Ayi For a Day

 Recently, I hooked up with the Sparrow Fund to support their "Ayi For a Day" project by ordering a kit.  Ayi is the Mandarin word for nanny.  The box arrived and I started to plan our day in regards to how/when to use the box.  The kit was full of hands on goodies that made this day real for the girls.  There were Chinese snacks, green tea, a newspaper, sleeve covers, shoe covers, a small toy, and a typical schedule for a ayi included in the kit.  Because my girls are so young, the hard spiritual truths in this kit were beyond them, but it was very real to this momma's heart as I read about the daily schedule of these women, whom cared for my precious Chinese babes while they waited for me.  I can only imagine what it is like to care for so many babes at one time with so few resources in a land that doesn't value these little, abandoned lives, knowing that you must say goodbye day after day never to see their faces again.  This kit gave me a small glimpse into what a day might look like for them, and it prompted us to pray for them.  Honestly, this kit changed me as I watched my darling babes interact with it.  I have spent little time dwelling on the hands/hearts who have loved my babes before I did.  It certainly led me to pray for these women who do so much to care for the least of these in a place that is so beyond hard to be.

For my babes, this day was pure fun.  They acted out Ayi For a Day in pure preschool fashion.  When I introduced the kit, I presented dress up uniform pieces, gathered toys to play out nanny, and introduced the sacrifices, as well as my daughters personal stories and experiences, as they could handle it.  Anna LOVED this day.  She loves all things baby so this was right up her alley.

She gathered all her supplies, and cared for her dolls all day long.  She did open the door for me to share some photos of her with her ayis in China, and, as always with my very verbally princess, she had lots of thoughts and questions.

For our littlest babe, home only four months now, this role playing is so fresh in her mind.  She, like Anna Mei, did love playing with the babies, and caring for them because she does EVERYTHING her sister does.

I must say that it is so sweet to see her loving her dolls exactly as I love her.  She babbles words that sound similar to those I speak over her while I rock her.  She strokes their head, and kisses them just as I do her.  If you doubted the impact of a momma's love, you couldn't deny that it is so very crucial when you see my littlest babe act it out with her dolls.  God made babies to be loved in families for sure, but I am so thankful for the many who have loved and cared for each of my girls before I could.

The kit included a recipe for a typical congee.  It is stew-soup with rice.  It is likely that my babes ate this stuff every single day.

For Molly, this life is so fresh and new that it was very comforting to her to be eating it.

She ate her weight in the stuff asking for more and more.

The typical schedule included in the kit had feeding times, and I imagined feeding so many babies at once with such limited resources would be heart breaking.  As I watched my littlest gobble up her lunch, I am so very thankful that we access to so much here.  I can't imagine having to choose who is fed, and watching some go hungry as I am sure Ayis must have this scenario play out before them daily.

Anna Mei was full of ideas about how to care for her babies.  She changed diapers, fed them, changed their clothes, and gave them baths.  This passionate, loving, little one of mine is going to change the world for the least if she is willing to give her life to the Lord as she grows.  She is very, very special.  I am so thankful for this day, and our experience with it.  It is wonderful to take time to reflect on the girls past, and those still living in it.  I pray this day impacts them as they grow, and they will be moved by my prayers for these women who care for orphans everyday in their homeland.