my weekend was .....

Wow what a weekend I have had ! You know , it is amazing at the joy a child , or in this case children , can bring to your heart .

I have had a weekend full of family , friends and fellowship . Friday night we fired up the grill and invited my bro-in-law , sis-in-law , their two boys , my hubby's dad and stepmom over for dinner . You see , my hubby's brother just got out of the Marine Corps and moved back to East Tennessee . They got back early Thursday morning and we have been so busy that we haven't had time to visit with them so we dropped everything friday night and enjoyed some time with them .

On Saturday morning we met others members at our church at 10am, boarded the church bus and headed for Greenville , South Carolina to deliver Christmas gifts to a childrens home that our church sponsors . My hubby nor I had ever been to a childrens home before and it was a completely different experience than I thought it would be . I have always thought that the kids in these homes were always sad because they had no parents or their parents mistreated or whatever reason had put them there . When we got there the directors of the home brought the kids in the kitchen to meet us because we bought pizza for them . At first I didn't go through the tables meeting and talking with the kids because I was afraid I would wrap my arms around the first one I came to and I wouldn't let go or that I would burst into tears and make a child feel bad or make an fool of myself . There were 37 kids in all , both boys and girls , ranging from ages 4 to 18 . Alot of them were siblings . We got to tour the whole home from top to bottom . It is like dorm rooms and they were really nice . The directors that are over the home now are remolding or have remodeled alot already . I was surprised at how nice it was because it was nothing like I had visualized in my mind .

After the tour we went to the family room to talk and play with the kids . I found out that most of the kids there actually had parents in the area that couldn't take care of them financialy or their grandparents couldn't take care of them for health reasons. A few of them had been left on the doorstep of the home never to know their biological parents . Some of them spend the summer with their parents because there is more work to be found in the summer therefore more money .

I started going over and chatting with some of the kids and it didn't take me long to realize that these kids were not sad at all , they were happy to be there at the home . They even called the directors mama and daddy . Some of them liked to touch your arm while they were talking or they would rub their hand on your back while you were chatting with them just for the contact , however this was more so with the younger ones . There was one little boy who was 7 , his name was Timothy and he and I made friends fast . He had beautiful , shiny hazel eyes and a beautiful smile . Timothy liked to hold your hand and hug you when he talked to you . The one thought that kept going through my mind was thank God there is a place like this for children who are discarded as if they were garbage or their parents couldn't provide for them . It was an experience that I will never forget , nor will I forget any of their faces .

I left that home counting my blessings starting off with the fact that we are financially and mentally stable enough to care for our three children . If you ever need a humbling experience go to the local childrens home in your area and spend a couple of hours with them , I bet you a hundred bucks that when you leave you will already be thinking about the next time you can visit again . From now on I will be going on the trips with the church when they go visiting the childrens homes that we sponsor because it was a huge blessing to me . I honestly tried to prepare myself for that trip because I figured that I would come home and be depressed for the next few days, instead I walked away with a little bounce in my steps and my heart tons lighter .

We are only five days away from our Christmas play at church and each day I get more nervous . I am playing Mary in the play and I have to sing a solo "What Child Is This " . I haven't sang solo in church in 18 years . The director of our play and her assistant doesn't want me to sing in church other than in the choir until after the play because no one but the cast of the play has heard me sing and they want to surprise all of our members . I told them tonight at practice that they sure knew how to put some pressure on a girl ! I can see myself off key or forgetting my words . Did I mention that I am singing this a capella ? Yeah , now you know what I mean by pressure and nervousness .

This week is going to be a really busy week for me so I want you all to know that I am not ignoring you by not reading your blogs , I am just going to be really busy especially since we are on crunch time with the play . Anyways , I will read and comment when I have the time this week and I will try to post as much as possible . Y'all have a wonderful week and remember what I said about visiting the local childrens home in your area , you will get a blessing if you do !