Katie says it best...

I complain about the dumbest things. Forgive me Lord...
Let us all remember our place.

Words from Katie:



"A week ago today, I turned twenty one. I sat in awe as I celebrated with 14 beautiful girls who call me Mommy. (Ok one actually calls me "Maamaaaamammaaa") I wondered why God chose me, little ole twenty one year old me, to be entrusted with so much. There is nothing greater than the responsibility of raising a child to love Jesus. Except maybe raising 14. Words are escaping me. Two years ago today, two we moved into this home. In the last years I have learned more about Jesus, about myself, and about life than I ever could have imagined. I am so thankful. So, so very thankful for the life you have given me Jesus, for entrusting me with so much when I deserve so little...Last Thursday as I was meeting with some women in the village of Masese, one of them got a call from her brother that there was a child dying near the local steel mill and did she know anyone who could help... So it was off to the steel mill where I met the sickest little boy I have ever seen (I know, I know, I say that every time, but I am serious.... God just gears me up for it a little at a time...) David looked merely dead, breathing shallowly as I took his naked, 15 pound, 4 year old body into my lap. His mom was "scrapping", or digging around the steel mill for nickel-sized pieces of scrap metal that she may be able to sell for 2 cents. As we waited for her to come back, I felt sure that this child was going to breathe his last at any moment. When she got back to their closet-sized home, she explained that her husband had left her for another woman last year when she miscarried (often viewed as a curse in rural villages). Since he has been the only one providing an income for her, David and her other 3 children, and since she had never been to school, she began the practice of picking scrap metal. In just 30 minutes in her yard, WITH shoes on, I cut my feet twice... It broke my hear to think of all the physical pain she was having to endure every day as she cut her hands and feet trying to find this metal that may sell for enough to buy them a small sack of corn flour. She cried as she explained that they had not eaten in three days because no one had wanted to buy her metal. I felt certain that David would not make it through the night, and I am guessing I do not have to tell you what happened next. I scooped him up, put him in the car and took him home where my sweet, loving girls welcomed him with open arms, and we gave him all the ORS and Pediasure he wanted :)The next day at the hospital, we found that David had sickle cell anemia, which was worsened severely by his chronic malnourishment. While they gave him his blood transfusion, I was very thankful for a doctor that, though he may not know it all, knew more than me. I watched David like a hawk all weekend, making sure he had lots to eat and drink and all his medicines and vitamins at the right time, but he continued to weaken after the initial improvement following his transfusion. He cried all the time as it hurt his little body to sit, to stand, to lay... just to be. He finally gained the strength to stand, but shook the whole time. This morning, when his feet began to swell, I took him to the hospital where I asked that he be admitted. Though they won't do anything different, I imagine, I want his mom to be able to sleep with him and I will feel better with someone who knows more than me about sickle cell supervising. Please pray for sweet David tonight...At the same time all this was going on, three of my children have had very high fever's and Patricia has had severe pneumonia (they are all doing so much better now, thank you Jesus.) Sleep was infrequent for this Momma and I had a lot of time to just ponder the fragility of life".......................
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