Sweet Sleep

Again...I know it has been too long since I have written. I am really sorry about that. The 2nd week in March we had the pleasure of having the Sweet Sleep team join us at the team house. They spent the week building beds to give to kids at 2 different orphanages. You should definitely look this organization up if you have never heard of it. This wonderful woman, Jen, started the organization after she took a trip to a Moldovan orphanage and saw the state (and, sadly, smell) of the beds that children were sleeping on every night. She says that she could not get the picture of a room with tons of torn up ma tresses that smelled like...urine...out of her mind. As repulsive as that is to read, imagine having to sleep amongst that smell every night. Ambitious Jen saw a change that needed to happen and now Sweet Sleep sends amazing teams to Moldova to affect some SERIOUS change. Sweet Sleep is also starting to branch out to Africa. Great organization, life changing work, if you are ever looking for service trips...I totally recommend Sweet Sleep.

Leah and I joined the team for 2 days and Joy joined for 1. There were so many amazing things that happened, but the 2nd day that I joined was overwhelming and enlightening. We went to an orphanage in Orhei for the disabled. There are images that have been written into my thoughts that I fear I will never escape. Not that the orphanage does not do the best they can to care for these children...they do. Some of the physical therapy that we got to witness was amazing. However, the access to medical care and the mindset of parents is drastically different. While many children that live at orphanages or "boarding schools" are not true orphans, this is not the case for the disables. So many of these children were simply abandoned due to their differences. One child had severe feet and leg disfiguration that could have been remedied with 1, maybe 2 surgeries in the United States. Rather, this precious child was abandoned. I am not sure whether the emotional/social disabilities came about after the birth and the isolation that he suffers from or if he was born with these issues as well. It is impossible for me to ever know the full story, but I do know that I will be able to picture his sweet face for years to come, if not forever. Those are the moments that I would give anything to literally take away pain and give second chances. However...I am not God and I may not always understand what happens in this world, but I have to find peace even when at times when the restlessness and helplessness seems most extreme.

Even though we saw some devastating things, we also experienced intense joy. The hugs from Dancing Man and Martin when we first pulled up to the orphanage. The excitement that the boys experienced when they got to see their brand new beds for the first time. The smiles that spread across speechless faces when they felt touch for the first time in who knows how long. It was precious, life changing, difficult, and thought provoking. These are 4 words that I would not hesitate to describe everyday of my experience in Moldova. I am different because of what I have seen.