May Days

I feel like I haven't written about the girls or show photos of them lately. Life has been just GO GO GO ever since we got back from our trip.  I just want a post with a bunch of photos, is that ok? Thanks

This last weekend, was crazy, dance recitals, child dedications, Norah's birthday party, mothers day, parents leaving, and me sick the whole time, oh well.

Maya's recital was so cute and fun!

so serious

So proud of our big girl

Papa & Yami Loved it

papa & yami gave Maya a new necklace

  We dedicated both Norah and Sarah to the Lord this past weekend, something we feel is important for all of children, to give them fully to the Lord, to be guided by him and to have the Lord guide us as parents.  We chose a life verse for both of the girls.

Jos 1:9
⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Phil 4:4-7 ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Our little family of 5

still hard to believe this little bug belongs to our family. We love her

We also had a small family birthday party for Norah. I made an executive decision that the girls will get a big birthday party on their even birthdays (2,4,6 etc). So for Norah this year it was a small one.

I found the idea for these cupcakes on this site

I couldn't resist getting her a princess ballerina dress. (Norah doesn't like clothes unless they spin)

Cutie

Painting grammy's toes

and papa's....

and the best part for Norah, the cupcake

My little almost 3 year old, I can't believe it!  Carrisa would have just loved and adored you so much. You are a treasure.

And we celebrate mothers day

well we tried...

  and we had to say goodbye to grammy and poppy....

we LOVED having them

 and my final photo, is just Norah being Norah

Dominican Republic {CSP Day}

Ok, so I am going to give you a little more of the nitty gritty on Compassion (I am no expert though).  One of the really great programs Compassion has started is called the CSP (Child Survival Program).  This program is to help moms and babies, it is suppose to help babies survive through some of the toughest years and actually make it into some of the other programs Compassion offers.

Well, that was about all I knew about the CSP program before going on this trip and when I really saw what they did I was A.M.A.Z.E.D and it was so much more than just helping babies survive!

I was more than thrilled for this day, to see all the little babies and encourage the moms.  I mean, when I was missing my little babies at home this totally filled my heart!  The whole day was more than I could have ever anticipated!

We were greeted so warmly!  As soon as I entered the church, there was music, clapping and cheering, one of the moms with her little son just grabbed my arm and brought me to the front, I had no idea where Brett even was. The room was just filled with joy, so many smiling faces, lots of momma's and little babies and toddlers everywhere! 

When looking around the room everyone on our team just had the hugest smiles, we all L.O.V.E.D the kids! see

They performed for us, sang, and embraced us, and I had the best seat in the house.

We got to visit with the moms, ask about how Compassion has helped them (all with a translator of course), and just encourage one another.   The women talked about the hope they had ever since joining the CSP program with Compassion, they talked about how they have learned how to take better care of their children and be better mothers, they talked about having a community, knowing other women (loneliness isn't limited to Americans) and being encouraged.

Compassion doesn't send people from American to teach the women this, they empower the people within the country, this is a brief on how it works.

• Compassion Headquarters in the Dominican Republic trains/hires women from the churches that partner with Compassion.
• These women are extensively trained on child care development, etc
• These trained women go back to their churches with lots of education, knowledge, and huge hearts.
• Depending on the finances, space, and help, the church allows so many mother/child pairs into their CSP program (the one we visited had 75 moms/babies).
• Starting during Pregnancy the CSP women get education, health check ups, advice and encouragement
• They keep a detailed file of the mom and child (like what you would see at a doctors office)
• All of this is done in the name of Jesus

IF YOU READ ONE THING ON THIS BLOG READ THIS

What I loved

1. Compassion is creating jobs, for lots of people

2. Compassion is empowering people from the Dominican to help each other

3. Moms and Babies who may have died are now surviving, and thriving

4.  The women who are involved with the CSP program are sharing their knowledge

5. Compassion is giving hope to those who may have otherwise been hopeless

6. This is what Jesus had taught us to do, and I love seeing it lived out

One more thing that I loved, is that once a mom has gone through the program she does not get to do it again, she now has the knowledge to move forward and the system does not get abused.

Let me tell you, there is a HUGE difference between seeing families with this help, versus without .  You could just look at a family and know the difference, hope in the eyes of a person is unmistakable.

So here are more photos from the day

every toddler needs a snack

Some of the mama's and babies we chatted with

 

 We were served a very yummy Dominican lunch outside

I am not sure who all of these guys are (helpers at the church), well anyway, they begged me to their

 photo

 

Prayer

 

They like to put everything in their mouth too

We also got to visit the home of one of the mothers and see how they really lived. To say the least it was very humbling and eye opening.

 This is the mom's house we visited. I guess the best description of the home we saw would be a shack (r this woman's home was much nicer than man others we saw.)

Our Translator, Raysa on the left is helping us have a discussion with the mom  

melts my heart

  

I love the hand photos

And my Favorite Photo

 

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