Jane picked Dats and me up at Cowman School after the final bell - 2:30. (By the way, my classroom time felt very productive to me this past week - I think I accomplished everything in person that I knew I couldn't over the internet.) We were happily joined by the Bundy kids.
When we arrived at Jane's house, we quickly headed down the road to pick up the kids from The Potter's House ...
When we got to the orphanage, we found that we had missed them - they were walking by the main road to Bud and Jane's house! The Bundys got a quick tour of the house. I didn't get a good picture of the "dining room" the other day, so I snapped one today. To the right is a long table and the colorful things on top are baskets. I assume some of the evening's meal had already been prepared and the overturned baskets are meant to keep the insects at bay. Can you imagine cooking for 18 kids and 4 adults every day?
We decided we had better hurry back to the house to meet them.
It didn't take too long before the boys (and a handful of girls) were playing soccer. Kids were running every which way.
Some of the girls were clustered around baby Sammy, giving him lots of attention - and he was eating it up. Bud and Jane say that he's a natural "chick magnet".
Like I said, I am tuckered out and unable to write coherently about all the fun we had, but there was one moment that stood out to me and almost brought me to tears. You see, Melissa had done some shopping for the orphans even before Christmas and had put together several boxes of clothing and toys that sat in our basement while we tried to figure out an economical way to get them to Haiti.
(If you mail them in boxes, you have to pay for the cost of postage to a Florida address - which is reasonable enough, I guess. But then the boxes board a flight where they will be weighed and assessed a $2 per pound charge - payable by the lucky recipient in Haiti! Not to mention possible taxes that may - or may not - be charged by customs.)
So we had hesitated on shipping them - and eventually figured our best bet was to send the items in luggage with Caleb and me along with all the baby food, soap and bed sheets he had collected from classmates. We were amazed when it all fit and came in within the weight range we were willing to pay for.
Some of the clothing was several pairs of shoes. Well, while the kids were occupied with soccer and other play, Jane decided it would be a good time to bring out those shoes. I tell you what - I don't think Jane even said a word when she walked back outside with an armful of shoes and that soccer game ended so abruptly that Caleb and the Bundys were left standing on the grass alone, looking puzzled.
An absolute STAMPEDE in Jane's direction. There was an instant tangle of hands grabbing frantically at the bundle in Jane's arms with little regard for whether fingers were latching on to a boy's shoe or a girl's shoe or whether the shoe even came close to the proper size!
It reminded me of Americans at a Black Friday sale.
That's how bad it was. But my initial shock soon turned to sympathy, of course. These are kids who have so, so very little. Who could fault them for battling one another a bit in an effort to replace worn or ill-fitting shoes? Who couldn't forgive an every-man-for-himself attitude?
But you know what? That initial instinct-driven rush and grab quickly abated and before I knew it I was watching these same kids, plopped down on their butts around the patio, passing the shoes around to test on the appropriate Cinderellas and Cinderfellas. And with a smile!
My shock turned to deep admiration. Even in the face of great need, these kids really LOVE each other.
And before we knew it, the afternoon was over and the Potter's kids headed homeward down the lane to prepare for their evening meal - a meal made possible tonight by some of YOU who are reading this. You know who you are - thank you so much and God bless you.
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