Moses steals my heart

Why haven't I posted an introduction of this sweet boy before now? Well, besides the fact that I am mom to a newborn and have fewer hours in my already too busy days, I just can't put him into words! I couldn't think of anything to say that would do him justice.

I have to admit, this little man has stolen my heart! We have so many babies come to Haven of Hope and each one is so very special. Yet, every once in a while, one hits the heart in a different way. It seems that each baby is someone's special baby. I actually encourage that in the staff. It is one of the benefits of having a small home. We know that each one of our babies is cared for and loved in a special way. Still, I certainly didn't expect to get wrapped around this baby's teeny tiny finger in such a few days. Actually, it only took a few hours. By 2am in the morning on the day we got him, I was captivated.

We were called by the Children's Department to go get an abandoned baby at the provincial hospital. A few minutes later, I learned that he had been taken to the PGH by a man who heard him crying and had dug him up from a pit latrine. He had also been the center of some baby buying drama once he was taken there. Moses was named by the nurses at the hospital who had fallen in love with him for the few days they had him. Since he was not born there, he could not be admitted to the nursery. He was healthy, but had no place to go, so he had been staying on a bench in the nurses office. The filth of the pit latrine had caused a bit of infection on his umbilical cord, which the nurses said was more torn than cut. They were able to cut it close and it healed nicely.

God brought Moses to me at the perfect time. I used to keep all the babies, especially the newborns, with me for the first few nights before handing them over to the aunties. As time has passed and I have become more than confident in the auntie's competency in caring for our little ones, and since I moved out of the baby house into our own house, I have gradually moved away from that little tradition. The last baby I kept with me before handing over to the aunties was Joseph.

(Joseph ~ May 2010)

At the moment I was at the hospital with Tracy picking up Moses, the prospective parents of Joseph were waiting for me at a nearby restaurant. They were coming to meet him, and were prepared, as we always are when prospective parents come, to take him home a few days later. However, the weekend would not go as planned. They were not the match that God had for our precious Joseph. It was a difficult weekend for me, with lots of prayer and soul searching, and praying about the future of little Joseph. I knew in my heart that these were not the parents for Joseph. My staff knew it as well, and I believe the parents knew it deep down. It was evident in how things ended. They left. Before they made that decision, I had to act, very boldly, on Joseph's behalf. I had to defend him. I had to fight for him. It was difficult. But it was the right thing to do.

God brought Moses to me to be my visual reminder of the fragility of these little lives, the lives worth fighting for, the lives that I am here to protect. I needed to have that little face to stare into in those early morning hours when I was praying for the life and future of one of our older boys; to be reminded of where he came from.

So...this is baby Moses. He is precious. He is perfect. He is my reminder of why I am here. He is my special little baby. And my heart already aches at the thought of letting him go to the baby house. I know our aunties are perfectly capable of taking excellent care of him, but I will miss him. I love waking up to his little squeaks and moans at 3am. I love having him tied to me in a wrap while I wash dishes, cook dinner and give Julia a bath. I love seeing how gentle and delicate Julia is with him. I just love him! And I love the reminder that he is to me that we have a house FULL of babies just like him who need me to advocate for them; to be their mama until their "forever mommy" comes for them.

I do live a blessed life!