LEESBURG YOUTH GET BUSY AT THE CENTER!

The gang was up and at ‘em early this morning! We had a home cooked breakfast and devotion to start the day out right. Daphine had words of encouragement to help us get through our first day and our week here.  After a bit of orientation we divided up into our groups (Maintenance, Canaries, Bunnies, Chicks, Ducks and Squirrels) and toured the Center.

TEAM ORIENTATION IN THE NEW DINING ROOM

We were anxious to greet the kids, and they were more than excited to meet our group! For a lot of our young men it was the first time they had ever changed a diaper! Congratulations to John, Andrew, Tommy and Luke Lea for changing their first diaper today! Special shout out to Luke McNair to cleaning the potty pots. After that he changed his first diaper and after the second diaper change…he needed to change his shirt. He definitely earned first in line at lunch today!

It was a special day because it was MADELYN’s 3^rd birthday. She had an adorable birthday shirt and even a birthday song written just for her! Madelyn’s reaction to the song was precious: she had a smile that stretched from ear to ear and couldn’t stop giggling at the sound of her name in the song! Thank you to Jeannette  and Kevin for making her day extra special!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADELYN!

Another highlight is that CARLOS, who arrived just last week and had such a difficult time transitioning, was all smiles for most of the day. He was tickled a ton; he giggled, and ate very well. Carlos loves being outside and his favorite activity is sliding down the slide on the playground. He is settling in nicely at the Center.

SERGIO had a tummy ache today--those of you who have been to the Center recently know how sweet this little munchkin is. Pray that he recovers quickly.

ANDRES observed a family of daddy-long-leg spiders while sitting on his potty this afternoon. That kid might grow up to be a biologist! He has such a fascination for things creepy-crawly!

ANA LUCRECIA in the Chicks can be seen running around the Center!  Another recent addition to our family here, she is all smiles lately.

In the Canary room KIMBERLY can now hold her head up without any help.   CARMEN, too, can sit up on her own and EDWIN, who recently returned from the hospital, is crawling around.  Way to go Canaries!

After lunch the group spilt up and took care of lots of cleaning and projects around the Center.  The room across from the school is almost ready to be called the new Comedor! New ceiling tiles were put in today, and they finished painting it as well. The painters also finished painting the front bathroom. Thank you maintenance crew!

Despite being thrown up on or peed on, the youth declared that it was a GREAT day. Being the hands and feet of Christ can be hard work!

 

During our WOW time we all agreed that the Nannies who work here have a tough job on their hands. However, they carry themselves with such grace and have a smile plus an amazing attitude about everything they face each day. 

The kids, too, are in such good spirits even though they are away from their families for a period. We know that the Center is such a good place for them to grow and become healthy, but we’ve observed that even in the situation they are in they have such a positive attitude.

Although we’ve come here to serve them, we can’t help knowing that they will wear off on us. What a blessing we have already received on our first day!