A Kenyan 4th of July

The other day was the 4th of July. I enjoyed seeing everyone back home all dressed in the red,

white, and blue. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of fireworks and the lake and the cookouts. We

did have a cookout of our own with our Baby Centre family, the missionaries and Kenyan staff

here, but it didn’t quite feel like the 4th of July without being in America. We did have a lovely

time together and some really great food. However, the thing I will remember about this 4th of

July really has nothing to do with Independence Day.

Friday, I said goodbye to a very special little boy who went home to be with his forever family. It

is always a beautiful experience to witness the adoption ceremonies here, but yesterday’s was

bittersweet. Here at the Baby Centre, it is customary for each of our babies to have a temporary

“mother” and “father” until their adoptive parent(s) come for them. The moms and dads are

sometimes caregivers, staff members, or missionaries. It just means that those people have a

little extra love for and attachment to that particular baby or babies. These people say a little

something at the adoption ceremony and “hand off” the child to the parent(s). Well, just weeks

after we arrived here, the caregivers started calling me mama to a precious little boy named

Philip. Friday I was able to witness and be a part of the joining together of his forever family.

As I watched Philip bonding with his parents all morning, I could not help but feel happy and

sad. So extremely happy that God had answered my prayers and brought him parents, but sad

that I would no longer get to see him and play with him each day. I tried to hold it together during

the ceremony, but as his parents were speaking about how happy they were to make him their

son, the tears began to flow. It was a beautiful moment. We always sing songs and the Baby

Centre “parents” will hold the child and then hand the child to their new parents, their forever

parents. When they placed Philip in my arms, I had to smile for him as I saw the huge smile on

his face. I wondered if he understood any of what was going on. Did he realize that his life was

completely changing? He now had a family and an exciting chapter of his life was beginning. I

cherished those last moments with him and gladly handed him to his smiling mommy and

daddy. His father looked at me and said thank you, and I knew what he meant by those two little

words. Thank you for loving my son until I could. Thank you for holding him and playing with him

until I could. Thank you for helping to take such good care of him. I knew that is what he meant.

I said thank you back and I hope that he knew that I was saying, Thank you for choosing to love

this child as your own. Thank you for coming for him. Thank you for giving him the family he

deserves. Then his father looked me in the eyes and said, “He is in good hands” as his mother

said, “We will love him very much.” And I knew they meant it. The three of them made a perfect

little family and you could tell how much they already loved each other.

When the ceremony was over, April (a missionary who has been here a while) looked at me and

said “It doesn’t get any easier.” This work God has called us to do here is not easy. Saying

goodbye to these children is hard. The caregivers, the staff, and the missionaries here are often

the first people to truly love these precious babies. It would be so much easier to not fall in love

with them, to keep your distance. But they deserve to be loved, God has called us to love them,

and I will choose to love them until God sends them a family to love them. So, I will endure the

heartache as they drive away with their forever families. Yes, it is sad not knowing if you will

ever see them again, but as I caught a glimpse of Philip’s smiling face through the car window

as he drove away to his new home, I could not help but smile too, knowing that everything we

are doing here at the Baby Centre is worth it. All of the hard work is to help join these families

together and to give God all of the glory for what He is doing in this place. 

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July holiday. This was one that I will never forget. !

Much love! Tascha