These are the Days...

It is this moment, right here, that I want to hold on to... and a dozen others just like it. It captures my life in this season so incredibly well! Lucy only made it to getting halfway dressed this day, she insists on wearing her "shades" whenever she goes out (these days it is the wrap-around velcro ones that are supposed to be for watersports), accessorized by her straw hat with a hot pink flower on it. Olive is screaming over something (who knows what...), and I've got the smile that says "Hurry up & take the picture already!" But what I will always remember when I see this picture is that it was taken moments after my child discovered that there is a colorful truck that drives through neighborhoods and passes out ice cream. I mean, in the brain of a two-year old, is there anything in the whole wide world that is better than that?

A part of me is sad that a year from now my little family will be in a place that is outside of the route of Mr. Icecream Man. I feel like there is so much innocence that these two little ones have right now that seems to be very well protected and insulated in the little world that I have them in presently.  If my projection is right, Lucy will be right in the middle of the "Why?" stage when we move...and I am pretty sure there will be plenty there to ask "Why, Mommy?" about. 

Why do some kids not have mommies and daddies? 

Why do some people wear the same thing every single day? 

Why is that house made out of mud? 

Why do they go to the river to get water? 

Why do I have to wear shoes when my friends don't? 

Why do some mosquitoes make you real sick? 

Why do so many kids die here? 

What am I going to say? I try not to let myself think about that right now. There are too many things there that I just don't know the answer to...

But do you know what? I delight in the fact that God is the preserver of my child's innocence, and I am thankful that I am given the privilege of learning to love others and experience the world through the marveling eyes of my child. He has a plan for our little family in Bundibugyo, just as He has had a plan for us living these last two years on Kelly Creek Street. I can't wait to watch that plan unfold, and to seize and cherish many more moments just like these that He has given us here.

...And I have a hunch that I might just learn many answers to those Why? Questions just by observing God work in the hearts of my children...

 THIS IS LIFE.