One day, I was at one of the children’s homes we serve. Standing by herself was a little girl. She appeared to be the saddest thing I had seen in a long time. I started asking around and found out that her and her sister had been dropped off about a week before. That was in September. As I went home that day, that little one’s face haunted me. I don’t think I had ever seen a truly sad two-year old before, at least not that I could recall. God kept bringing her to my mind. I returned to that same home to talk to the little girl’s care giver. During this conversation I found out that during the morning this little one was the only one in her dorm. So being the multi-tasker I am, I figured if I picked Wendy up once a week that would give the care giver a break and little Wendy some one-on-one time. Two-for-one bonus!
The first week I picked her up, she was not sure what was happening. Tim and I took her to the grocery store, which we are now sure she had never been before. This alone was pretty overwhelming for her.
Grocery shopping with Wendy
Then, we brought her home. Wendy did well most of the morning, until I went to feed her lunch. I moved her from the bar stools to the table. All of the sudden an all out, total loss of control, screaming with tears fit followed.
One of our boys came in the door and yelled, “What is that?”
I just pointed to the floor. He looked at me like I was crazy. I went to pick her up to show him why she was on the floor and she did the ‘limp kid’ thing and slid back down to the floor. He then went over and just started to rub her and talk softly to her. She did not stop, but he did not either. As I stood closer, I could hear him praying. I just smiled.
Since then, she has started to come around. She is smiling; I had never seen that on her face before! She is talking, all be it mostly ‘no’ but still it is talking. She is now interacting with more people. I am so glad that I listened to that little prick in my conscience about this sad, little girl sitting at a children’s home. I hope that our relationship somehow gives her hope and makes her feel special.
Kathy with Wendy