Ms A!

Abegail... my oh my.. where to start the next post in the series?? Ate C had gotten Abegail 2 days before my team and I arrived at GH last summer in June 2009. I remember when I first saw her... she was sitting in the exersaucer and was this tiny little thing, but her blank look was what I remember most. She just stared and watched the other kids...she was so not used to these surroundings. The life she was used to was quiet and little attention, little nourishment... she was used to being neglected, now with all of these other little kids running around, she didn't know really what to do. She was so weak, she was 16 months old and couldn't sit up. Whenever I or anyone else would pick her up, she would spread out her arms and legs and hold on for dear life. She was starved of attention.

And now for the ... "Today" section... TADA....

"Thank you.. thank you.. please... keep it coming!" haha!

This little girl, AbbyGirl, as I have nicknamed her, has the most spirit I've ever seen. She is mischevious, bold, sneaky, smart, cuddly, bullying, adorable, loving, sweet, loud, stubborn, and throwing a fit... all within the first 10 minutes of waking up! She is an absolute handful, but she is an absolute blessing at the same time!

Can't you just see the mischief in her eyes??

She, as many of them, never ceases to make me laugh every day! She has so much life in her, its miraculous how food, water and love will transform a child...who'd have thought?? (Please note the extreme sarcasm.)

However, with all that life in her also comes a bit of a drama queen, and we are currently in the process of reigning in the temper tantrums (you have to love working on a daily basis 9 babies that are all in their 'terrible two's'...) and she is actually doing very well, she's starting to really get that she is not allowed to turn into a fish and start flopping on the ground when she doesn't get her way.. oh and those little kicking of the legs when she gets mad... that is stopping too. But one thing that I'm really coming to realize is that its through the disciplining in the midst of a temper tantrum and then seeing her come through it and being able to love on her and say, "Ok, now that that is over, let's go play." and seeing her learn.. seeing her eyes ponder whether or not to go for the ground flopping like a fish.. or to just go play when something doesn't go her way... to see her thinking through it and then watching her run off and play...that is why I'm here! To love her, to SHOW her that God loves her, and to possibly help mold her in the direction of becoming a Godly young woman. And its during those battles of wills, when she decides to throw tantrum after tantrum after tantrum after tantrum in one day... that's where the bonds are being made. I love her, and all the kids, so much, I love them enough to stick through the tantrums and to demand that they behave better than that... and they see it...that's why my legs get ambushed whenever I walk into the Toddlers' room... and I love every minute of it!

Here are a few more pictures of my adorable AbbyGirl! Enjoy!

Still a CuddleBug!

Isn't she adorable??? How could you not LOVE that smile??

I love the LIFE in her eyes!!

Dear LORD, I thank you so much for Abegail's precious life. I thank you for Ate C and Gentle Hands, that she was rescued and given a second chance at life. I thank you for allowing her to thrive at GH and grow to be an absolutely beautiful child! LORD God, please continue to watch over her life. I know that You have a plan for her, I pray that you would raise up now a forever family for this precious child, that she would be raised in a family that she knows without a doubt that she is loved by her family, and by You her Creator and Savior! I thank you for the abundace of blessings you pour on me each day through Abegail and the other children at Gentle Hands. Thank you LORD! Amen.

~ To God Be the Glory!