When you watch a little child playing on a swing with full joy and laughter, it is easy to forget that they were left at the gate of a stranger’s home as their mother ran away.
As you hold a tiny newborn in your arms and watch them sleeping peacefully, it is easy to forget that their mother could not even look upon the child because it reminds her of the day she was raped.
As you watch a little one taking their first step and see the amazing look of pride and determination on their face, it is easy to forget that their father gave them up the day they were born because their mother died giving birth.
When you walk a child to their very first day of preschool and hear them talking non stop about how much they have been looking forward to this day, it is easy to forget that they were once laid in a plastic grocery bag and thrown in a dumpster.
It will never cease to amaze me that despite the hard and sad start that many of these kids come from, they really thrive at Beautiful Gate. They have been given real hope so that their future looks limitless to them. They make friends, learn to play, go to school, and hit their milestones despite their early circumstances. They really rise above, and even the kids who are older when they arrive adapt so quickly to the drastic changes in their life.
I find a life lesson in this for myself. When my circumstances are looking bad, and I have trials that seem insurmountable, I need to have faith like a little BG child. Rather than dwelling on the past and feeling sorry for myself, I need to be able to thrive and look outward with hope into my future. So many people think that volunteers/missionaries who come here are going to be a real blessing to the kids, but we all find it more true that the kids bless us. This is just one tiny way that I have been blessed and challenged by the kids at BG.
Anita