My Life in Cebu....: Smiles in Abundance!

We have had a few pretty big weeks at CSC! One thing I have noticed especially lately is lots of BIG SMILES! Let me share some of the highlights.

My flute student has worked SOOO hard this year to figure out how to make a sound on that difficult instrument, play notes, and count a basic rhythm. Her dream for many months has been to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb". We have aspired to reach that goal each week as we have flute lessons. It has been hard and often discouraging for her to keep going, and at times, has nearly convinced herself she'll never truly be a flute player. Sometimes over the months, she will try something, then cautiously look at me with an inquisitive, "What do you think? I'm not so sure of myself" look. Sometimes my intentional explosions of excitement (even, I'll admit, dancing around the room) and praise seem to finally convince her that she's making progress, even if it's one step at a time! I am excited to announce that we have recently had a big moment!!!!! She has now pulled off a very slow, careful version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"!!! Her smile has been HUGE as she has realized that she CAN do it! I am SOOO proud of her, and she's pretty excited herself!

Even the other kids are excited for her!

One of our boys turned twelve years old recently. All of our kids love their birthdays, but this boy seemed to be particularly excited! From the moment he arrived at school, he was hugging the teachers with a big smile on his face. When Tammy and I arrived at the shelter for his birthday dinner later, he came bolting out of the house and across the yard to welcome us to his birthday party! An enormous smile was plastered on his face the whole night, throughout singing, dinner, cake, the gift, and beyond. I'm not sure he could have been more excited! We are blessed to have him at CSC and to have been able to celebrate with him!

All smiles for the birthday boy!

Bouncing around to the birthday song being sung to him!

Since we are re-opening the Eicher house, after some remodeling (and the former Eicher kids moving to the new Duterte home), we had to hire new houseparents. CSC hired an absolutely wonderful couple - DonDon and Ivy - for this position. They have a son and a daughter, and we are so excited to have them all here! They moved in recently, shortly before we welcomed new CSC children into the house, and they were anxious to start their new job here! DonDon and Ivy are kind, compassionate, conscientious people who are fitting in wonderfully at CSC and in the Eicher home. Praise God for providing wonderful new Eicher houseparents!

DonDon and Ivy with their two children. Enjoying a meal together as a family a few days before the home officially re-opens for "business" with several children!

We welcomed eight new children to CSC recently - a sibling group of seven, and an eleven-month old boy! The group of seven has been anxiously awaiting their entrance to CSC for a while now, as we were waiting for the Eicher house remodeling to be completed. After arriving, they spent a few days in isolation, then moved into Eicher this last Monday! I was thrilled to meet them, since in my nine months here we have only admitted a couple babies and no older kids. Although their English is limited and they stare at me blankly when I talk to them and ask them questions (and vice versa!), we have enjoyed smiling and laughing together (the univeral languages)! We are so excited to welcome these eight new children to CSC. When I think about how their lives will drastically change now that they are here, I am thrilled beyond words. More lives that are being saved in multiple ways because of this incredible ministry. Wow. I love this place!