Letters From Jill: friday friday friday.

just a quick update on what has been another busy, exciting week in Benin.
i'm getting ready to hop on my moto and go watch the primary students play soccer all afternoon!

thank you ALL so much for your prayers and concern for sweet baby Sena. monday she was actually doing better. ashley, mathias and i spent most of monday afternoon and evening up at the hospital taking care of her and getting things in order for her care. they went to the pharmacy to pick up some medication that she needed and i stayed at the hospital alone. as i was sitting there, cradling this tiny baby, my heart once again felt at home. like this is where i belonged. she took 2 ounces of formula for her tata and then fell fast asleep. was breathing easily, although while eating she accumulates sweat all over her head and face. i know, medically speaking, there is much more going on with Sena other than just her spina bifida. she has seizures, from best we can tell. her skull is misformed, which i'm sure means her brain will also not grow properly. due to her respiratory issues and feeding difficulties, i am convinced she also has some sort of heart defect. but since she was born in Benin and lives in a village with a 15-year-old mother...no one will ever know exactly what is going on medically with this child. they deemed her medically stable enough to leave and her mother and a few other family members that showed up on Tuesday took her home Thursday evening to their village. wednesday as we were at the hospital and i was holding her i thought...this could be the last time i ever see this baby. this baby i have grown to love. this baby i have cared for. this baby i have prayed for. and i felt a peace while holding her, kissing her cheeks. i may never see Sena again on this earth. chances are, i probably won't. but i believe and know that the Lord sees her. He cares for her. He brought her into our lives. even if it was only for a little over 1 week...i am blessed to have loved on her. and i will never forget her.

it's pretty strange to me how normal everything here has become to me in the short few months i have been here. 2 other volunteers arrived on wednesday. they will only be here for a few days (they actually fly out of cotonou on my same flight next tuesday. but don't worry, we're not talking about any of that...) and they came with us wednesday to the hospital. it was almost impossible for me to remember my first, shocking trip to the hospital...it's just normal to greet every person we pass. assist with any patient who asks for help from the 2 white girls. fix IVs. hold babies. know the nurses.

this little tike stole my heart.

i told him since he's smiling this big he better go home!

no more hospital for this sweet boy.

as i was greeting the other side of the hospital room, ashley was finishing up helping the family we were assisting care for their sick son. i came back over and saw her praying with them, for him. i love it all, honestly. this family was so sweet and both ashley and i talked about them after we left the hospital. the mother and father were both there, very concerned about their son. his grandfather and two uncles were also there. watching and caring for this sick child. it warmed my heart.

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this week has been great.

just like every other week.

i am loving my moto more every single day.

i am loving my loud fan more every single day.

i am loving ministering alongside jon and ashley more every single day.

i am loving these kids more every single day.

working with them. learning from them. teaching them. laughing with them. loving them.

leaving here seems impossible. thinking of it brings hot tears to my eyes.

earlier this week, i was riding on the back of mathias' moto as we were going out to his mom's house to change her leg dressings and i was taking in the beauty of everything around me from the back of the moto. the wind whirling. the green palm trees. the blue skies. the people staring at a white girl on the back of an African man's moto. the beauty overwhelmed me in that moment. the beauty of it all overwhelms me...i love this beautiful life. love it all...

sweet dossou.

beautiful hubertine and vivi.

alice goofing off with mathias.

this week the kids learned that next week i am leaving...and their sweet responses and pleas for me to stay forever have melted me.

wednesday night augustin was working, shoveling dirt behind the new house and he looked up at me and said..."here. i have an idea. i will build a room for you at our house. there. then you stay here, with us. you not travel back to america. you can stay here." sounds like a perfect idea to me.

later, bernard decided that i could just have one of their rooms and they would stay down at the old dorm. he said, "tata. that is no problem. no problem." again, sounds like a perfect idea to me.