My first Christmas
Christmas came so quickly and was gone even faster! I stayed in the Ranch and got to be with the girls on Christmas Eve. Almost half of the kids get to go and visit family for the season. So only the kids who are under the state’s custody stayed. I was looking forward to Christmas, but was not really ready for how tiring it would be.
Those who know me, know I do enjoy cooking and baking. So I was excited to do some cooking and therefore I volunteered to help out with making a few meals during the holidays. On Christmas Eve, I decided to fill in and make dinner for the girls. We had a wonderful time on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day, I made breakfast for everyone. After breakfast, we all went to the movies. We divided the kids among all the adults and responsible teenagers. I got to watch two sisters ages 6 and 5.
We ended up watching the Star Wars movie, and the 6 year old would get excited in all the fighting parts of the heroine. My thoughts were, “oh dear, we’re in trouble now!” Hahahaha I must confess, it was cute to see her trying to mimic the fighting though. She’s definitely not a girly girl like her sister, she’s an adventurer and fighter. After the movie we went for lunch. We got back to the ranch after 5 PM. And I was ready to drop dead of exhaustion! Come Saturday, I slept in as much as I could!
New Year’s was almost the same. I made dinner for the kids, this time the boys and toddlers came over for dinner at the girls’ home. One of the ladies brought all her glasses and it was that extra special touch that made it more fun for the kids. Thankfully no glass was broken! After cleaning up, I got back to my apartment and started getting the menudo ready for the morning breakfast. Although, I did welcome the new year with a dear friend and “coworker”. Priscilla is a young, very young, lady who has been serving as a missionary here at the Ranch for a year. She cares for the the toddlers. I dare not complain about exhaustion to her, I can just imagine all the things she does daily that are tiring and unfortunately go unnoticed. What a blessing it is to serve with her. We enjoyed good fellowship and prayed together as we entered this new year 2020.
Someone hiding…see below 
Someone was not able to resist the temptation… 
On New Year’s day, the kids got to go hike and cook hot dogs on a bonfire. I decided to stay back, because I was already tired and in case I needed to help with other activities later, I wouldn’t have had enough energy to finish the day. Even then, I still ended up doing laundry and hauling wood to my apartment.
All in all, even though it was exhausting, I’m grateful to be here and be able to make memories with these kids. My prayer is that they would see the love of Christ in all the things we do for them. That they would know He loves and cares for them. I’m grateful for the people that I get to work with, for the love they have for our Savior and the kiddos. We began this year working hard and may it be that way throughout this entire year. That we would not tire of doing good and loving those God has placed in our lives.
“ Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up. ” Galatians 6:9
