Almost a week

Almost a week until round 4 begins at Casa Shalom. This makes me so excited to return to the place that I call one of my homes to see my 16 children I considered my own for 6 weeks. But, not all 16 are currently children at Casa Shalom, only 10 are. The thought of the other six outside of the Casa Shalom walls makes my heart ache. I don't know what situation they came from before their time at Shalom, but I do know that they came to Shalom for a reason. Hopefully things have changed in their guardians making it safe for these six kids to return to their parents, family members or friends, but I just don't know. Some that have left (from the toddler house) have older siblings who still call Casa Shalom home. I can't even imagine what they are feeling, as their younger brothers and sisters are returning to the home they were once rescued from. It breaks my heart and fills me with the hope that the kids will be taken care of and will be loved as they deserved. But, I'm just not sure that it is this way for all of them who leave from Casa Shalom. The only thing I can do is lift them up in prayer that they'd be safe at home or return to the safety of Casa Shalom. 

On a brighter note, I am excited to be surrounded with toddlers again, to drown in the love that the teen girls offer to me each and every time they see me, and to make the most of the calling of the great commission. When I arrived to Casa Shalom starting out with life in the teen girls' house, they were excited to take pictures with me and use anything they could to get more and more pictures. I noticed that they have a few ribbon boards up on their wall and they had asked me while I was living with them if I could print out a picture of us to put up on the wall. I didn't get a chance to over my 6 weeks, but I'm really looking forward to giving them the pictures I printed out a few days ago! 

Every time I think of Guatemala, I think of my little boy whom I fell in love with on day one, Beto. The love that we shared for each other is irreplaceable. I am reminded of it everyday. Is he? He's only a little 5 year old who interacts with tons of missionary teams coming in and out each week. I hope he remembers me for the afternoons we spent cuddled up on the couch together, not for the last week I was there (getting carried out into an ambulance). One of the ladies who works at Vera Bradley with my mom got to meet Beto this past week and shared with him and the Casa Shalom family that she works with "Harper's mom". Even if I am not there physically, I can still come up in conversation (especially this past week). They loved hearing that and seemed to remember who I am. It gave me a few tears in my eyes when my mom told that to me and makes me that much more excited to hug each and every one of the Casa Shalom kids in 8 days.