Today the ship’s engine needed to be cleaned so that our air conditioning and filtering systems would work correctly. Well to do so means that the engines need to be turned off… our electrical system, plumbing, and anything that needs power was unable to work for at least 8 hours of the day. The ship is quiet, dark, kinda reminds me of the titanic when they are trying to escape… but we are totally fine. So as a result of this planned black out day0 many people signed up to go do something… I decided to go to the Orphanage. A group from the ship goes every week as routine. We got to the orphanage and the children flocked to greet us. We were greeted with love and absolute joy. One little girl grabbed my attention and decided to not let me go. She was so sweet. She was flirtatious with her eye contact…wanted me to hold her and love on her. After I smiled a big grin she walked over and jumped on my lap. She started investigating what I was wearing…. My necklace, my rings, the print on my skirt and the freckles on my arms. She was so precious and was yearning for attention. I found myself also desiring to be hugged. I think that being on this ship and not having the people who normally give you hugs and personal contact not present but thousands of miles away is hard for me. I contemplated the necessity for love and physical contact just in an everyday manner. I need it that’s for sure. She hugged me as much as she could as long as I would let her. She loved the way my skirt swished as I danced with her around the room. She would grab the sides of the bottom of my skirt and re-enact my motions. We sang songs as a group… some in French and some in English. But I always knew when Jesus and amen were proclaimed… amen to that huh! I was a part of the play to act out the story of the parable and the sower with the seed. The children understood it well and the interpreter said that they wanted us to do another. We did a few crafts and played some games with them all and then had to go for the children’s day needed to proceed as scheduled. We couldn't take pictures of the children just out of respect for them and to have the right approach to wanting to be there to serve not be snapping photos. I was bummed because I would have loved to take a picture of the little girl with me. I really enjoyed my experience.
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