going on. Our house was no longer available to us and we had to find a new one quick. Throughout the next couple of weeks my faith would be very challenged. Never before had I been in a position where I could only trust in God to provide. I admit there were times I just didn't understand what in the world God was doing and I began to have doubts that He'd come through. We spent so much prayer in those weeks just pleading for the Lord to provide.


Later that same day my friend Ryan, who had been a former teammate of mine, and my friends Grace and Blessing from Zimbabwe all came to visit. It was such a joyous reunion being back with the people I loved so much. The three of them and Grace and Blessings Baby, Moreblessing all were living in a two bedroom flat together and they invited James and I to come live with them so the following day we found ourselves squishing mattresses into Ryans small bedroom that would serve as home for the next two months.
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Moreblessing and I
Living with Grace Blessing Moreblessing and Ryan was a wonderful experience. We lived in very close proximities but never once did we argue or become annoyed with eachother. We had great community. We'd always have our evenings together, eating together as a family African style and watching alot of WWE
Grace and Blessing

the arrival

Exhausted from two days of travel, my cousin James and I drove into Jeffreys Bay. My heart began to race as glimpses of familiarity flew by my window. It had been 8 months since I had last been in Jbay. I never dreamed that I would be back so soon. As we pulled up 7th Heaven Childrens Haven I could hardly sit in my seat long enough for Leah to pull to a stop. I was back, I was really back! Linda, the eldest in the home greeted us with shrieks of joy and led us to the room where we'd be staying, James and I and three babies. Because most of the children were either napping or gone at school James and I decided to seize the time to walk around town but when we returned just a short while later we were so exhausted we collapsed into our bed and slept the afternoon away. I was awaken to the sounds of the children yelling at the other children to keep quiet and the little ones whispering "Maybe if we make some noise they'll wake up!" and "Are they going to sleep all day?" Finally I coaxed myself out of bed and greeted the 12 children who had been anxiously awaiting our arrival. For two months we'd be living in Jeffreys Bay and helping Nelly out with the childrens home and serving however we could in the community. I never would have imagined what I had in store for me.

But a mist...

As I sat staring at the small box requesting the name to my blog, my mind went blank. I seem to be lacking in creativity this morning but aslas, 'But a mist' came into my mind. I get this from the passage in the Bible, James 4:14, where Paul tells us that our life is but a mist, appearing for a little time and then vanishes. It goes on to explain that rather than boasting in tomorrow and all that we are going to do in life as though we are guarunteed another day, we should realize our life is short and we never know how much time we have. This passage has turned into my life passage since April 5th 2009 when my friend Sarah was killed in a car crash. She was a young, healthy 18 year old girl who everyone expected to live a long life and do many great things, but in one moment, a jerk of the wheel, her life was snatched away. She was only given 18 years to live. Losing her really set in my heart the reality of how fragile life is and therefore we should live each day to the fullest and hand over to Christ whatever amount He blesses us with. I never want to say "next year I will do this", because who knows if I will have a next year. So this is how I live my life. I don't sit still much, I'm constantly moving, moving from one country to the next attempting to impact whomever the Lord brings along my path. The past 4 years since I have graduated high school I have been blessed with many amazing opportunities beginning with going to New Tribes Bible Institute for two years, where I met many believers from all over the world and was able to learn more about my God in whom is my everything. During the summer in between those two years I was able to live in a homeless shelter and work with kids and youth in the inner city. It was a challenging but amazing experienced that changed me forever. When I graduated Bible School I joined a group called Adventures in Missions and moved to South Africa for 9 months where I was able to work and live alongside the Xhosa people of Jeffreys Bay. In that time I helped with an afterschool program and taught a class of 20-30 first graders who hardly spoke english as well as got involved in a youth group, and an orphanage. When my time there was up I returned home to Wisconsin shortly before I was once again swept away to serve at an orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico. I worked there for 4 months helping as a substitute house parent. In February of 2010 I returned to South Africa, to the people who had forever stolen my heart. I lived there again for two months. Now I am currently in Wisconsin for the time being waiting for the Lord to show me what His will is for me here as well as what my next step is. I have been so blessed in my life and can do nothing but be thankful.