QUESTIONS….ANSWERS…..AND A LITTLE VICTORY….

HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU DO KNOW…. 

It's been a little over a week since we returned from Ghana and I am still stuck in that place of trying to understand. What is it I am wrestling with to the point of brain exhaustion, you may ask? ...Well the list is long, varied,and a bit dis-jointed, but I can't quite surrender and put it to bed just yet. In my mind's eye I am still going to try to solve the unsolvable, and make sense of the senseless for just a while longer. 

To give you a small idea of the ticker tape that's running inside my head, might you try answering, or understanding some of the following questions which plague my consciousness.

*Why does everything in Ghana have to be so hard? 
*How can these sweet, disabled children there be so misunderstood, neglected and abandoned? 
*How can anyone around them not see and understand what is so obvious to me?… that these children have hearts that feel and minds that think. 
*Why doesn't the Ghanian government step up and help their own most vulnerable children? 
*Why can't they fix the roads and keep the power on?(as if life there isn't hard enough)
*How do those awe-inspiring people we met there, who have commited their lives to helping the disabled and disadvantaged children (with little to no support) do it?...… day in and day out, and yet they stay the course and remain so positive and hopeful… how? 
*Why am I so blessed?….. and the list goes on and on but I think you get the idea.

I will continue to grapple with the how's and the whys, but in time I know I will slowly acquiesce and make peace with the fact that for the most of them, I will have no answer. Even so, it will be ok because even though this latest trip to Ghana produced a flurry of seemingly endless questions and problems to be solved, it also provided a bevy of answers as well. Answers which allowed us to to feel much solace, joy and relief. Below are some of the things that we learned, realized and resolved during this trip.

* Our kids are thriving and so happy, (most important and yay!!!)  
* YES, we are all making a difference there! 
* LOVE really is the answer to the most important questions.
* There is so much good in the world and there are so many people with huge hearts. 
* We now know where we will focus our efforts going forward and what we want for the future of Acacia Shade(and it's bright… stay tuned).
* We now know where and what we will do for the future of our Acacia Shade kids ( also bright).
*We learned that there are so many wonderful organizations in Ghana helping the disabled. We don't have to re-envent the wheel trying to decide how to help the most children. Instead, we can jump on board behind these organizations and offer our support. 
We realized that there are so many ways we can support them as they reach out and help so many more children then we alone could do- strength in numbers… it's true….. 

The list continues on and it is a truly wonderful list, which as I ponder it, I become more and more resolved to let go of my NEED to have all the answers. I'm going to focus my energy on feeling happy for what I do know, and as I look at these…. a few of my favorite pics from our trip, they alone relay the most important answers of all. 

I know it's just a small victory over my thoughts, but I'll take it and smile all the while.

-Holly

Beautiful sweet Esi,so happy with her new baby doll.

A rare little smile from Annabel

Cute little Zuma trying on her new party dress. 

Ayariga welcoming us back with signs and drawings

A YEAR LATER… MILESTONES, LESSONS LEARNED AND GRATEFUL HEARTS

TIME...

I am constantly baffled by this thing called "time"….. . It sweeps through our busy lives and leaves us wondering how could it possibly be another year where it ( time) has eluded us once again.

It has been a good first year at Acacia Shade. Four little children have flourished in our care and we have seen first hand what is capable when little spirits and bodies are given the love and care they deserve.
  
We have been overwhelmed at times, both by the responsibilities we have undertaken, and by the hearts ( and donations) of generous, good people who have recognized the importance of what we are trying to do.
  
Of course there have been enormous challenges, which have caused us to wonder.. "how are we ever going to do this?" but somehow we figured it out and once again "time" allowed us the chance to get it right. 

There has been a lot of learning, and growing going on this past year for all of us, but it's the children's milestones that have left us just giddy with delight. Our hearts rejoice to see Esi able to complete a giant floor puzzle all by herself, and almost potty trained to boot! She is learning to use a walker and has become the beloved older sister to her three younger housemates. This sweet girl has transformed herself and we are so excited at the possibilities in her future. 

The other children are also a far cry from the lifeless, despondent, children we gathered up from the orphanage over a year ago. They are growing and learning everyday and most importantly have joy and love in their lives. 

It has been a great start and we are proud of where we have come.
With a year under our belt, we are feeling good about what we have learned, accomplished and how lives have changed.

Now we are faced with the question of "what to do next", how do we proceed from here to grow… to reach out and help more children? 

The answers are coming and, God-willing, big changes are in store for us in the coming year. We are currently working with several organizations in Ghana who are aligned with our cause and exciting things are under way at Acacia Shade. 

Yes… there is so much more to be done, things to be learned, memories to be made and more people to cherish and love. "Time" is a good thing and there never seems to be enough of it. 

So…..Here I am again, wondering about "time"….. what will it bring? how will lives change, and how will hearts grow. 
I know "time" will tell, and I am hopeful.



-Holly  

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, LOVE..

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED

The chorus of a certain Beatles song started playing through my head recently while looking at the latest photos from our Acacia Shade home. Especially so, after reading the favorable updates on the children from their caregivers there. 

Apparently John Lennon and Paul McCartney were right on the money when they were crooning about the value of this most basic of human needs. Any question as to wether a little TLC rendered can throw a life of neglect into reverse and spin it in the direction of hope, has been put to the test and can be answered with a resounding YES it can!

It has only been a few short months on this steady diet of food for the body and soul and these children are flourishing like a "shade tree in its native soil". When I look at these photos I can't seem to smile wide enough to do justice to the joy it gives me. And when I think about our kids ( ours, yours... we are their family now) I no longer worry about what will become of them, because I know they have a future now that is filled with promise, uniquely their own with nothing to hold them back. 

I am longing get back to Ghana and see their smiling faces, hug them and give them a high five to let them know how incredably proud I am of them for being such little fighters. For taking life by the reigns and riding it through the storms, while patiently waiting for the sun to shine, so they could shine. And shine they do, in all their brilliance casting a warmth on those lucky enough to be in the realm of their existence. 

 Okay, seriously, how happy do these pics make you?

Esi racing to the dinner table... and I love the four small bowls of soup ready to fill four happy little tummies.

So happy to be the first one there, it really is the small things for these kids. 

 Esi helping Zumah learn her shapes and what it feels like to have a big sister. 

High fives and hand shakes for Zumah, crawling like a champ. 

Along with these pics came updates  and stories on each of the children. They told of clapping, and dancing, and crawling and growing. Laughing, and sleeping, and helping and learning. The house is as I expected it to be, brimming with praise, warmth and a continual flow of that thing that is sometimes all we need to change a life. Love.

-Holly 

HOW DOES IT FEEL?

Changing Lives...... it's a good thing.

A week ago today I was in Ghana doing something that would change a life forever......MINE. 

After months of planning, raising money, negotiating, dreaming, emailing, begging, hoping, and most importantly... PRAYING. The time had come, and I found myself signing a document that would undoubtedly alter my life and heart forever. It was one of those defining moments in my life as four little children were assembled behind me while I signed the papers that would release them into the custody of our Foundation. 

My dream that had begun years earlier while visiting that very orphanage with my family had now become a reality.

 

 

The enormity of what was happening was in no way "lost" on me as I signed my name in exchange for the responsibility of these children for the duration of their lives. I am fully aware that the Ghanian Government is expecting us to care for them indefinitely.

That is a humbling thought indeed and as I work my angles to secure the funding needed to sustain them, I realize that the feeling of urgency to do so, is a feeling that I will come to know well. It's not a bad thing nor do I see it as such, for it is what will keep me motivated to 'go to bat' for those who cannot swing the bat for themselves. Those who now depend on our foundation to sustain their lives.

It's hard to describe the emotions of that day, and I have thought about it plenty over the days since. Certainly there were feelings of such joy and relief mixed with a bit of worry and doubt.... only because we didn't know these kids or their backgrounds, capabilities, how they would adjust, or even if they would like us. 

I had prayed for, and thought about them everyday since meeting them last October. For ten months I had imagined how happy and relieved I would be once we finally got them safely into our home there, and could begin to change their lives. Surely that would produce one of life's indescribable moments.

I had imagined it to be a happy and sweet day, I had imagined to feel a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility. I had imagined my heart to swell with a love for these children whom I was serving and helping. I had imagined to feel some heartache too for the struggles they had endured previously. I had imagined I would feel a satisfaction and renewed purpose in life.

That day did not disappoint.... In fact, my expectations were exceeded and it was a very, very good day indeed.

   

There was however, one thing that had escaped me in all my imaginings of how amazing and wonderful it would feel to truly change a person life.....and that was that it had never occurred to me once that the life I would be changing the most that day would be my own. 

             

               

-Holly

  

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Making A House A Home

Everything is done differently here in Ghana 

and that can be,at times, frustratingly humorous.

One has to have spent a little time here to 

truly understand what that means.

It's not unlike those idiosyncrasies of your 

loved ones that drive you crazy while endearing them to you at the same time.

Setting up home here has exemplified this point and makes the fact that we did it in under two weeks a true African miracle!

Acacia Shade home, Accra Ghana  

The home is now ready for its precious new occupants. 

It is, by no means perfect, but it IS the perfect home for us.

The doors will still hang crooked, there are cracks in the floor tiles, the finished paint job looks like primer, the water often just trickles out, while toilets flush only about half the time and the dim, weird florescent lighting leaves you having to feel your way around at night.

   

But it is affectionately warm, and shiny clean, with new little beds, and lots of kindly donated furnishings, supplies, and toys.

I know it will be a good home. 

If ever there's a day when the water has pressure, the lights don't blitz out, the fridge holds temp, and the toilets flush, it will have been a good day indeed. 

Better still however, are the days when kids are smiling, tummies are full, fingers are busy stringing beads or coloring pictures, while delicious smells waft from the kitchen, and laughter rings through the air. 

We plan to have many of those days here at Acacia Shade's new home. 

And so it is .....tomorrow we collect the children from the orphanage and bring them here to their new home.

We have had them in our thoughts each day as we unpacked, cleaned, arranged, purchased, and anticipated their arrival.

They may never know the hours spent readying this house,

or most of the generous and kindhearted souls who donate 

funds to make this happen. But it gladdens my heart to think that there is ONE thing that they will know for certain and that thing is....what it feels like to be loved and to be part of a family, 

and that thought alone is priceless to me.

-Holly  

MINDS THAT THINK AND HEARTS THAT FEEL

They are not so different from us

The term "ignorance is bliss" has taken on new meaning in my life since meeting these sweet children and learning of their heart breaking struggles. Thoughts of them now shadow my days and the urgency to be doing more fills up my usual "down time."

When I went to the orphanage in Accra last October to select the most at risk children which we would relocate to our first home there, I came to understand how truly misunderstood these children are.

The customary belief in Ghana is that those who are born with a physical, or mental disability are considered to lack the very things that make us human....hearts full of emotions and brains which are capable of learning even the most basic forms of communication. They are thus believed to have no need for human interaction. 

It was astonishing to me as I met these children, 
 how anyone could deny that they had 
minds that can think and hearts that can feel.

 And now, nearly eight months after first meeting them, I visited with them yesterday while I'm here once again. 
This time with our Acacia Shade team as we prepare their new home.
     

And as they reach for my hand, smile and look in my eyes, there is no doubt in my mind that they can not only learn to communicate and interact, but that they also feel deeply and connect on a level that goes far beyond the "normal" capacity.

In a few days they will start a new life, in a new home where they will have the opportunity to expand, grow, and learn as never before. 

Even so, again... I have no doubt,
that it is us
who will learn the most from them.

 I for one, am anxiously awaiting those lessons.

-Holly

GOD KNEW

A small village in Ghana is where this all began... or was it?

People often ask me how we came to adopt a child from Ghana. To be honest, the thought had never even crossed my mind until about 5 years ago after two of my siblings adopted these beautiful little seven and eight year old Ghanian girls. One thing led to another and then a series of happenstance events( or as I call them, miracles)led me to the village where I met our son Kwasi.

Kwasi (on the day we first met)

 Almost a year later from that first meeting. I met him again for a second time as he officially became a member of our family, and he and I were soon on a plane bound for America to his new family, and a new life for us all. 

He came to us this small, malnourished eleven year old boy, having no useful schooling, speaking very little english and having absolutely no knowledge of a world that existed outside the forested surroundings of his small village in the hills of Ghana. I joke that it was like having a two year old in an eleven year old body because he basically had to learn everything starting from the beginning. 

And so began this adventure for our family...and one that has undeniably blessed us all in ways that could never have been otherwise. Kwasi makes us smile every day and always helps us remember those things that are most important in life. To say he is a remarkable boy is far from adequate and although as his mother, I may have taught him a thing or two in the past four years, there is no question who has taught whom the most.

It's strange when I think that he has only been my child for four years because I feel like I have known, and loved him all my life. I have no doubt that God sent him to me. I can't imagine how I could have pulled through some recent events in my life without this sweet young boy who, not only loves me deeply and is my fierce protector, but is still dependent on me and needs my mothering for years to come. He helped give my life the renewed purpose it needed.

 Because I am not his birth mother I cannot hold claim to his inbred goodness, his pure heart, and that calm and steady spirit he was born with. But, I like to think his love for chocolate (and all things sweet), his joy in serving, his appreciation of nature, and his deep love of God and family come from me....and so I do. 

Who would have known that this little boy that I found four years ago, brought into my heart and thought I was rescuing would be the one to rescue me?
God Knew.
God Knew and he led me to him. There are no words from this mother's heart to adequately thank him for that. 
But,I will always try... and I know he knows this too.

-Holly

May 2013