Tori's Stories

Sometimes I get crazy ideas in my head. These ideas latch on and every spare minute I’m thinking of them. How can I make it better, what can I do differently, what will other people think, is there anything better on Pinterest, do I have all the supplies? Last night I had the privilege of sharing my night with four young ladies that reside here at Children of the Promise. 4 girls (staff kids) ages 4-12 spent the night in my apartment with my roommate and I. We had so much fun—Mod Podge plastic bracelets, seven strand braid yarn bracelets, soap on a rope, making and eating s’mores pie, a movie, and an 8 step spa regimen (including doing nails).    Every event was carefully planned around the best timing. Supplies were stacked ready to be used. We just needed giggling girls ready for fun.   The girls were ready and the night got started. One project led to another and the night wore on.   We settled down for a movie and then took a long time deciding wher...

This week began with prayer. Prayer for my brother-in-law’s paper work for his Visa to go through. Monday evening I rejoiced with him and my sister when I found out all was good. Monday night I played games and laughed for a few hours with six other single females. Late Monday night I received a Facebook message from my brother saying my dad was on his way to a hospital in the nearest larger city. What? My dad had told me he had pain in the back of his knee but was sure it was only a pulled muscle and tried to live his normal life. That pain in the back of the knee was a blood clot, one that was heading straight for his lungs. He was admitted to the ICU so they could keep a close eye on him and he was told that if he had waited another 24-36 hours it would have been too late. Too late. My dad would not have been here to walk me down the aisle. He would not have been here to pick me up from the airport whenever I get a chance to fly home. He would not have been he...

Last night I was reading a book that related earthly adoption to God’s adoption of us. I’m not sure I agree with that. Yes, 1 John 3:1 says “See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” I wholeheartedly agree that I am a child of God and he is my father, but I also believe this was true before my earthly parents even thought of me. But, this viewpoint got me thinking. You may believe the same way this book does and that is totally fine, I know I do not have all the answers. From now on, we will not be thinking the way I think, but rather the way the author of this book does. As soon as we accept God into our hearts he becomes our dad. He has adopted us. It doesn’t matter who we are, what we’ve done, what we are capable of doing, or where we came from: we are His children. He accepts us as we are no matter what. We are each special in our own way and we are very needy. We need to be forgiven, we need to be con...

I cuddled a child this afternoon. Not just a normal cuddle, one that lasted a long time, longer than (in my mind) I had time to sit there. Don’t I cuddle often, I live with a bunch of babies? Yes, and no. Life here is crazy. I hang out with the children, but there are usually five of them on me at a time. It feels like all of us are just running from here to there to get things done even though some of us desire to just spend more time with the kids. When we have sick children or new admits, I do have the pleasure of cuddling them. We get to hide out in our apartment and give them as much attention as they desire, but when nothing seems out of the ordinary that cuddling is too far in between. Yes, we hug our kids. Multiple times a day. Hugs, kisses, a pick up embrace, and stopping to chat for a while are all very common delays in my day (and welcomed delays). You see, there are 50 kids here. Every one of them has their own personality, love language, and level o...

I didn’t choose Haiti. I didn’t choose to work with kids. I didn’t choose this life. But, I’m sure glad I followed the path that was paved for me. Most of our kids here are orphans. Some economic, some true, and some abandoned. Whatever the case, they currently do not live with their parents. Many of them have parents waiting. Parents who love them dearly and spend so much time, money, and prayer to get them home-- where God has chosen them to be. There are so many times I want to give each of our children individual attention, praise, love, etc. but there are just so many kids. This is not a family. Children were not meant to be raised by institutions. I’ve cried over the care we simply cannot give. I’ve yearned for insight, for time, for resources, for wisdom, for intelligence, and for capability that we just don’t have. Each one of our children are dearly loved—dearly. We have the privilege of loving them, caring for them, teaching them, and molding them until th...

Its funny how things don’t work out our way. No, not funny: frustrating. This week I’m teaching the preschoolers about Easter. As I thought about the story I wanted to teach them the true meaning—that God loved us so much he sent his son to die for us. But even more that He defeated the grave and rose! How do I tell that to three and four year olds who know death as a reality? This morning was all planned out. A fun Easter book to ease into it and an egg craft that used shaving cream and mixing colors (what kid wouldn’t enjoy that). Nothing too deep, but I planned to begin to talk about how much Jesus loves us and the new life (egg) He gave us because of dying for us. And it all went off without a hitch. Everything happened perfectly; no fighting, turns where taken, no biting, clean up went well, no stealing snacks, no hitting, no crying, and we have beautiful marbled eggs to show for it. Or not. That whole last paragraph did not happen. In fact, the opposite of each of...

  What if 26,500 suddenly died in our world? It would be all over the news and we would be heartbroken. What if I told you that happened yesterday. Oh and guess what it will again tomorrow. Over that amount die each day from preventable causes in third world countries and no one is doing anything about it. I picked up the book “The Hole in Our Gospel” today and picked up where I left off at least a year ago. He went on to suggest that we really only care when this loss hits our circle. It’s too easy to dismiss the thought of a child dying in Africa. Yes, we pause for a moment with sadness, but our life continues on as normal. If our neighbor’s child was dying, would we do the same? What if it was your child? What would you do then? 26,500--- Read that again twenty six thousand five hundred (plus) people (mostly children) died each day—EACH DAY! But our lives continue as if nothing happened. I think its perfect timing that I picked this book up today. The day I learned ...