July already?

I can hardly believe that in a short 17 days, our little girl is going to be one year old.

This year has been filled with so much. I remember bringing her home from the hospital, wondering why on earth the nurses let us escape with this precious treasure without calling security. I remember the first month of her life and wondering despairingly if I would ever sleep again. I remember how she used to smile in her sleep. I remember the joys (and pains once she got teeth) of nursing her. I remember looking at nine month clothes and thinking they would never fit. I remember her first bath and how she hated it. I remember swaddling her tightly and watching her learn to roll over.

Now she's a little girl. She drums on everything in sight. She thinks trips to the mailbox are the best part of the day. She squeals with delight when she sees her dad. She gives us kisses. She took her first steps yesterday. She looks at our poster with photos of the Passion of the Christ and points to every picture of Jesus with awe and intrigue. Oh how I long that when she's a big girl, she would love Him and follow Him and treasure Him and delight in Him with that same raw delight that I see on her face so often these days. How I pray that her joy stays constant in Christ and is not destroyed by the world. How I pray that she remains so affectionate. How I pray...

Over the last few days, Makafui has had a pretty high fever off and on. Being a mom, and being a nurse, this has made me easily worried as she has never had a fever this high and almost all of her fevers up to this point have been immunization-related. She is feeling much better and is fever free now, but I have gained from this time. On Saturday night, I knelt beside her crib as she slept, tears falling down my face, pleading with the Lord to take care of this little girl, to heal her and restore her to fullness of life. And as I made that plea, I was overcome with the knowledge that thousands of mothers worldwide cry out for the health of their children and many of them never see them made well. This is true for many mothers in the Western world, but I think especially of the mothers in nations that are struck with poverty, unclean water, poor hygiene, AIDS, and little to no medical help. While I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is the great physician, I also recognize that many of these elements are factors that come from the fall.

I pray that out of these last few days, the Lord would grant me a greater compassion for mothers of children who are malnourished, sick, or dying. And maybe, be it in His will, provide a way for us to bless those mothers and children in Jesus' name so that more children will see their first birthday.